I need a little professional how to here.
I have my first armadillo to mount and need to know how to preserve the skin and whats the best way to get the bone out of the tail and would regular buckeye hide paste work for the skin?
OK guys, I'm back. Now Alan, roll up your sleeves and let's get to work. First of all if you didn't already skin this critter out, the easiest way to do it is to basicly remove his (or her) shell.Then skin out the body like your usig a very wide dorsal incistion.The tail is done a little differently. First remove the tail from the critter and take each segment off seperatly. You can crazy glue them together when you mount it.The easiest way to preserve the skin would be a vinegar pickle. The formula is 1gal. white vinegar , 1 gal. water , 1lb. of salt.Salt the skin , and let drain over night. Put in the pickle for a couple of days.Remove from the pickle and nutralize in baking soda and water.I use a small handful in a gal. of water.Then apply liquatan or any other cream tan you prefer.Roll up the skin and let set overnight in the fridge (if your wife or girlfriend will let you) Roger Martin has a real nice armadillo form sold by Mckenzie's. Mounting one is easy.First pull the body skin onto the mannikin like your putting on a pair of pants. Oh by the way buckeye hidepaste will work great . Position every thing the way you want , then staple the skin to the form. Now we come to the tail. Crazy glue the segments together then wrap a tail out of excelcior (sorry about the spelling) Coat the wraped tail with bondo and slip it into the tail itself.Bore a hole in the tail section of the form ,put a loop in the tail wire , fill the hole in the form with bondo and insert the tail wire into the Bondo . Once set , the tail aint goin nowhere.Now wipe down the inside of the shell wit a solvent like acetone.and apply a coating of bondo , and place the shell onto the body. That basicly does it. I'm sure I left out a thing or two, but the basics are all there. If you have any more questions just ask. Bob C.
Alan, I just recently mounted another Armadillo, it's actually fairly simple. Skin it out along one side, from the back end of the shell to the front shoulder. Make a short incision in each foot, then skin from the side over the legs, the feet will skin out easier with the incision in them. Now cut around the lips from the outside and work the skin back as far as possible over the head, then skin the head out through the neck. Cut the bottom side of the tail with heavy cutters, like the hinged tin snips, and skin it as far as you can. The very tip will be very hard to get out, just get as much as you can, then inject what's left. Prep and flesh like any other mammal and salt the skin.It can now be tanned just like any other mammal skin. By salting and tanning you will remove the grease from the bony parts of the shell and tail, powder preserve won't accomplish this. Since the skinned is tanned, and doesn't have any borax on it you can use Buckeye Supreme hide paste if you want. Carol
bob, thanks for the help i really appreciate it! i am looking fowrad to getting started on this scalely critter
This response submitted by Bob C. on 11/4/1998. ( bobswildlife@webtv.net )
Alan , Do us a favor and let us know how the scaley critter turns out. Bob c.
This response submitted by Jerry S. on 11/5/1998. ( jds@vvm.com )
I've always done my armadillos the way Bob explained, but Carol's method should work as well. I would suggest, though, that regardless of the method used, when you're through mounting and ready to let it dry, one problem you may have is that the edges of the shell along the sides will want to curl under toward the belly as it dries. Use clothespins to clamp pieces of cardboard along these areas to hold them as they dry. Good luck! Jerry