Sailfin skeleton - GRAPHIC

[Dan]

The following posts will contain graphic images of dead rodents and later on reptiles in various states of decay.

If you do not wish to see these images PLEASE do not continue to read the post.

You have been warned, i would hope that you do not hold either myself or the forum responsible should you choose to continue and be disturbed by the images.

DISCLAIMER:
The following images are of previously euthanised rodents or of animals that have died through natural causes. NO animals have been harmed in the process.


Now that's done i'll upload the first images.

[tombraider]

really looking forward to these.

[Dan]

After previous tests with rodents i have now moved on to a larger lizard.

The animal was a Sailfin lizard Hydrosaurus amboinensis.

In previous tests it was established that mealworms work very quickly but are tempremental when it comes to humidity. For that reason i have skinned and gutted the animal. I have left areas of concern with the skin on (toes) to give me extra time to catch excess eating on the part of the mealworms.

The animal itself was a WC specimen that unfortunately died for unknown reasons (after a close examination with untrained eyes of the major organs i could see nothing obvious).

As you can see by the following pictures this male was approx 3.5 feet and in fairly good condition. Slight damage to the fin although this will not be noticeable in the finished item:

[Dan]

The first job to do was removing the skin and as much flesh as safe to do with a large clumsy blad (in comparison to little teeth). After 1.5 hours i have been left with this:







Towards the end of this part of the job i had started to get cramp in my hands (holding knives in awkward positions) and started to make mistakes. The most noticeable of which was when i accidentaly broke off half of the tail. Towards the end it is very fragile without skin to hold it all together so i made the decison to stop before i caused further damage.

[Dan]

I am EXTREMELY unhappy at myself for making such a mistake, i should know better than to continue when i am not working as precisely as i can. The damage looks only to be flesh and not bone so it may be ok, i will know soon enough.
Either way, i have left this section with the skin and flesh on. If the mealworms struggle i will look at other options. The seperate tail section:



My apolgies for the overall pic quality, my hands had not stopped cramping fully while i was trying to hold the camera still.

I have placed the remains in a viv to "cook" overnight. Tomorrow when the remains have dried out i will look at moving them to a container so i can add mealworms and carry out regular observations (ie 2 hourly as a maximum)

[captaincaveman]

it looks like your gonna get a lot cleaner result than the mouse, how are you planning to keep the bones together when done?

[Dan]

Yeah, it should be quite a clean job. I will be using less worms than previously aswell so i can keep a close eye on what goes on.

The bones will be held together with either superglue or epoxy resin. The whole thing will then get a thin coat of varnish that should not only keep the bones in good condition but will add to the general strength of the joints

[captaincaveman]

so the tail shouldn't be an issue then

[Kev132]

Interesting. cant wait to see the finnished project.... good luck mate

[dannyj]

That looks awsome

Whats next??