Pinocchia, my pet African pygmy hedgehog died, and I took her to a taxidermist. When I finally got the skin back it was stiff as heavy cardboard. I had expected it to as soft and flexable as other more common skins I am familar with, despite the quills on the top. Were my expectations out of line, or is this possible. Also, if the tanning was just poorly done, is it possible to have the problem fixed? I am worried that the pelt will crack over time.
I do not do know how to do taxidermy myself, so I am looking for guidance from the membership here.
Thank you for your help and consideration. You may reply to me at peterm@selfaware.com or to this forum.
Peter
Peter,
Your expectations probably weren't passed along to your taxidermist. A tanned hide is not necessarily a soft tan. Hides are softened by breaking the fibers in the skin after it's tanned. To a large degree, commercial tanneries use tumblers to do this. If you taxidermist did it "in house" he may have been afraid to tumble or manually "break" the fibers for fear of destroying the cape completely. If you want to take that chance and accept the responsibility, by all means, take it back and explain it to your taxidermist.
I tried a few while in Europe, they never came out soft, they are so small and they cannot be tumbled without breakinb off many of the quills. The very thin skin is more a kin to a bird, than mammal.