I recently case-skinned a rat and when I went to take it out of the pickle solution the other day, I noticed a great deal of fur floating in the solution. I looked at the skin itself and almost all the fur had fallen out of the rat's underside.
What do you think might have caused this?
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I have had the same problem with rats. almost all the fur came out of the bellies. I think its because rats are just generally dirty animals and the bellies drag through some very dirty places. The bacteria is just too plentiful. The only thing I have found to prevent this is to literally soak the skins in stop-rot.
Thanks for the information! its good to know that I'm not alone with my naked rat! What is Stop-Rot? I've never heard of it.
When you skinned out the Muskrat and fleshed it - did you next dry it? It's the best way to ensure that you do not get fur slippage! Drying it tightens the skin around the roots of the fur. After it's dry - then you relax it and place it in your pickle. Otherwise - without first drying it - you risk slippage.
It has something to do with the depth of the follicle in the chest and belly area.
Even if you have a prime rat or possum, if you flesh these areas normally, when you take them out, they might turn out bare. Some follicles are either loose or broken in the fleshing or tanning process.
It has nothing to do with being dirty, it's just that these animals have segmental primeness. Some areas are unprime and others are prime, there's just no way of getting around an oops on a skin once in a while.
Seems that bare-chested possums are the norm in some colors, especially males.
Try another rat, a more lean, younger female. Maybe a size small or medium. See if you get a better belly.
I'm talking about rats here, your garden variety Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus, not muskrats. (and american opossum - not australian opossum)
I actually did two rats, but they were both skinned differently. The cased one had the hair slipping problem. The open-skinned one lost some hair as well, but not nearly as much. Both rats were medium-sized males.
These were actually domestic rats that I purchased frozen from a reptile store.