i had read somewhere that you can tan thinned skinned animals with out pickling them, such as squirrls, foxes, etc, is this correct and do you salt them as usual after skinning and fleshing or just right to the tan?
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PW, There are some "brush on" tans that skip the pickle and some one step soaks. Some of these are good products for mounting but for a soft skin to hang on the wall I think pickling is better. One of the main functions of the pickle is to "set" the hair solidly in the skin. This will prevent shedding on a properly handled hide and extend the life of the fur. Different products use different instructions but there are products that claim the salting is unnessasary. If you choose to go with one of these tans just be sure to follow all directions. Enjoy, Aaron H.
ok, do squirrls and thin skinned critters need to be pickled as well after salting or just apply the tan after rehydrating?
The main purpose of pickling , is to break down non-tannable protiens in the skin, and to kill bacteria. It also swells the fibers in the skin to allow for better penetration of the tan to reach the inner fibers of the skin. If you are just going to mount the squirrels then a light coat of a tanning cream would be all that is needed. You would still have to flesh them, but you would not need to salt and dry them. If you want to make soft pelts, you should follow the directions of salting, then pickling, and then neutralizing, and then tanning and finally oiling and breaking. Following the directions will result in quality furs. cutting corners will most likly be a learning experiance. They will not turn out the way you expect.
You can also get a product called bird tan and put it on the squirrels to mount. it is made up of mostly rubbing alcohol and a light oil like glycerine.
PW, In my opinion the pickle is esential IF you are using a conventional tan (such as ez100, lutan f etc). If you go with something like Krotan you don't salt at all. If you salt dry a skin and skip the pickle and go to the conventional tan you could lose the skin. Now, back when I started taxidermy which was in the 60's, I was taught to pickle all mammels, thin the skin, neutralize the skin and then rub borax into the skin and mount. That process worked then and still does today. The hide is not tanned but the pickle insures that the hair won't fall out. Now, lots of people do not tan skins at all but just mount with the borax. This works but you have to put the mount together pretty quickly as hair starts to fall out if you dawdle. You can't do as much grooming of the mount till it's dry for this reason. One advantage of tanning is it increases working time with the skin. Now, I know you didn't ask for all of this. There are lots of wrong ways to do taxidermy and lots of right ways but there is no single "best way" so to answer you question still comes down to my opinion. In my opinion I think you are better off pickling and tanning all mammels. BUT....I also think there is great value in trying different products and methods to find what works best for you. A good learning exercise would be to mount a bunch of squirrels useing a different preservation process on each one. Enjoy, Aaron H.
About trying different ways and see what works best. many of us still remember the good old days when we had to try out different methods till we figured out what was best for us. That is mainly why I know about all the different ways myself. I have tried everything before settleing on what I like now and works for me. Nice touch Aaron