I've done maybe five birds now. I do have the Breakthrough book. I love the way a nicely done bird looks and hope to hone my skills some. I haven't been able to get any one on one teaching yet so I purchased the Quail mounting video with Stefan Savides to see what I could learn. In the process, Stefan didn't use any borax or DP at all. He states that borax will dry the skin too fast and make proper feather positioning harder. I was surprised by this so I went on an orange button adventure and found a little info. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has experience on the long term condition of birds done this way. What are your thoughts? Thanks, Carl
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Carl, Stephans work speaks for itself. I know that borax or DP can make the mounting process more difficult. The skin starts drying immediately. Dry skin doesn't taxi well. I have seen birds that are boraxed eaten by dermestids, but most are not. I don't want to take a chance of a clients bird being eaten. I use Borax. Timeing is important. I Borax right before inserting the body. If you feel you are slow wait till you are ready to sew the bird to add Borax or DP.
If you choose not to use it. See what happens. There are mites that eat feathers. They will also ruin a bird mount and never be seen. I don't think they are affected by the Borax because I put it on the inside of the skin. Borax on the outside can make your feathers look dull.
Accidentally I mounted a Ruffed Grouse this way. I made a comment (on here) myself on the long term effect of this. I mounted the bird at least five years ago, and have had no adverse effect. Will it last forever? I'm not sure, but for now it still looks fine. Would I suggest this practice? No! I would think that an upland bird (with less fat than a duck) would stand a better chance on making it. Against George's wishes, I used Mineral Spirits to evacuate the water from the skin, so I'm not sure if this had any "preservative" effect on the skin. Again, a Grouse's skin is as thin as paper, so just the fact that there aren't as many edible "goodies" for the bugs to chew on may be the reason that I've had no problems as of yet. I use borax every time, and think you have plenty of time to get your bird mounted, as long as you have all your tools laid out and ready. I've read where some people will not dry their skin completely so they have time to do the entire mounting process without dealing with the dry skin that Savides is referring to, and will dry (if needed) after the mounting process. When I use borax, I like to invert the entire skin, apply my borax, and then remove all the excess powder, leaving just a fine dusting. As long as you do an exceptional job removing the fat and flesh, there really isn't much left to appeal to a pest who'd want to dine on your bird skin. Just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.
Let me Ask this also; What if I borax, shake off excess, and then keep the skin moist with a spray bottle as I finsh? Will this defeat the effect of the borax and wash it out, or would there be enough residue to help protect it? Is this what some do that use borax? Because I know you don't want the skin to dry out as you're mounting.
You make reference to mites, as does George on occassion. I know that there are indeed feather mites, but from what I am aware, they only reside on live birds and tunnel through the actual feathers, much like the organisms that tunnel through leaves of trees. However, I don't think feather mites can survive without a living most any more than feather lice or hippoboscid flies can survive on a taxidermy mount. I am fairly well versed on pests that inhabit taxidermy mounts and know of no reference detailing "feather mites" eating taxidermy mounts. Do you have a reference on this?