Cleaning Up Skills

[Dan Davies 7]

Hi all what's the best way to clean a roe skull? Have been told to leave it under ground for a few weeks and then boil it? What's your advice? Cheers

[Philluk 181]

I have head that as well but a few weeks would not be long enough, but if its summer put it somewhere as the maggots will do a very good job for you.

[Yokel Matt 918]

The problem with leaving nature to do it for you is that you get bad staining of the skull which is nigh on impossible to remove even with peroxide and the attractive dark colour of the antler gets weathered out leaving the whole think looking shabby. In addition to this the skul plates become weak and the whole thing can just fall appart.

 

To do it properly skin the head and remove as much of the flesh as possible inclusing the eyes then boil it out and scrape it clean or better give it a blast with a pressure washer. Then wrap it in a couple of layers of toilet roll and pour hydrogen peroxide on it an leave it a couple of days.

[sussex 5,802]

Dan same as Matt but I wrap mine in cotton wool then wrap in crape bandage , have a look after a couple of days . I use 35% hy peroxide

[socks 32,253]

Stick it in with 6 ferrets first ... Comes out lovely and clean .........

[martin 332]

I never bother with cotton wool or toilet roll,just paint the peroxide on the skull being careful not to get any on the antlers.

[Caprelous 217]

I never bother with cotton wool or toilet roll,just paint the peroxide on the skull being careful not to get any on the antlers.

or fingers, as it burns. when handling hydrogen peroxide at strengths of 35% always ware protective gloves and glasses to protect your eyes from splashes its dangerous stuff. If you do get any splashes on your skin get plenty of water on the area straight away as it acts fast.

 

Cheers

Stu

[Caprelous 217]

Hi all what's the best way to clean a roe skull? Have been told to leave it under ground for a few weeks and then boil it? What's your advice? Cheers

Skin it and cut and remove as much material as you can from the skull , Place it in a large vessel (Pan) with a lid

immerse it so the water level is just under the coronets and boil untill the remaining flesh starts to come away from the bone slightly. keep adding hot water from a kettle to the pot to keep levels constant but becarefull not to over boil it as the nasal bone will part company from the skull so you need to time it right or you can make a mess of it.

I should add theres no set time as it depends on the age of the trophy being boiled a young buck can take as little as 6 minutes as against an old buck where you can boil it for 30 minutes or more , it needs constant monitoring.

Remove from the pot and gently peel away the remainder of the flesh and eye sockets and cranial cavity and use long nose pliers to remove tissue from the nasal cavity.

Place on an old towel and leave to dry for a few days at least when its reasonably dry as Martin says in a post below paint over the bone of the skull with Hydrogen peroxide solution at 35% strength ,taking care not to get any on the antlers as they will bleach immediately and go white. Also be aware of using this chemical as you need to protect yourself from the danger of splashing it is very dangerous chemical so be warned,

Hope this helps

Stu

Edited November 1, 2013 by Caprelous