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Baby’s Second Taxidermy
4 years ago
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While on a walk the other day I found two dead moles, it was very lucky! The first one I stuffed yesterday and the second is still in my freezer. Once my formalin arrives he’s gonna be a wet specimen. Stuffing the mole was easier and harder than the mouse; there weren’t any ears and eyes for me to worry about, and I had more knowledge by now so the tail looks WAY better. But since this wasn’t a clean death (I think a cat got these poor guys) I had to deal with insides popping outside and trying to get those out of the way before it got all over the fur. I named him Peewee and he’s currently drying next to my last mouse, Peppermint!
While at the pet store I ended up buying a feeder rat instead of a mouse, I’m hoping I didn’t just bite off more than I can chew hehe. I definitely need to get more materials before I start working on him, specifically I need beads for the eyes and and a thicker wire for the tail. I’m thinking of making his pose he curled up to sleep, bc I always found those types of taxidermy so stinking cute. I rlly hope my rat turns out ok because he was TEN WHOLE BUCKS WHY.
While at the pet store I ended up buying a feeder rat instead of a mouse, I’m hoping I didn’t just bite off more than I can chew hehe. I definitely need to get more materials before I start working on him, specifically I need beads for the eyes and and a thicker wire for the tail. I’m thinking of making his pose he curled up to sleep, bc I always found those types of taxidermy so stinking cute. I rlly hope my rat turns out ok because he was TEN WHOLE BUCKS WHY.
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for the base they tell you to use cotton balls wrapped in string, but i actually used some moldable foam that they sell in tubs at the craft store for mine. the pros and cons is that its a lot more customizable than the cotton, it can become deformed easily if you finagle it too much (especially when you get to pinning), but that also means i can fix it easily and mess with the shape if needed (which i ended up having to do with my mole, since my original shape wasnt pointy enough to fill out the snout). The foam dries in around the same time it takes for the skin to dry as well, but honestly I recommend the cottonball method. it takes a little longer to prep but it's a lot less stress down the line when you're actually putting the skin on.
it's really easy to start, a large feeder mouse (which is the size of a small/medium rat which are pricier anyway) at any pet store is around three bucks, and a box of borax is super cheap. if you already have sewing supplies and an x-acto knife at home then you're pretty much set. Most people use 4mm glass beads for the eyes.
feeder mice and rats have very thin fur so don't get discouraged if it looks really scrappy, every bump and stitch is gonna be very visible, especially if the fur is white (which it probably will be). they're good for getting started and practice, so when you get your hands on an animal with thicker fur will look so much better on the basis that it covers a lot of the imperfections. if/when you get started I'd love if you kept me updated!