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Bone Collecting 101 : Basics of Maceration
13 years ago
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I'm going to try to get photo documentation/tutorials together for many methods in bone cleaning but until I can compile all the proper information we'll be sharing text information. Here we'll go over the basics for Maceration. If you have any questions please leave them below and someone will get back to you as soon as we can. :>
Maceration is a method of controlled decomposition of flesh using water (and sometimes enzyme boosters) to remove tissue from bones. This is done using a seal-able container and fresh warm water (NOT HOT!). There is already bacteria present on any dead tissue so you do not need to add any enzyme boosters, although if you do it will help the process go a bit quicker. You will want to do this outside because as you may know, dead things smell. When you macerate bones you are basically making dead soup. Depending on the size of the animal, and how much flesh you remove this may take from one week to a month.
Another way you can speed the process up is by adding a water heater and air-stone to your tub. You will need a tub large enough to hold your specimen with a lid to cover it. If you have had fish tanks in the past and have an air pump and water heater lying around, you want the heater to be set at around 40° C. Water heaters are designed to turn off once the water temperature is at it's desired heat, and turn back on as the water cools. This is not necessary if you do this outdoors in the summer time. (actually if you live is warm climates you should set this up in the shade, too much heat can cause the oils in the flesh to seep into the bones causing stains) The air pump will help to agitate the water and remove flesh mechanically as the grip weakens.
When you start you will have to skin and flesh the animal removing as much of the meat as you can. The more you take off the quicker the process. Once you set the animal in the water and seal it you'll have to change the water out every 2 days. When working with smaller animals (If you want the entire skeleton) it's a good idea to pour the water out through a fine strainer so you don't loose any small bones. (If you have a garden, the water you dump is actually great fertilizer rich in nitrates) Keep refilling the container and changing out the water for at least a week until the remaining flesh is weak enough to "fall off the bone"
After you're done with the maceration process you'll want to clean ans sanitize your bones. Clean them using a tooth brush and dawn dish soap, and soak them in ammonia to kill off any remaining bacteria. DO NOT USE BLEACH! Bleach will eat away at calcium and will make your bones brittle, on skulls it can make them fall apart.
This method also works well with dry bones that have hard dried "jerky" still attached.
If anyone is actually macerating anything at the moment we'd love some pictures to add to the gallery.
MacerationMaceration is a method of controlled decomposition of flesh using water (and sometimes enzyme boosters) to remove tissue from bones. This is done using a seal-able container and fresh warm water (NOT HOT!). There is already bacteria present on any dead tissue so you do not need to add any enzyme boosters, although if you do it will help the process go a bit quicker. You will want to do this outside because as you may know, dead things smell. When you macerate bones you are basically making dead soup. Depending on the size of the animal, and how much flesh you remove this may take from one week to a month.
Another way you can speed the process up is by adding a water heater and air-stone to your tub. You will need a tub large enough to hold your specimen with a lid to cover it. If you have had fish tanks in the past and have an air pump and water heater lying around, you want the heater to be set at around 40° C. Water heaters are designed to turn off once the water temperature is at it's desired heat, and turn back on as the water cools. This is not necessary if you do this outdoors in the summer time. (actually if you live is warm climates you should set this up in the shade, too much heat can cause the oils in the flesh to seep into the bones causing stains) The air pump will help to agitate the water and remove flesh mechanically as the grip weakens.
When you start you will have to skin and flesh the animal removing as much of the meat as you can. The more you take off the quicker the process. Once you set the animal in the water and seal it you'll have to change the water out every 2 days. When working with smaller animals (If you want the entire skeleton) it's a good idea to pour the water out through a fine strainer so you don't loose any small bones. (If you have a garden, the water you dump is actually great fertilizer rich in nitrates) Keep refilling the container and changing out the water for at least a week until the remaining flesh is weak enough to "fall off the bone"
After you're done with the maceration process you'll want to clean ans sanitize your bones. Clean them using a tooth brush and dawn dish soap, and soak them in ammonia to kill off any remaining bacteria. DO NOT USE BLEACH! Bleach will eat away at calcium and will make your bones brittle, on skulls it can make them fall apart.
This method also works well with dry bones that have hard dried "jerky" still attached.
If anyone is actually macerating anything at the moment we'd love some pictures to add to the gallery.
Alternatively you may want to consider ant hills. Essentially you locate an ant hill, toss the body on the hill and either cover it with dirt (only enough to cover), or an overturned container or bucket, the ants will do the dirty work and within 2 weeks you'll have a very clean skeleton. This is a preferred method with birds, reptiles, and fish. You'll still want to sanitize the bones with peroxide or ammonia.
You can place the specimen outside under a container and you'll find other various insects will still consume the flesh.
I have a fully intact snake skull that I would like to clean off, but upon reviewing snake skulls, I've found them to have many joints and small pieces that can easily be lost/broke/dislodged.
I'm afraid the water method will disintegrate the very fine strands of tendon that hold all of it's joints together.
Do you think bugs would be able to successfully remove the flesh without destroying the bones?
What type of snake is your skull?
I found it on the road near the creek in the middle of the afternoon. I happened across it at lest two hours after it's death because it wasn't there when I left home, but it was there when I came back. I found a road killed fox that same day. It was a good roadkill day.
It's not common for snakes to just stop after being hit by cars. They normally have enough left in them to slither off before dying, so I'm kinda worried that the head may have been crushed, which would explain why is was just laying in the middle of the street.
I wasn't able to tell if the head was broke when I was removing parts from it because well... snake heads are pretty rubbery already. I guess I'll only really be able to tell once I de-flesh it.
I see them a lot when I go hiking, pretty laid back snakes
My Dermisteds didn't bother the rattler I did, but the Whitening process broke it apart.The rattler I did had to be entirely put back together. =\
I should try this for the rest of my possum skeleton.
I will try to take pictures to document it!