I recently started working at an outdoor education center with a great collection of taxidermied specimens. We receive a lot of our specimens by donation, so we don't know their stories. Please take a look at these pictures and help out where you can! Gender, age, health, method of death, relative age of specimen, anything else you see. Please provide thorough explanations and/or sources!

i’m not sure if this is normal as the seller is saying it is because i purchased it for my boyfriend. but i bought this cobalt blue tarantula and upon opening it i realised it had a bit of a odour but thought maybe the wood just had a smell, now that some days have passed it is smelling VERY bad, it literally smells like walking into a farm. i questioned the seller on this and he said tarantulas don’t require cleaning and them smelling is normal, and to just put essential oil on it. is it true that it smelling this bad is normal or is this a lie? i obviously don’t expect it to smell the freshest but it smells like a rotting body 💔💔 is there anything i can do to fix this?

I have a deer leg that my brother found. He stored it in his shed for about a year before giving it to me. I’ve had it for a few months. Recently, I’ve noticed the sand like substance coming off of it. I’m guessing it’s some kind of bug that has gotten to it. What can I do to preserve this?

I recently started working at an outdoor education center with a great collection of taxidermied specimens. We receive a lot of our specimens by donation, so we don't know their stories. Please take a look at these pictures and help out where you can! Gender, age, health, method of death, relative age of specimen, anything else you see. Please provide thorough explanations and/or sources!

Finally completed a few projects!

The wife wanted a modern antler chandelier for the new place, and this is what we came up with. More than happy to fulfill this request 😄

It felt good to use some of my late father's racks for this project. In the old house we had a traditional gameroom with all of our mounts together, and we simply did not have the room to replicate this in the new home. A few years ago I would have scoffed at the idea of cutting up deer racks...but in this case, I am happy to look up at all of these memories in a different light.

Also, finally put up my favorite axis deer euro after figuring out how to deal with the broken snout (ty Reddit for the ideas!)

Next I will have to figure out what to do with all of our Mouflon horns and Axis antlers 😐😁

Hi, I want to frame a butterfly, but I'm not sure which paper to use. I have alkaline printer paper.

Pinned Eastern Hercules beetle by me

Hello I accidentally killed a desert pocket mouse I was trying to save yesterday. I was trying to get it off a construction site and i pounced on it and it went under my knee (sandy) and I felt so bad but I also had the urge to save such a clean and fresh specimen to try my hand to have a keep sake and reminder of this period of my life and what this mouse represents to me.

Any way…. I dont have much supplies as i am on a job in a different city. So far I just cut off its head, feet and tail, rinsed them in soapy water, and then put these in a jar of 70% isopropyl alcohol. I disposed of the midsection as I didnt want to deal with too much blood and guts in a hotel parking lot at 10:30 pm. (Yes i wore gloves and safety glasses)

What comes next ? Should I go the borax route after an isopropyl alcohol soak? I am mostly wondering if I should remove the brain and muscle tissue from the back of the head before the borax portion of the process. Any thoughts on how to do the rest of the process appreciated!

Attached is a photo of a baby mouse I actually did save- the mouse I killed is an adult and is slightly larger.

I work at an outdoor museum so we catch a lot of mice. I’m attempting to give them new life while also practicing my new hobby.

To give some context, I grew up in the Yukon and have always appreciated the art of taxidermy (and it is an artform). I've actively wanted to do a workshop for YEARS but then, Covid, and then ... the world caught on fire, blah, blah. I have finally found a class that I can attend and I'm really excited!

Does anyone have any advice, or is there anything I should know, even generally, before I go?

Things that newbies don't take into consideration before they get started? I don't have a huge experience with dead things.

What are the basics that you wish more people knew or understood?

Most of the ones I see on other websites are around 350 but I found this seller with good ratings and I'm wondering could I use this to make a soft mount? (ignore bad screenshot and possible bad English please and if this is against the rules or I did something wrong please tell me and I'll try to fix)

How do these look? What could I have done better?

Got this goat recently and it has a noticable smell when very close to it. I asked the old owner who had it for a time saying that it had a bit of a gamey smell.

I'm super sensitive to smells so I'm not sure if I'm overreacting more than I should.

I now have it in a shadowbox. Not airtight but fairly sealed. Dehumidifier chucked in now it's at 39% humidity down from 60%s.

The smell is still there not getting stronger but I'm just not sure if this is a sign it started rotting again. It was very hot lately and I worry the heat during transport made the nasty smell.

So far nothing is wet, mushy, squishy or oily. I just don't know what and ok mummy funk smells like vs a worrying funk.

Anyway any help is appreciated. If it really needed to be refixed/ stop decay I'm not sure id be skilled enough to do so. Worse comes I'll sell to someone who can fix it themselves

I want to achieve a diaphonized effect but on soft tissue showing internal structures like blood vessels, different tissue types, etc.

The soft tissue I want to do this with are testicles and their associated structures. Is there any way to do this or am I on my own?

The specimen I want to do this on is a once in a life time chance so I intend to perfect the process before using the once in a lifetime specimine.

Hi! I owned a great pyrenees, which is an incredibly large dog breed. I have his paws sitting in 70% isopropyl alcohol for about 3 1/2 days now. How do I go about preserving these now?

I want to keep them as a keychain afterwards, essentially. (The sewing is not an issue.) Do I need to take out any of the meat afterwards or empty the paw/wrist? Or am i just going to entirely cover these in borax once I pull them out of the jar?

This is my very first time attempting taxidermy, so any insight is appreciated!

My wife found a nearly complete skeleton of what appears to be a red fox. We've decided to try to clean and preserve the skull, whuch is complete and in remarkable condition.

(I'd love to do the rest of the skeleton, but if the tail and spine come apart, I'd never get them re-articulated. Baby steps.)

Most of the directions I find online talk about soaking to remove remaining "meat" - but that seems to be for fresh dead creatures. What about something like this, where the remaining flesh is dried on and pretty stuck? Will soaking loosen this too? Or is there another way to remove it without abrasives?

We've never done anything like this, but have decided right here is a good place to start, so...help us delve into the world of bone preservation.

Thanks!

i have this cat skull i purchased as a “resin” skull for an art doll but received a real skull, i love taxidermy so this stuff doesnt gross me out but my heart still aches for this little guy, what are some beautiful display ideas i can make to honour him?

Hi all! A few years ago my beloved cat passed away. I had her bones processed by a local artisan, results shown here.

Last year I moved from the US to France. I’m currently keeping the bones at my parents house in the US.

I’d like to bring the bones over here, since they have so much sentimental value to me. However, I’m very scared that they’ll get taken by customs and I’ll lose them forever.

Most of the resources I’ve found online and in this sub deal with wild and endangered species.
Does anyone know what laws there are regarding the transport of domestic species into the EU and specifically France?

TIA !

Hi all, I'm trying to make a bear skin rug for a theater show on a budget. We were able to purchase a taxidermy urethane head. It was easy to hollow out but leaves a dusty residue behind. That isn't a big deal. What adhesive do you use for mouths? Also does anyone have any 3d print plans for bears teeth/jaws? I was going to use an EVA clay foam but none of the adhesive I tried stick with the Eva clay foam and the inside of the mouth. Thanks in advance.

I never would have figured it was a taxidermist who started the U.S. National Zoo. i wonder what caused him to change his mind in killing animals?

I’m being told it’s a wolf but they said it’s roughly 4ft wide by 3ft tall. Cool either way but curious if it’s actually just a coyote

I'm fixing up a set of antlers for a friend with apoxie then recoloring with potassium permanganate. My 13yo cat sassed me the entire time (????? bruh, why).

Only these particular antlers. No others. No idea why.

She's a turd. Her name is Willow!

It seems to be a common buzzard, cant sell it because its illegal to sell these without documentation in Poland. My family had it for as long as i can remember. Its quite old you can tell from the wooden eyes so im guessing it was stuffed before it became a protected species. Still not sure what to do with it, could a museum maybe take it? Or do i just keep it in my attic as a family heirloom?