Wolf Skull Needs Further Degreasing

In large containers of degreaser, I have used a circulator to keep the temp constant throughout and avoid cold spots. Most of the time, what I have used was a very small pump from an indoor type fountain. It is enough to keep the water moving without stirring it up a lot. Not hard to come by and they are usually cheap. The last one I got was from a indoor fountain that was in a yard sale for $2.00. Junked it but kept the pump.

The water and Dawn is as harmless as you can get. It won't damage anything which is why it is great to use. Ammonia can also be added to it safely as long as there isn't exposed metal in the container. Metal and ammonia (especially zinc and copper) don't play well together.

 

The wolf you have seems odd for some reason so I would leave it for at least a week before even checking it. It really shouldn't be months but the previous heat will have complicated it some. The bear should clean up real nice. The red would have been blood but don't change all of the water. The bacteria needs to build up to work well and the more you mess with it, the more the bacteria gets disturbed or dies off and has to start over. Let it sit for a week before checking it. You shouldn't have to pull anything off as there won't be anything left. All the meat and tissue just gets eaten. Bears I get take about two weeks. Strip them just as you did and remove the brain and eyes. They sit for a week and then I stir up the bucket, let it sit for a min for any loose teeth to settle to the bottom and then pour off half of the water. Refill it with warm water as cold water shocks the bacteria and there will be a long pause before it gets really active again. Then, I let them sit for another week and check again. By then, what you have left should be just bare bone. The tutorial I did in that section using a large cougar should give you a good idea of what to expect.

I'm envious of the moose ... but, if that container is just plain metal, you are going to have an issue with rust stains.

 

LOL. The stink is the worst part but someone quoted as saying it is the smell of money. I have found that when I do a peroxide soak (and I completely submerge a skull in it) the peroxide dissolves all or most of any of those tiny stuck bits of tendon. Bits that were not scraped off with a blade actually seem to shrink and dry clear and are not visible at all. The fat, waxy bits you see will scrub off with a good bristled brush, toothbrushes work great, and some straight Dawn which will rinse right off with hot water. I have yet to do a moose. I have one, but I would like to actually do one for myself. The bear should be easy. Greasy but easy. The moose might present some issues if you want to degrease it without removing the antlers. The moose I have, the antlers were removed with a V cut just under the burrs and fixed so they attach with a piece of steel square stock and a matching socket. On the wall, pretty much can not be seen and they come off easy for transporting it.

 

Bears can take months. 115 degrees is good for them but they can have a lot of grease. Expect several months. Try Dawn mixed with ammonia, maybe jump to just ammonia (2 cups per gallon at the least). After a bit, rinse it really good and let it soak in acetone for a month and then go back to the detergents. Lots of times the acetone does something to the grease that gets it to move out. If you go to whiten it, if you submerge it in peroxide, you will loose that golden honey color that the teeth are normally. If you want to save that color and you can't pull all the teeth you will have to try pasting the skull and avoiding the teeth.

 

I use the blue Dawn and only once, out of hundreds of skulls, did one turn a very faint, pastel blue. The color came out with peroxide. I would not use any scented detergent or ammonia. The blue Dawn is not really scented. Not sure why they make it blue. There was a clear that I bought that had no scent but it wasn't as strong as the normal stuff. As far as the teeth, peroxide will be the only thing to affect the color. Acetone only has an effect on grease and oils. It does not react with bone in any way.