.

Oh yeah, cold water maceration can turn your stach!!
😳😬😬😬

Thank you for all the tips.

Impatient and skull cleaning is not a good combination.

And cold water maceration, even in hot summer takes quite a bit of time. If you add an aquarium heater that will heat to 90 degrees to the pot, that will speed the process considerably. The bacteria thrive at that temp. If the water evaporates some, add more water the same temp to it. Do Not pour out the stinky water and start over. If you change the water, you have wasted the bacteria that is doing the work. Properly prepped skulls (deer size) take about a week at 90 degrees. Still stinks but it get the soft tissue off without damaging the bone.

Beaver skull is now in household peroxide as its all I've got.
Came out of the water 99% free of organic matter. Teeth turned black, but I assume the peroxide will help with that some.
Pictures of the finished product will follow soon.

Nice! The peroxide should make the teeth turn back to orange again.

Time for a maceration story.

I had a maceration 55 gallon drum buried in the side yard with about six inches of soil, then grass, on top of the lid. We lived in town so I had to be careful with the stinky. When we had a good rainy day, I'd dig that soil off the top, lift the lid, then bring up the skulls and place 'em in the wheelbarrow. I'd wheel that group to the curb and then with the garden hose spray all the remaining flesh off the bones into the gutter. The rain would take the nasty down to the storm sewer and into the river. The only person who knew of the barrel was the old man across the street who watched most everything I did out there.

Well, we were in a hurry to move and vacate the premises 'cause the closing date was quickly approaching, and it was tough to leave it there, still chunky with skulls and goo, but I capped it good, shoveled the soil back over, and replaced the sod and "forgot about it."

Well, might've been five years later or so I get this phone call on a Sunday afternoon and it was the buyer. Actually, a former student. All he wanted to know was if there were any more of these barrels buried in the yard. Said he took care of the one he put his leg into while mowing the lawn, just wanted to know if he had to worry about repeating that maneuver. Said he should have known there would've been something strange buried in the yard of his former high school biology teacher, but hadn't counted on immersing his leg into that goo.

I assured him that was it, 'cept for all the carp bones in the garden. Said he'd already rototilled those into little pieces and was amazed at how big his tomatoes got.

Anyway, for what it's worth.

Progress so far... I think I'm gonna get some "serious" peroxide from the beauty shop.

Any one ever put some skulls in a plastic buck drilled with holes and just sunk it in a swamp or something for a while? Always thought about trying sinking a bucket off my dock in summer. Only problem with that is lot of family swims there too. Wonder is there enough bugs in lake to clean a skull up?
This has been a good post..


Mac

So apparently I have been making the mistake of changing the water every 3-4 days.
How long does it normally take to get all the flesh off of these little skulls if the water is not changed?

Thanks
Ken

When using maceration I have left skulls a couple months.....but my weather is likely cooler than yours. The stench is wretched however.

Do you guys remove the brains before maceration?

I don't

Beeverpeeler I let the flies take out the brains before I simmer clean the skulls. Lot less work.

The beauty parlors here now can be a little touchy on selling people 30 or 40% peroxide as there are some laws apparently?

You can also get concentrated H. peroxide for ag use. "Oxidate" is one that we use in organic agriculture. Comes in 5 gallon containers.

Since you are doing small quantities I'm not sure I would soak the skull in a bath of peroxide. Not saying not to. I mix up some 30/40 percent peroxide with clairol basic white ( or similar hair whitener) and paint it on the skulls then sit in sun. After a few days brush and/or air compressor the dried powder off. Many ways to skin this cat.

Ken, here is my previous post:



I will add a bit more info.....I remove the brain and eyes, tongue and trim the meat/fat that is easy to remove. Then it takes 7 to 10 days typically for the maceration process to remove the soft tissue if the water temp is maintained near 90 degrees. It will take a lot longer if the water temp is cycling to low temps because the bacteria that are doing the work thrive in the 90 degree range. Changing the water slows the process because the bacteria has to develop all over again in the new water. And it is going to stink and teeth are going to be loose, some will fall out, jaws will separate but maceration does not damage the bone.

Now, a few comments about peroxide.

The products at the beauty shop are labeled by Volume and that is not the same as Percentage.

Volume 10 = 3%
Volume 20 = 6%
Volume 30 = 9%
Volume 40 = 12%

The 3% stuff in the brown bottle in the drugstore will work but takes longer. It is pretty safe to use as it is used as a disinfectant for cuts and scrapes.

The higher the numbers (Volume/%) the more careful you need to be. Especially eye protection. Higher number products will also cause skin burns.

I have cleaned quite a few skulls in the last 10 years and I use much stronger peroxide than the beauty supply variety. 30 or 40 Volume liquid is about as strong as I would recommend to the typical hobbyist and it needs to be handled with care.

But the number 1 problem I see with many skull cleaners is the failure of many to get the grease out of the bone before using the peroxide. Even if the peroxide makes it nice and white, grease remaining in the bone will migrate to the surface over time and cause yellowing and sometimes the surface will become sticky and smelly. Degreasing takes time and patience. Typically a couple of weeks for critters like beaver at around 120 degrees F. Constant temp and dishwashing soap added to the water. Water changes when is skims over until very little grease comes to the surface.

Then I let them dry thoroughly before the peroxide soak.

Yes, yes it is. I have a boat out front that's been dubbed the "storage boat" has all my stakes, cubbies band bones piked up and it has a 40 Gallon clear plastic container with skulls in it. I've trained the mail man so he doesn't mind.

Thanks Harold. I kind of have a mixed bag of skulls. I found a nice 8 point on the river right at the end of season and he's in there with the rest. I need to flip the head I guess so I don't get any bubbles in the brain.
I also have a bottle of 35% peroxide that I can get pretty cheaply be close to home. But as it is it seems that skulls will take longer than I like.

I haven't removed any flesh, just the skin.
I have 6 others in the freezer I better get after so the sun can do it's work.
I'll flesh them and remove the eyes and brains upfront

Thanks again
Ken

I use to have a skull cleaning business. I used beetles. But once you get the meat off I degrease for atleast 3 weeks in heated soapy water. Then use 12% peroxide for a day and dry in the sun. After it’s dry glue in the teeth