I just posted a general message about my taxidermy concerns, but I thought I should get more specific. I am just learning how to skin a bird and upon attempting this with my quail, it took me six hours and I think the skin got too dry. and it ended with the tail part missing and a chunk of the wing gone, but all in all I think I did pretty good for my first time. Things went a little downhill from there and in the end I have mounted only the head of the bird. It's been washed, dryed, and filled with dry preservative and foam. Can I just set it out to dry now? And with quails, do I have to use a degreaser? Or can I just wash it? thank you for your help...taxidermists are few and far between where I live
Return to Beginners Category Menu
kfm, Quail are not the easiest thing to learn on. I would recomend working with something larger to start with. Pheasants or mallard size ducks will be easier to skin. Order a video on bird taxidermy from one of the suppliers and you can avoid many mistakes. I wash all birds in Dawn diswashing detergent to clean oils and blood/dirt from feathers and skin. As for the quail head mount, yea just let it dry now. I'd take a picture of your first effort too. Years from now you might value that photo more than you can imagine now. Good luck with the birds and don't get discouraged. I've been at this a long time and my first MANY efforts were hard to look at. Now I find great satisfaction in taxidermy, hopefully you will too. Enjoy, Aaron H.
you must apply borax to absorb body juices or otherwise your
feathers will get effected and spoil the look of the bird