Wolf Skull Needs Further Degreasing

Hey everybody,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

My Wolf skull is in need of some more degreasing for sure. So far from researching on the threads (as much as time allows me) I think I am going to go with 1 of 2 options to degrease, based on what the consensus is here. Also want to run these questions by everybody to make sure I am doing this safe, hearing from others who use these methods.

The first I have decided on is a heated solution of water and odourless/colourless dawn to 115F. With potentially some regular strength Ammonia added in.

The second option I have in mind is pure Ammonia 10%.

I don't have anywhere inside to ventilate, and I can't stink the garage up with powerful fumes (living with the old man after his accident and while I go to school). Also can not have the garage exposed to a lot of condensation and everything getting damp. So I can probably only do this outside.

I live in the pacific northwest Fraser Valley BC Canada and it doesn't get very cold here but can go below 0°C forsure.

Just wondering if I heat outside to 115°F with bucket heater do you find it stays a steady temperature well?

And some questions I have if I were to go the ammonia route:

1) If I were do the 10% ammonia would I dilute or keep it pure?

2) How strong are the fumes if I do not heat it does it still need ventilation?

3) I also read about keeping the surface of the ammonia covered with bubble wrap or ping pong balls because of evaporation?

4) And one more thing with this method is it not a good idea to do outside this time of year as in being too cold (From reading I understand removing grease and cold do not mix)

Also it seems difficult to find a good aquarium heater to go that high, seen the threads about how to make them go higher but seems like it would be risky for me to not screw it up. Seen sou vide heater as well but the best/easiest thing I found so far is this "inkbird temperature controller itc-308" and "Kingwork UL 1500W Bucket Water Heater" they seem compatible but not sure about outside in the cold how they'll fair (Bucket heater i'm sure will be good to go). If anyone has got a good system for heating up to 120°F i'm all ears.

Thanks in advance everybody, and if there are any links to make it easier or tutorials to point me in the right direction feel free to just post that, I just want to make sure I do things right from now on and don't waste time or potentially damage any more of my kills or finds! Glad I found this site, and I stopped doing everything wrong earlier than I should of.

 

I just found a thread earlier today about a tutorial on rigging up your own thermostat and I think I am going to try that.

Cool man good idea! I may actually be able to do that in the old mans garage thanks for sharin that!

I am really interested in the strong ammonia but I haven't found a thorough explanation on it, and how to make sure i'm doing it safely. I'm going to keep searching through old threads and hoping a vet with the process can chime in here.

Here is that link if you want to try the heating way I am, sure sounds like it works good maybe you have seen it:

https://www.taxidermy.net/threads/135484/

 

That looks like a great/easy way to heat, do you just set the temp right on the dial there and plug it in and your good to go? What is the make of those?

 

These look great! Definitely scrapping what I was going to do and picking up one of these! Thank you!

 

They look awesome, got one on order should be here Friday or Monday.

Yep here it is as of tonight, looks a bit like a fast food paper bag hahah, everything else though I am quite pleased with just got to get rid of the grease spots.

 

That's what i've read that they usually aren't that greasy but this guy sure was. No I haven't but I seen a few videos on Wolf skulls after the it dried and they were doing that so i'm definitely going to be running something through there I think there are 2 more similar holes on the upper part as well, I got some pipe cleaners and bare metal wire.

Okay thanks for the tips really appreciate it! I was thinking it may need something stronger like ammonia or acetone because the back end of the lower just is just saturated almost has like a translucentness to it, i'll post back some pics with the end results for anyone interested!

 

I got the pail heater now, with that amount of grease do you think I should even bother with the heated water + dawn? Or just go straight for the ammonia or acetone? With the ammonia I want to make sure I have a sealed lid correct?

 

Okay, thank you for the info it is much appreciated!

 

I put it in Ammonia last week for a week and just changed the Ammonia for fresh stuff, doing 1 more week in it now.

Here is what it pulled out after a couple of days in the Ammonia, it was clear when it went in of course;

 

Okay, no definitely not into wasting kind of guy. It cost me 5 or 10 bucks a bottle too so wasn't cheap i'll keep that in mind for next time.

I think i'm going to take it out of the ammonia on Monday, that will be two weeks. Rinse thoroughly and let it dry and see what it looks like for residual grease, I will run a wire through the holes in the lower jaw and around the eye socket too for the stuff in there that could be giving off grease.