kingsnake taxidermy

[corvid2e1]

I finaly got hold of the suplies I needed to mount my kingsnake mentioned in previous threads and, as requested, I have taken pictures throughout the whole process. I am not quite 100% happy with her, but I still have a bit more work to do yet, and considering it is the first reptile I have attempted, it hasn't turned out to bad.

salting. the skin is soaked in salt water overnight. this helps to preserve it and also makes it easier to remove any remaining flesh, fat or membrane that may be still attached to the skin.


making the body form. for this artificial body I have used clay suported by wire. I have not tried this method before for any of my other mounts but for a snake it seemed a good way to do it. when I do the boa constrictors next I will have to consider somthing else though, as it used quite a bit of clay, and is quite delicate.


the glass eyes. these came as blank eyes and had to be hand painted, since ready made reptile eyes are hard to get hold of at the best of times. albino reptile eyes are pretty much imposable.

[corvid2e1]

for the next stage, the skin was rinsed and the exess water drained off, then a specilist tanning soloution was painted on to both sides of the skin.



one of the areas I was slightly worried about was the two scars from her operations, however they have turned out ok, and just look like a fold of skin.


you can see that for most of the length, the skin has been split down the centre of the belly scales, however the first few inches behind the head I have kept complete. this is because when the mount is finnished, the head will be raised slightly, so the join would be visable.

[markhill]

thats really good, i'll be watching this with interest

[corvid2e1]

the skin was then rolled up in a plastic bag and left to sit for a few hours. this gives the tanning soloution time to soak into the skin properly, without it drying out.


after this, the eyes were set into the body form. this was left until now so that they could be adjusted as needed as the skin was put on.


the head skin was then fitted over the form and tested for size, then the apropriate adjustments could be made to the form. the minor details, particualy around the head were constantly altered throughout the mounting proccess.

[Snakes r grreat]

very interesting, look forward to the final result.

[cornmorphs]

that is proper wierd.. not seen it dont myself.

[corvid2e1]

this is how she sits at the moment. the majoraty of the work is now done, although the belly still needs to be joined. I will do this tomorow then everything has had a chance to dry out a bit. as I said, I am not compleatly happy. there are still quite a few lumps along the body that, although aren't to obvious when you see her (they actuly show up worse in the photos), but are easy to feel. I will see what I can do about this problem tomorow. eventualy she will also be mounted on a base with some groundwork, which will also help to hide the inperfections.

[Dan]

Looking very good.

I have some stuffed snakes here. The form is a wire core with thick cotton wool like material.

[solidius]

wow amazing is all i can say

[bosshogg]

excellent will keep an eye on here for the finished article