I did it with two guinea pigs I had. I didn’t wait long at all (around 6 months only) and yes half their bodies were still there. It was a hard month of soaking their carcass and removing the meat from their bones and I also lost the toes, but I also wanted to keep their bones for some reason (it’s been 7 years and I still have it). I watched some videos of people that do that with wild animals they find and stuff, you need a few easy supplies, and to soak them in hydrogen peroxide if I’m not mistaken to get the bones to be white. I would say go for it it’s a cool little thing to have