I am a beginner and have skinned out 4 rattlers this year without the head and made a flat skin. I would like to try to mount one but I am not sure about the head. How do you skin out the head? Do you go in from the month or keep skinning from the back of neck? I have been using WASCO snake tanning kits.
i find it much safer and more in control if you go in through the mouth. Using a VERY sharp scalpel, start at the corners of the mouth where the venom sacks are located and release the skin on each side. Use rubber gloves for this as some venoms are skin absorbable and you tend to cut the sacks when you do this.Slowly work forward along the gum lines and keep you scalpel tilted toward the skull. Most of the membranes will separate with ease. Cut around the eys as you would a mammal ans lowly work toward the pits near the upper fang area. You have to be very carefull hear and stay next to the bone.Work the sensor pit area free and around the front of the nose area and then back down the other side. When you do the bottom jaw, pay extra attention to where the mermbrane housing the tongue is , and do the same as above. There will be much less bone in this area so a familiarity of their skeletal structure is helpfull, but not necessary. Just feel along and take your time. I usually skin form the neck down and cut the carcass off in ther neck area. Then do the head from the inside the mouht back, and just peeel it over the stump of neck muscle you left attached. When you try to invert it all the way, you tend to stretch the skin unnecessarily
Tom
Thanks, I will give it a try and start on my first mount.