Need help on Pricing

I need some assistance in this area as well. Can someone help us determine what a good price for a bear skull cleaning is. Please post your regional prices, so we have some cmparisons.

 

Jward,
I cleaned a 220lb. bear skeleton for a guy and charged $500. It's pretty crazy how similar the skeletal structure resembles a human once fleshed. I process all my skeletons in pieces ie.. arms, legs, rib cage with attached cartilage, neck, skull, lower vertebrae, pelvis. I run each arm and leg separately through the colony and degrease/whiten them in their individual containers. I bag and mark them to make identification easier when its time to articulate. I also drill a small hole in each end of the larger arm, leg, and finger bones after being beetle cleaned. I then use my beetle blaster to blow out the marrow with hot tap water before degreasing. I also degrease with straight ammonia for the firrst 3 days changing the solution as needed. This I noticed removes a huge portion of the grease and blood before I start with my final degreasing.

rbljack,
18" and under...$100
18-20".............$125
over 20"...........$140
These prices are for a a skinned head brought in by the customer.

 

jward...sorry, didnt mean to hijack your post. I must be tired, because i iddnt realize that you meant a whole skeleton...LOL. All i saw was bear, and my brain registered skull. Now that im back in here looking at the reply...i realized that i mis read what you were asking..bigtime..

Thanks for the reply on the prices....appreciate it!

 

No its not a must. It just makes the finished product look more consistent. If you don't remove the marrow the bone, no matter how much degreasing, it will whiten at different shades. If you ever see articulations at a nature center or in a science class you will notice the color of the skeleton is not consistent and some parts look greasier than others.

If you ever get a chance go on to the Skulls unlimited website and browse through the pictures on the skeletons for sale page. Look up the horse skeleton and you will see how much grease is still in the bone. $500 is a bargain considering skulls unlimited charges that for a bobcat ;D

http://www.skullsunlimited.com/unique_products_by_subcategory.php?id=1

It all depends on what bone. For the fingers and toes..1/16" works good. For the legs and arms 1/8". I always try to go smaller because you only need a big enough hole to get a metal coat hanger into to help break up the marrow before blowing it out with water. Good luck.

 

I've had several requests to do whole skeletons...but have always declined...since most were to come from ex wives and mother-in-laws, LOL!!!

BTW...$500 to 600 to do a small bear sounds like a lot of work for a little money...hope it works out for you.

 

$1500
Especially if you have to flesh it.