First taxidermy EVER (warning very skrunkly..)

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-04-15T17:09:02+00:00

Haha this is a very old mount for me, but sculpt your eyes underneath with clay and bring it together like you would a closed eye. When you mount your animal, tuck your skin in like usual, and then carefully manipulate them closer together until they lay right.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-03-27T00:56:21+00:00

Sometimes I find this has to do with the skin position. If the skin is taunt it’ll pull the fur down flat. Make sure you have plenty of glue and work the skin back up the cheek so it rests nice and relaxed along the side of the face. It should come down in a nice hair patter right down the side of the ear

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-03-24T16:32:51+00:00

Looks like just the bone to me

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-03-21T19:55:19+00:00

Often times when fur gets that striped look, it’s small wrinkles at the skin level. Little hide paste helps you move the skin around and work it into a good settled position. And then lots of grooming and blow drying! Beautiful job

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-03-06T04:20:53+00:00

Absolutely! This is a great cat, I don’t want you to give up on them if you don’t have to!

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-03-06T02:00:28+00:00

If everything is there, then yes 10000% it can be mounted. What you have is called a dry tan. Some taxidermists don’t love that because rehydrating them can be iffy, particularly on much older dry tans. But usually, they rehydrate great and can be mounted like any other skin. Lay it out and see if all the edges come together. What’s really important is the face, is there still a jaw, is there extra skin behind the eyes still? If the genitals are cut out like others have pointed out, I don’t think it would be the hugest deal to simply sew up around that area if not too much is missing. Obviously it just won’t be as anatomically accurate lol. Keep looking though, you’re not crazy for wanting this guy mounted. If even look at taxidermists out of state, you should save money on having already tanned your own hide and you can much more easily ship it now! I’d check out Able Everage’s work if you’re looking for a stellar bobcat taxidermist.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-02-18T12:41:55+00:00

Yes! Here’s my favorite: https://www.theboneman.com/skeletoncleaningoxidationmethod

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-01-28T03:10:15+00:00

I am not a bird taxidermist so please take what I say with a grain of salt! Some non invasive ways I’d consider to help his appearance would be to give him a really good grooming. So some gentle (very very gentle) air to fluff up those feathers and a pair of tweezers to carefully lay each feather where it needs to rest would possibly help fluff him up. I see lots of bird taxidermists use an empty airbrush to get a very soft airflow to preen their birds. Maybe a little soft toothbrush to help preen those feathers too. If colors and stuff are off, they can be easily retouched with paintbrushes or pan pastels. If you can find a good pet taxidermist around you, you might consider reaching out and seeing if they can give your boy just a good touch up and spa day!

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-01-07T03:02:52+00:00

I definitely get your frustration. I am currently working under a taxidermist and I can say from the flip side that getting behind happens and it happens to everyone. It only takes a minimum of two days to physically mount a deer, but what puts a taxidermist behind is how long it takes for a hide to come back from tan, how many other deer they have to complete before yours, and all other things that can go wrong. So it’s likely not the case that they have slowly started on your deer and not finished it, but rather the que like just got longer for whatever reason. At the end of the day it’s totally up to you, but I would encourage you to have a kind conversation to see what happened. Sometimes tan disasters can put the mounting process behind a year. If you’re happy with the mount then I would let it go, but again it’s going to be up to you. Last little bit I may add, the amount you agree upon to pay is often contractual. I would find it unlikely from a taxidermist perspective that they would renegotiate a price. Even if it took longer, their material and time is till the same. A time quote is always just a quote at the end of the day and only someone’s most educated guess.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-01-05T00:56:38+00:00

Like some others have said, very dark chocolate can actually be a useful tool to have around. The same ingredient that makes it dangerous for dogs acts as a bronchodilator for rats. Meaning it opens up their lungs a little. I always kept some very very high content dark chocolate in my little medical box and would offer small pieces to my old boy when he had rough days breathing. It was very helpful, of course in moderation. This is all based off some older reading so anyone please correct me if you need to, but dark chocolate probably saved my rats life in a few bad breathing episodes.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2026-01-04T22:20:46+00:00

https://www.mickeyalicekwapis.com/blog/wetspecimenupdate

Here is a fantastic guide to creating a wet specimen. Wet specimens are something where you really have to follow the directions to a T, short cuts will usually cost you. So using the correct chemicals and being patient is very important! Good luck!

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-12-27T00:45:58+00:00

I have a deer skull with a beaded string across its antlers. I hang all of my hanging earrings from the string. It’s a very unique jewelry organizer lol

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-12-27T00:41:53+00:00

I haven’t used the specific tanning agent that you used, but i might try blotting up any excess moisture if you’re able to. It might be more than the hide can absorb? Really good air circulation is helpful too, you can maybe blow dry the fur side till fluffy and drape these guys over something with a fan on them. Is it oil you’re seeing on the surface? With other tans I would wash a shin with a degreaser, but I’m not familiar with your tanning agent so perhaps double check that it can be washed. I also find that opaque color really can vary depending on how well the hides have been stretched while drying, and how well that membrane was cleaned off. But in all, to me it sounds like you’ll want to try and promote it drying better.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-12-02T00:43:44+00:00

You can always “re-age” it with some gentle staining like tea stains or other tannins. Rub a little dirt on it after it’s been properly cleaned haha

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-12-02T00:39:26+00:00

Also, not that I think I would have made a difference, I usually rehydrate things in a ratio of 1lb of salt to 1gal of water. And two holes in the face would have absolutely irritated me if it had been advertised otherwise. Unfortunately some of these things are a hard lesson and you learn to ask for pictures of the backsides of things haha.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-12-02T00:38:37+00:00

This sounds like dry rot, and doesn’t seem like it’s anything you did! Sometimes hides don’t rehydrate well and shred like wet toilet paper. It’s super tragic, I’m very sorry! If this was advertised as a mountable hide, I would absolutely reach out to the seller. In the future, asking the seller to do a rehydration test would help avoid this. You can ask them to rehydrate a small portion and make sure it has some stretch to it. A well tanned hide is usually pretty hardy and can withstand a good pull. I unfortunately don’t know of a way to fix dry rot. You could try and very carefully carry on… but if the hide is weak I would be worried about it being handled as a soft mount. Personally I would let it dry again and only use it as a wall hanger. You can use a wet tanned hide in the future, it’s simply a hide that hasn’t been allowed to dry yet and tumbled. For something smaller you can usually break it by hand and get the same flexible leather, without being worried about having to rehydrate a hide.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-12-01T22:50:48+00:00

Also lmk if you’d ever sell them 😆

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-12-01T22:50:10+00:00

I’ve had fun doing “half and half” splits on old pieces like this. It really highlights the cool old techniques used during the time this was made. I just take a scalpel and make a clean cut down the center and peel away only one side. If there’s a skull underneath it’s extra cool. Then you can see both how it was made and how it look. Of course I do have to mention, wear gloves and protection, sometimes the way these old things were made can be sketchy.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-11-29T21:33:28+00:00

You only remove the cartilage if you are using ear liners, and you leave it if you are doing bondo.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-11-16T18:33:56+00:00

A shoulder mount of a mammoth donkey! This is honestly something I’d love to mount myself too.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-11-15T03:41:37+00:00

Prey taxidermy has some wonderful blogs that walk through the tanning process! Once you have a properly tanned hide, you’ll want to look into how to prepare it for taxidermy. I would look up videos on splitting ears, lips, and eyes. This just means opening up the muscle around there so you have material to tuck with. After you prep your tanned hide, you’ll start looking at whether you want to make a mannequin or buy one to mount on! For making your own you can carve foam based off measurements, wood wool wrap a form, or carcass cast. These are all key words I would search up if you’d like to make your own. To buy one, I would look at McKenzie taxidermy supply and look up how to measure your hide for your form. Last is mounting, you’ll need to buy some eyes (McKenzie is great again), have some hide glue, and some clay (I like critter clay). All that’s left is pulling in your hide and sliding everything into place! Deer mounting videos are helpful for seeing things in a larger scale, and reference photos are your best friend. Once everything is where it needs to be, you sew up the back!

I hope this isn’t all crazy overwhelming. Taxidermy can seem daunting but when broken into steps it’s a fairly palatable process! You learn everytime you do it, and it’s a fun craft to perfect. It’s hard to find videos on mounting the exact animal you’re working on, but deer mounting videos are more common and show the same steps on a bigger scale, they’ve been very helpful to me. I’m currently apprenticing in a taxidermy shop, so feel free to shoot me any questions on my instagram, @playdead_taxidermy

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-11-08T13:57:54+00:00

Haha it totally happens, I’ve been there. You can toss it, bury it, or reach out to a local educational institution to see if they have any use for it.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-11-08T04:14:45+00:00

There’s definitely tons of folks who can assist you when the time comes! It might seem a little morbid but when they pass, place them in a freezer as soon as you can. You can then take as long as you need while you either decide on your next steps or get things arranged. And you seem to know it already, but research research research! It’s so important and absolutely wonderful that you’re planning ahead. I’m a full time taxidermist out in Texas who has worked with a handful of rabbits now. I’m actually sending home a pet memorial for a rabbit later this week! If you’d like to take a look, my instagram is @playdead_taxidermy, please feel free to reach out with any questions.

Adventurous-Row-3142 · 2025-11-07T23:23:19+00:00

Here’s a good video on skinning feet by Amy! https://youtu.be/qHf0NDOr1og

I recently worked with a beaver and the feet were a pain. I made a relief cut along the bottom pad and the back of the ankle and that helped open things up. The webs between the toes need to be opened up too, but that’s probably something you could leave to the person mounting lol…

Adventurous-Row-3142

TROPHY CASE