Skull Cleaning Using Maceration
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- Опубликовано: 21 сен 2024
- Learn how to clean animal skulls professionally without boiling them! Maceration is an all natural way that allows bacteria to clean the tissue off of a skull while not damaging the bone.
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Just harvested an alligator last weekend. It is currently in the freezer. I live in Florida. Do I need to thoroughly thaw before putting it in a bucket of water? You also mentioned removing the hide before going in the bucket, would I also need to try to remove the skin?
This was an excellent video. You taught me everything I needed to know in the first few minuets and kept my interest with a great experiment. Well done and thank you!
Hey glad I can help! Thank you for watching Katie :)
Working with marine sewage treatment plants, we use a blower to oxygenate the water and maintain the bacteria colony.
The reason why you need to change the water is because the bacteria outgrow the habitat and use up the oxygen, by flushing the habitat you maintain the growth at a stable level.
Having a warm environment boosts the reproduction of bacteria.
So from my experience, I imagine having a tank that is heated and has a blower will give the best results with regular flushing.
Sean Quinn- thanks for the explanation on it! Makes a lot of sense.
I beg your pardon: you change the water to get rid of the bacteria’s waste product, which at too high a level, becomes poisonous to the bacteria. Like fish in an aquarium without a gravel bed full of ammonia-eating bacteria, will kill themselves with their own waste product. The added O2 is either too high an O2 range for your favored flesh-eating bacteria, or favorable to one of their foes. Temperature affects the speed of the chemical reactions essential to life. The optimum for that group of reactions is slightly over 101F, where your temp goes when you’re sick. I think I might experiment with a tank kept at 100F, water run through a charcoal filter, and changing out half the water every day to get rid of the waste while keeping the bacteria count high. Just fun.
@@NMranchhand you know your shit
@SUPREME OWNERSHIP I have. I retired.
@SUPREME OWNERSHIP you need to be more specific. What are you referring to?
What's funny is I have been macerating skulls since I was a kid and just found out what the process is called(I'm 43)! Lol! Thanks for the informative vids. It's really nice to see wholesome people with such an interest. God bless you!
Haha thanks Gwendolyn!
This is awesome. I collect skulls. I don't hunt, I just find them. Because I hike but live in the city I have Many different kinds of skulls. Usually I just let nature take its course in my back yard. This is not a consistent method. some get cleaned well and some seem to mummify. Boiling is out, but soaking for awhile maybe just the ticket. Will this weaken small skulls, like bird, squirrel or even a mouse? What about the peroxide bath?
That's great Frank! So it will not weaken skulls. What will happen is that connective tissue that might normally keep a skull together will be cleaned making the skull come apart in places. Water does soften bone but it will harden back up once dry. So, no, it will not weaken the bone, you just have to be gentle with it in the process. I simply use 3% peroxide and soak just as long as needed to whiten, for a small skull that might be a few hours a large skull a few days.
I have always said you dont need to hunt to get skulls thanks
This is amazing! I’m new to skull and bone cleaning, and iv been considering maceration as it seems easier than any other methods, and this just convinced me even more! Thanks for this video mate!
hey- i'm new too! was wondering how clean should a skull be before this? have you tried it??
@@scairk I have tried this, and when I do it I try and get all the fur/skin off and any loose hanging pieces of meat. The more meatier the skull/Bone is before maceration just means you will have to leave it in longer :). Hope this helped!
Nice video man, I would love to see 2 video follow-ups.
1. Maceration vs Boil - why you went this route, pro/cons, etc.
2. Your setup - where do you keep them during the week, how are you running your heaters, your prep steps, degreasing, samples of what you do after (nice bone carving vids BTW - but what else?)
Anyways, just some ideas on content I looked for on your channel and figure others will too.
Cheers!
Hey Rick, Thanks! I really appreciate the suggestions! I should do those videos, I felt like I was getting too long on the maceration one so I cut out as much as possible, but a follow up video would work. Thanks for watching man :)
US Skull Hunter you got it bro. Probably the best complement I can offer is I usually boil but am going to give this a go. Thanks!
I have a couple questions:
Do you just use hydrogen peroxide to degrease them?
Will the water kill (or help) lawn grass if dumped over it?
Also, as a biology/environmental science major, warmer water is probably more beneficial for the bacteria to work faster (most living things including bacteria get cold and slow just like our fingers in cold weather).
to degrease is just water and dish soap
and maceration water fine for the grass
@@aven5380 if anyone the water will help the plants
Best description I’ve ever heard about the smell of this process “the smell is out of hand (control)”. I’ve got a deer skull macerating in the back yard right now and it starts 20 feet out Min.
Haha yeah that is a good way to say it
Thank you for setting up such a great experiment! I used to boil skulls but didn’t like the change in the bone. It also required considerable degreasing. Questions for you: 1)would adding Rid Ex toilet enzymes harm the skulls at all? A friend suggested it. 2)What measures do you use to protect yourself from inhaling or handling the bacteria laden skulls? 3) why not leave the bucket open to the air?
Sure thing! 1. I personally would not recommend it just because a product like that is always going to have other additives that could potentially harm/mess with the process. What I would recommend is adding chicken broth (you can buy it at the grocery store in liquid form) to the water to help jump start the bacteria. 2. Gloves and a face mask are all that's really needed. 3. If you leave the bucket open you loose heat, you loose water as it evaporates, and you allow flies to lay eggs in the water. So you really don't want any of that to happen.
Hi Hunter. I can now report backnon my findings after doing maceration on a Bluewildebeest and an Impala. The results - UNBELIEVABLE!!! So the BWB had already gone through bleaching and carving and multiple cleanings, but it had brain matter stuck in the cavity that I just could not get out. After just one week of maceration, the entire brain cavity was clean, and even most oil from the skull had "disappeared".
Then Impala was a skull that was out in the sun for about three months. It was not really even cleaned propperly - just cooked so it has hair and skin on it. I started the process, did a water change after 7 days, and then after another 7 days I took it out. HP hosed it down and to my absolute surprise - it came out clean. Each cavity and hole was cleaned out completely! Even the tough skin that still had har hair on, simply tore off with the hp hose.
One thing it does seem to do, and I might be wrong - but it seems as if the process does cause the bobe to become a bit more brittle. The thickness of the impala front nasal cavity had become almost paper thin.
Also, both skulls still do have a very slight smell. Is there a way to get the smell out completely? Maybe washing in dishwash liquid?? Any advice one this?
But all in all, incredible results. Thank you hunter for the amazing channel and teaching us your ways.
That's great to hear man! I have not noticed the nasal cavity becoming brittle, however, maceration will get rid of cartilage that would otherwise keep things together. Not sure that's it, hopefully the results will improve with the next skull. K, so basically if the skull is still smelling there is still grease/matter in the bone. I pretty much go by the rule that if the water still smells its not done yet. You could degrease the skull and then see if that takes care of the smell too. I can't remember if we talked about degreasing but if you need help let me know :)
Hot water maceration works better than cold because the bacteria like warmer climates and will propagate better in warmer climates than colder climates causing the organism to rot faster. Thank you for making this video.
Thanks Jeremiah! Yes, you are absolutely right :)
had almost decided to go to dermastic beetles til i read a book last night, ...im back to maceration... thanks for the videos, ive learned a lot
Nice! Yeah dermastid beetles are a lot of work. Thanks for watching Ron!
Your welcome we did this in Woodbridge. Heard you are in Manassas!. Whitening was done with soaking it in peroxide in a 5 gallon bucket
Thank you! I’m definitely going to try this method. I’ve tried someone else’s method of boiling the skulls and not only did they start to fall apart, but it takes hours to pick the rest clean and it’s so hard to tell if I got all the brain out as well. Hopefully this will work a lot better for me!
Super informative, thank you so much for making this video! Have some pig skulls that I have been struggling with for a while now as living in an apartment leaves me unable to bury them, and cleaning them by hand has not been working very well, but thanks to this I now have an effective alternative! :D
you bet Liahona! Let me know how things go :)
This was SO interesting! I enjoyed watching and learned a lot. I'm wondering about he type of bacteria that does this process, and if something can be added to catalyze the process. Some bacteria like salt, some like starch, some prefer darkness (possible a hint with the results from your black bucket as well as the increased heat). Great video! Thank you!
Thanks Karen! Yes, there is a LOT to learn about the actual process of the bacteria and the enzymes they produce. If you think about it companies and governments pay big money researching this topic for waste management. THANKS for watching and if you have not already watch my latest updated video on the topic ruclips.net/video/YoMLietd3KQ/видео.html
I water macerate using hot water and add some Dawn dish soap to aid in degreasing. This year I kept the buckets (my daughter and I both shot nice bucks) in our attached garage and changed the water every 2-days to help avoid any smell.
Nice Tom!
The fine details preserved on the skulls are amazing, museum quality. Much better than the aggressive smashing, cooking and pressure washing the other guy does.
Well, I wasn't going to say that out load but yes! lol Thanks for watching :D
Nice one Hunter. Thanks for sharing the knowledge mate. You re a good teacher. Thanks again for the video. Take it easy.
You bet Dennis!
Great video!! Again thanks for being an open book and sharing your techniques.
Sure thing Tim, Thanks for watching!
thanks for the info mate I now know how to clean skulls/bones AND you actually saved me a bunch of time by showing what way works the best. thank you much appreciated.
Sure thing Dean! Thanks for watching!
U.S. Skull Hunter no problems mate. subscribed to ur channel by the way.
Awesome!
I live in your neighborhood. I recognize your street and saw my house on this video LOL. I would identify places but i dont want to DOX myself. Love and Light!
Hahaha that's crazy! Are you into skulls or was this just a random video suggestion??
Really good video, man. I've been using this method for YEARS because I'm really lazy and even I learned a few things from watching this. So Thanks!! I've never skinned my specimens before, though, but if you say it'll be faster if I do, then I just might. I'm just really lazy and I don't mind my buckets sitting for a while.
Hahaha yeah I know what you mean :) Thanks for watching!
Not sure why you're confusing lazy for clever. You're obviously not lazy...
What a great video!!! Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge. Very grateful.
What if you incorporated both the oxygen and the aquarium heater together???
Hey Dan! So, I actually figured out what happened. Bacteria that lives in an oxygenated environment is actually very sensitive to the levels of oxygen in the water. By pumping in air i actually elevated the oxygen above what the bacteria could survive in so it killed it. That is why it actually took longer :)
Use the aquarium heater and install a toilet tank water valve with float to constantly feed clean water into the bucket. Put a hose valve and a hose on the side of the bucket at the bottom then slowly leech the dirty water into a garden by adjusting the flow. The smell will be minimal if done gradually.
Ahh I see, Thanks for the tip Alex!
Best one I’ve seen searching for this info. Thanks.
Looking forward to trying it! Thank you, everything was well explained.
Thanks. I really appreciate the video. I have my daughter's buck skull sitting in a metal cage and waiting forever. Looks like I'll be moving it to a bucket of water tomorrow.
Great to hear! Let me know how it goes
Impatient as I am I'd be tempted to put in one of those pouches you put in septic tanks to keep them healthy... No idea if that'd help, but worth a try!
I love when the algorithm sends me outliers like *SKULL HUNTER* lol
Thanks for telling me how to hide the bodies
the scientific term for the corpse wax is Adipocere. It is formed by anaerobic bacteria. It doesn't need oxygen to reproduce but it doesn't prevent it from reproducing. I recall a forensic paper stating that the Adipocere can be prevented or slowed by wrapping in plastic. The factors in the microenvironment of the remains are most critical for the formation of adipocere. It is interesting cause the adipocere is incredibly resistant to decomposition and destruction by the environment and has been found on corpses as old as 7000 years. Allegedly plastic carpeting is the best to wrap it in. As well as allowing gas exchange via a s lock for fermenting and the air stone.
I did know it's called adipocere but I didn't know about the plastic! Do you have a link to where you read that?
I usually put them in my garden with a heavy clay pot upside down over them and let the bugs deal with it. I’m totally going to try it with the bucket and water! Thank you!
Nice! Yes, the ol' clay pot works too :)
Awesome video! Didn’t even know this was an option. Just on question can you do this do a deer buck skull without damage to the antlers?
I was wondering about this. I had accidentally left a fish in my cooler after fishing one summer. After a few weeks something started to smell and I couldn't find the source. I needed to use the cooler, and I opened it up and found the smell as well as all the bones from the fish. Not one piece of meat on them. It made me wonder if this was a viable option for cleaning other animal bones and skulls. Thanks for the great videos you put out. I'm just getting started in the hobby, so you knowledge is very appreciated. Thanks again.
haha that's one way to do it! That's pretty cool actually :) Yeah maceration is by far the best way to clean skulls in my opinion :) Thanks for watching David and let me know how things go!
thank you so much! i'm doing my first full taxidermy animal (not just bones) and i would like to keep the bones :)
Great video ! Thanks for the info. I just finished macerating a cat skull, it has come out great ! Sadly I lost a tooth in the process... I have yet to apply your tips from the last video and go see a butcher or two to get skulls ! Sadly in France a lot of animals are affected by laws and regulations regarding what can be donewith their remains...
Ahh I see. Well, I hope you get some luck finding some skulls! Thanks btw :)
My method does both, I boil off most of the meat and then let the giblets macerate off. Also I add 3% peroxide to the water and sun-bleach it for a few days. Works pretty well.
Just found your channel and I have a few questions.
1) Why do you have so many skulls.
2) Why are they sheep skulls.
3) Have you ever tried the skull with the aquarium heater in the black bucket to see if you can speed up the process even more?
Cool channel, and I enjoyed the video. Very interesting, never seen anything like this.
Thanks for watching Seth. 1. I specifically got all those skulls just to make this video. 2. I wanted skulls that were all about the same size so it was just easiest to go o the butcher shop and get sheep heads. 3. I have not, although it may very well make things go faster. Thanks again!
This was wonderfully useful stuff I enjoyed the comparison.
You mentioned smell, I don't have the sense of smell so this story concerns a friend telling me that a black bird had hit an office window and died. I put it in a plastic bag and a card board tube and left it in the office during summer on a Friday. I forget this fact and on Monday my colleagues noticed a stench and thought it was the drains. I confessed and took it home. And boiled it up in a pan!
I miss my old skull collecting days as I didn't know what I was doing but had fun.
Haha that's funny. I bet your colleagues never forgot that :)
U.S. Skull Hunter they didnt
Good to know, thanks for replying I'll give it a try!
Learned a lot from this video. Thanks so much!
These videos are really interesting keep up the good work but I was just wondering what is the purpose of cleaning the skulls? What will you do with them after they you've cleaned them thoroughly?
Thank you, I appreciate that. Some people just collect skulls as a hobby and others use the skulls as a medium for art. Thanks for watching!
Some domestic skulls like sheep and cows I will. Others I just use for the videos or use to practice on :)
In my experience, the cold water maceration is most likely to leave the grave wax gunk on it, and they're more likely to need less degreasing and have less of the waxy texture when the water stays hot or warm. I'm in Georgia,so in the summer the water stays a pretty constant hot temperature but in the spring and fall the water stays cooler and they end up pretty gross
Thanks for the input! Nothing beats maceration though eh!?
This is definitely a hobby I want to get into now
Awesome lil comparison, appreciate it!
You bet, thanks for watching!
Seriously the most informative video, Thanks 🇦🇺
U r a great inspiration to me! I just hope that you provide us lots and lots of such informative and artistic videos...
Good luck for your work...
Greetings from India!
Thanks Abhijeet! I have a whole list of videos I am working on so I hope you are able to stick around and see those too :) thanks for watching!
I'm just taking a guess, but the difference between cold water and hot water macereation is just the kind of bacteria that thrives in those environments. Some bacteria need cold places. Others like it hot. They do the same job, it's just a matter of what kind suit well on different temperatures
Well said!
Right on! ...awesome video can't wait to try this!
Nice! Here is a more recent video I did on the topic but with a buck skull ruclips.net/video/YoMLietd3KQ/видео.htmlsi=4z7El2kd6ms7Su0O
I've made it this far thanks to your video! Thank you! Now, what do I do next? Before i start carving? All of the carving videos I've seen focus on the carving method and style. I want to use a bleached skull with simple Dremel work, is there more preparation to the surface of the bone after after I've cleaned it? What about preserving the bone from natural wear and tear like becoming brittle?
Awesome info!! Thank you for your time and knowledge😁
You bet Dan!
The corpse wax is called adipocere if you wanted to look more into it
Thanks! Yes, I have learned a lot more about it since, crazy stuff. Thanks for watching!
Do you have, or could you do a video on bleaching skulls please?!
Hey Donica! I will work on it. Till then, take a look at this article as it is very helpful www.oddarticulations.com/whitening101/
I tried bleaching a small snake head, but the bone also dissolved. Strong stuff that.
Awesome. I would rather just let my skull sit for a week at a time, and change the water over a weekend. Mine has been in a freezer for a few years, and I was wondering how I was going to do this. Now I have a method I can work with.
Haha yeah that works!
Hello I noticed you keep saying let bacteria do the work well when you use the heater bacteria thrive in 70 to 90 degrees water temperature so when you change the water what bacteria remain combined with fresh warm water they begin to breed faster and compete for the last scraps so the schull is picked clean making your job much easier. Bacteria slow in cooler temperatures and breeding slows tremendously . You have a great chanel hope to see to more keep up the good work
Thanks man, yeah people have asked why change the water because you are starting from 0 again but not really because there is still a lil bit of "juice" and plenty of bacteria on the skull itself to regrow the bacteria.
Grate video I will put heat and change the water often for now on think you for the time it took to do this video well done 👍🏻
You bet. Thanks for watching!
Awesome videos man , great job. I found a dead boar here in Florida, the spine and head are all intact, also found a gator head, going to try the bucket method I think bc it’s 90 here almost everyday. Thanks again!
Hey Nick! Sorry for the delayed response. That's great man, let me know how it turns out!
As a biologist, I'd expect the bacterial broth to grow faster and more plentiful in the warmed waters as long as they don't cook to a point of killing the bacteria.....think pasteurization or boiling water baths for canning foods. Also, even though I've not done a plenty of these and having access to horses, I've inoculated the broth with a few "road apples" that increased the starting load & variety of bacteria/protozoans in the soup. At water changes, I'd suggest leaving a pint to quart of the old broth to get the new water to growing faster also. Have fun.
Thanks for the input Bruce!
Another item I've recently learned that may be of benefit. Taking an air compressor with a plain ole triggered tip used for blowing dust off items. Modify tip slightly flatten and when trying to remove brains, slip tube up into spinal cord/brain stem cavity, preferably between dura mater layer and brain tissue, direct upward for placement. Place hand over the opening to prevent splash out/blow back all over you, then lightly pass some air in into it while orienting the nose upward. Hindbrain/cerebellum is removed this way for tissue sampling. I've not tried it, but would seem logical that other parts of the brain my also create a seal around the opening and be able to also blown out.
thanks for this videos, it was interesting for me there was a time when i wanted to clean and keep skulls, have i discovered these at that time would have been helpful
Actually, in my country we don't have baking soda or none of that, instead what I do to clean corpse wax it's leaving that skull I'm water with algae a few days, the algae provide oxygen, and the bacteria in the water clean the grease and the little bits of stuff in the ears, the brain cavity and other hard to reach parts
very good video! will definately try this in the future!
Great to hear! I did a more recent video on buck skulls if you are interested ruclips.net/video/YoMLietd3KQ/видео.htmlsi=4uFBADYel8cxbkrC
Maceration is the best because it avoids weakening the bone
Thank you. Doing this now with duck and chick skulls. Very cool. Subscribed too! Very thorough and I understood.
White bone creations is the guy to go to on RUclips
Thanks Adrian, yes he has a lot of videos on skull cleaning for sure!
Have you tried taking a rascal and putting a pressure washer to it? I wonder if that would speed up the process to almost instantly ready to go or maybe only a week in the macerator? Good channel I am joy watching it
So yes I think that could speed up the process. I stay away from pressure washers just simply to prevent accidentally damaging the skull. But yes I think you are right.
11:39 you look like murr from impractical Jokers
lol you know what, you are absolutely right. Gotta work on my ferret face lol
Very cool video very informative appreciate it to starting to do mine
Nice!
Thank you 😊 greetings from germany
I want to be your friend! I have so many questions!!! I loved this video, but now I have so many more questions!!!
Great video! Thank you!
How do you degrease after masurating a deer scull?
Do you use hot peroxide? What strength?
Great work!
just dish soap and water actually!!
Love your video, very informative…great job.
Awesome video! I learnt so much watching. Do you have a video concerning degreasing the skull?
Thanks for watching Umbalaba! Not yet, but you would just use the same setup and use clean water and about 1/2 cup dish soap for 3-4 gallons and just change every 3-5 days till de-greased.
Thank you very much! :-D
I just uploaded a video specifically for buck skull so you might find it helpful! ruclips.net/video/YoMLietd3KQ/видео.html
Thanks a lot for the wealth of info. I was given a knobby buck with little 3 inch long antlers. It is winter so I have it inside but never dumped the water since I put it in 2 weeks ago. I guess I better dump it. I wonder if nasty city water (I have) vs well water makes a difference? The city water is loaded with chlorine and fluoride so maybe that slows it. I filter the crap before I drink it but not using that for the bucket. Thanks again sweet video! So far I have learned how to do lots of stuff on RUclips including brain tanning hides. Learning more and more ways to use less of the critter I get
Hey TJ! Yeah probably a good idea to change the water :) SO I actually use city water and it works just fine. Any chlorine in the water doesn't seem to inhibit the bacteria from growing. Thanks for watching and glad you are learning some good stuff!
@@usskullhunter great glad to hear that will work too!
dude you are amazing love your videos keep up the great work
Thanks fro watching Jean!
Great video! Ive been cleaning skulls and collecting them for 8 years now. Maceration is in my opinion the best alternative to beetle cleaning. I use a very similar method to what you use. I use plastic buckets that I get from the restaurant that I work at so buckets don't cost me anything. Luckily I live in Florida so hot and humid pretty much all year long.
That's great Brandon! Yeah warmer weather def helps! Thanks for watching :)
Awesome video bud! Very good info, thanks!
Thanks Jonathan!
what about antlers? I have the suspicion that bacteria might attack antlers too over time, making that method not useful for trophies. Any experience?
Excellent video! I will be trying my first skeletons soon, starting with some bigger pond turtles (around 10 inches), you think the maceration method won't be damaging on the (I guess) rather fragile skeletons?
Maceration would be the most gentle method. However, due to how well it cleans the bones of turtles do come apart from each other. I am still trying to figure out how best to clean turtles
I got a fish tank that's been on a shelf for about 6 months.. this procedure of maceration probably has gone through the cycle on a long timeline with most if not all the bacteria being dead already.. i specifically think this because after i watched this vid i opened the tank up because i was interested in clearing up this tank and filling it/selling it/etc..
is it gonna smell..? i asked that sort of thing when i went to open it.... nope. Decomp is done for sure.. even the anerobic bacteria are done.
With you telling us of hydrogen peroxide at the end of the vid seems like the best way to start on this procedure either way. Give it a peroxide bath.
it was just unfortunate circumstances really how we lost our finned friends... and the length of time scared me in the end... i mean, they open tombs of ancient Egyptians and... well.. kaboom... isnt that a killer smell..eh?
I absolutely found this fascinating. Even in fish tanks the water tanks are important for the organisms (the fish) to have clean water.. so it makes sense to do frequent water changes with the bacteria themselves..
Great video sir. Well done...and awesome skullz!
Thanks Spacekat! Sorry about your finned friends :)
Thanks, great information. I have 2 beaver skulls I need to do. Can I use chlorinated city water or would I be better off with pond water? Also, how do you think it would work to put the skull in a perforated container for protection and sinking it in a pond?
Have you ever tried both the heater and the air. It should speed the process also add some sodium bicarbonate to help buffer the change in ph.
Hey Warren! So I actually learned why the added air did not work. There are 2 main types of bacteria, Aerobic and Anaerobic. Aerobic grows best with health amounts of oxygen, but two much will actually kill it. And anaerobic grows best with low amounts of oxygen. So the added air simply slows down the process because it is not the best environment for growth for either type of bacteria.
corpse wax is formed when the fats of the skull/dead body react with alkali and saponify. it feels like soap bc this is the same process that makes soap, basically they take an oil and add an alkali solution then add other stuff like fragrance & color. there could be some explanation for the water being slightly alkali though the carbon dioxide given out by the bacteria should theoretically form carbonic acid & neutralize any alkali ((that could explain why putting an air pump in it made more grave wax i guess))?? I’m failing chemistry so idk about that part but you could try adding a weak acid like lemon juice (vinegar could be a little strong)
Hey thanks for that! I will definitely have to read back through that a few times to remember all that :) So I think I actually did find and answer to why the air pump did not work. Now bare with me as I I speak mostly in layman's terms. So aerobic bacteria grows when oxygen is present, BUT! In conditions where the oxygen levels are elevated this will actually kill the aerobic bacteria. So basically water with very high oxygen levels prevents both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria from growing.
US Skull Hunter i guess that could be the reason why there was more grace wax haha
Thank you..have mummified or dessert leather skulls. This was very informative.
You bet!
Can you please do a video about bird 🐦 skulls? I would love to know more, thank you.
I’m looking to clean some leg and rib bones using this method
Yup :)
Question. Picked up some nice cow skulls. But cant get the mildew off . Peroxide soak didn't help any ideas ? Thanks man
Hmm, have you tried soaking in warm soapy water?
@@usskullhunter no I haven't.
@@benwicker5820 I can't guarantee it, but it's worth a try.
Try adding lye into the water. That will break down the fats. I'm curious about trying the pressure cooker method where you use heat and pressure to break down all the organics. It takes about 12 hours and there should be little smell. No degreasing and the liquid that's left it concentrated fertilizer ready to use.
Thanks man, I have never heard adding lye but you never know till you try! Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Thank you for the video.
Looking to do this in the future to be able to honour my sheep, especially any top rams and breeding ewes.
i would be interested to know how many skulls you have actually got and done this to, and what you do with them all!!!
Should you still use a pressure washer After using this method, or will it take care of all of it?
Skull Hunter...I am macerating a bear skull right now, however, since I live in Wisconsin I have to keep it in my basement which stays about 55 to 60 degrees, its taking forever....which is fine but I just changed the water and noticed my teeth are coming loose (I actually lost a small one, oh well) and some actually fell out. My question is how hard is it to figure out what tooth goes where? I figure its like working with a puzzle? I'm guessing that each tooth has it's own "home"???. Would you take them out as they loosen or leave them and let them fall out on there own?. Once again, I LOVE the videos! Keep up the great work!
Hey Darin, Yeah so that's completely normal as you probably know for the teeth to come out. It's really not that hard, you can always look up a bear skull on Google and see some pics for reference. Bear have a variety of teeth so that actually makes it easier to find where they go. I would take them out as they get loose and put them in a mesh bag (like the one I show in the video) and keep them with the skull throughout the rest of the process. Hope that helps!
My stomach is far too weak to ever try this, but it was fascinating to see how it's done. Thanks!
Haha thanks Sallie :)
How do you skin and deflesh the skull without damaging the bones?
Just curious, how do you run the aquarium heater cord out of the bucket?
I've had a hummingbird skull I've had soaking for at least 4 weeks. Seems to be taking forever! I've changed the water twice since the temperature hasn't been very warm lately. I'm not sure if it's the water I'm using, or what.
Whats the best way to degrease the skull and cleanup after maceration
What if there's a lot of meat left on the skull. And are you submerging the skulls in a full bucket of water?
What about when their are deer antlers. Is that a problem of the antlers are in the water as well? Appreciated the video.
Hey! So I actually made a video specifically about macerating buck skulls here ruclips.net/video/YoMLietd3KQ/видео.htmlsi=CFZ2iNNPqlmLj-ML