Hi everybody! My name is Ivey and I'm an artist. I am brand new to taxidermy. I am teaching myself on rats. YUP! At the moment I am trying for "rugs". Ha! The skins are fine and fairly fragile.
Here's what I've done. I froze then thawed and skinned my rats. I have fleshed them out. Whisker bulbs are intact. They have tails, faces and feet as would be seen in a Lion or Bear rug. The tails are stripped like a squirrel, and the feet are cut off as close to the toes as possible.
I washed them in Dawn and cold water, gently pressed them dry between towels, then put them in a thick layer of table salt (iodine?!) This dried them well. I scraped all salt off when they were completely dry, then coated them well with powdered Borax. Now I am washing them in water and soap and will press and then blow dry.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Once dry, I plan on rubbing the flesh side over the edge of my table to soften the hide. I will be sculpting a head for my rugs, and figure this part at least must be damp for stretching over the "skull". I have regular crafting felt to sew the pelts to.
Can anyone give me advice? Do I need to pickle or tan something with chemicals besides Boric Acid? Where can I get these chemicals if not through mail order?
Thanks everybody- if nothing else, I hope this made you giggle!
Spooky Ivey
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a good rat is a dead rat not a rug rat ,you got to be jokeing ,but eny hoo ,if $$ is an ishue try borax in water, soak for at least 2hrs ,then dry ,rub more borax in flesh side ,and stretch out flat & pin edges ,once dry rub some soap in flesh side for softness & flexabilety [dish soap or hand soap even hand cream will work something with an oil /aloe base ]or go get some trappers tan or dixie tan ,been there done that 20 plus years ago ,good luck.
Mice I do the same thing to, just what you described, and they sell like hotcakes. I bet I have made 5,000 mice rugs. The only problem i have from customers is when they clean the house the sweeper sucks them up off the floor. LOL
go to www.AmysTaxidermy.com she explains the whole rat process on her website. take care
Rats or Muskrats LMAO
Thank you so much for your help- I REALLY appreciate your time and you've been very helpful- thanks again! Ivey
Hey Mike! Thank you, sweetie! I definately mean RATS! I think it's so cool about your little rugs- how much do you get for them? Do they have heads, feet and tails? I would LOVE to see your work- any pictures? You could shoot them to my email if you'd like! Thanks so much for your time and help- you also have a cute sense of humor! I'm looking forward to checking out the site you suggested later this afternoon. Thanks again! Ivey