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It’s been awhile since I last cleaned up skulls, so I’ll tweet my progress on the eastern spotted skunk (in the dish) and the American mink. I just pulled them from a warm bath to soak the hot glue off. I just completed the skunk! Working on the mink.
Now that I’ve pulled off as much of the hot glue as I could, I’m gently giving each skull a clear dish soap scrub just to get any other dirt or glue, etc off the surface of the bone before I degrease.
I’m not starting the degrease tonight so just gonna let them chill here for now!
It’s warm and sunny on the balcony this morning and these guys won’t take long to degrease since they’re small.
Remember to never mix bleach with ammonia (please don’t use bleach on your skulls anyways...) and to keep ammonia (fumes are aggressive) degreasing baths outside.
Remember to never mix bleach with ammonia (please don’t use bleach on your skulls anyways...) and to keep ammonia (fumes are aggressive) degreasing baths outside.
If you don’t have mesh bags on hand, I recommend separating your skulls during the degreasing and whitening processes because you’ll mix up teeth otherwise. Ammonia will pull the teeth, especially tiny incisors, from the bone and you’ll find them at the bottom of your tubs.
Looking good! Remember to not pull skulls from their degreasing baths to examine the progress with your bare hands. Protect your skin! The degreasing process can take a long time. The key is to be patient. Don’t rush.
I upgraded! 
Got myself a bucket heater and some mesh bags to keep skulls separate.
I brought my bath to the desired temperature (not to exceed 120 degree F) and decided to add some of my earlier skulls that have trouble spots to the same bath with the spotted skunk and mink.
Got myself a bucket heater and some mesh bags to keep skulls separate. I brought my bath to the desired temperature (not to exceed 120 degree F) and decided to add some of my earlier skulls that have trouble spots to the same bath with the spotted skunk and mink.
Adding my swift fox and bobcat to the bath as well. The bobcat as a pretty rough grease spot on the underside of the maxilla that the dish soap method couldn’t take out.
Checking on the bath yielded discolored water: it’s working well already! 
Adding more ammonia to the bath today. My porcupine skull arrived last night but was dropped off at the apartment office and I wasn’t able to get to it on time before it closed! I’ll grab it and get it in the bath in just a bit!
You never want your liquid level to drop below the bucket heater and heated ammonia evaporates quick. Luckily it’s very cheap to purchase at Walmart. I also dropped the temp of the bath to 105. The timer was unable to turn the heater off in time at 110 to avoid hitting 120.
BTW, I have my HD set to 3 degrees (F) and my CD at 2 degrees with my temp set at 105. The alarm is to go off if the bath rises above 119 or drops below 90. It’s been at a constant 104-106 since I dropped the temperature, which is a good temp to get skulls well degreased.
Into the bath the porcupine goes. I’ll have to change out the ammonia for a fresh bath probably by next weekend.
I pulled my black-tailed prairie dog from the ammonia bath last night and moved to a non-heated whitening bath this morning. I processed the prairie dog over the summer but used the Dawn soap method and was unable to pull some of the yellow. It’ll chill here for 24 hours.
Reminder to wear gloves! 40 volume developer can really sting your skin and turn it white! If you get any on you, run under hot water to speed up the activation.
Let’s hope the yellow on the nasal bone and the incisors lift some more. It lifted quite a bit during its week in the heated ammonia bath. If not, I’ll take the hit and just have a yellow nasal’d prairie dog.
It’s working omg!!!!! The yellow is lifting!
EXTREME HAPPINESS
I’m gonna give it another 24 hours and I’ll pull it. I’m very happy and this gives me hope for my swift fox that has a pretty major greasy spot on the mandible that the dish soap method couldn’t pull.
Pulled the prairie dog! Going to let it sit for about an hour in a soapy bath then rinse and let dry! This one is just about cleaned!
Also I pulled the domestic cat, the swift fox and the bobcat from the heated ammonia bath and gonna also let them get soapy before moving them to a whitening bath!
Prairie dog out to dry! I also am letting the fox and the kitties dry between baths. I’ll get them in a whitening bath tomorrow!
All dried! I’ll be reassembling this evening!
Additionally, the ammonia bath did a great job pulling the trouble spots from the bobcat and the swift fox. I’m really pleased! They will be headed into a whitening bath later today.
Time to whiten up! I’ll have to glue the domestic cat back together when it finishes!
Also LOL the color of the newer ammonia (clear) bath already because of the porcupine.
I decided to move the bobcat to its own container. I was trying to stretch what I had of my developer, but diluting it just a tad won’t hurt.
I know it’s a tad difficult to tell because of the reflection but.... holy moly, the yellow is pulling right out of the swift fox! I’m SO PLEASED!!
Rock squirrel degreased! Though it looks like the ammonia bath was a tad hard on the fragile areas of the zygomatic arches. Something to keep in mind with next time. The prairie dog stayed intact. The rock squirrel is a tad older and likely was just a tad more frail.
The mink degreased WELL. There is still a bit of a trouble areas around the canines and back of the incisors but I bet I can mostly pull it with the developer. I’m ready to move it to a bubble soak then a whitening bath.
Last but not least, the spotted skunk! The larger notch out of the zygomatic arch is from the seller. Looks like the heated bath was a little hard on these arches too. So reminder to check smaller-sized skulls more periodically while in the bath to save zygos.... Still pleased!
These guys are gonna go into a soapy bath then I’ll get them rinsed before moving them to a whitening bath whenever my newly purchased developer arrives in the mail!
Large improvement on the porcupine but it still has a ways to go! Back in the heated bath!
Progress pictures of the swift fox! This is a MASSIVE improvement! Gonna put it back in for just a bit longer.
Bobcat progress pictures! Again, large improvement.
Here’s the completed prairie dog! https://twitter.com/craniatology/status/1357924896844750851
Swift fox is doing so well! Gonna return it for maybe a few more days tops to the whitening bath as see if those faint trouble spots can be further lifted. If not, it turned out great for the condition it was in!!
Some quick tips for sink rinsing! You will lose teeth! Protect the teeth from escaping:
1. A mesh bag fine enough to keep even the smallest teeth inside is NICE
2. A sink strainer is ALSO NICE
3. I use spice/salsa dishes to hold skull parts.
4. Wear latex gloves with peroxide.
1. A mesh bag fine enough to keep even the smallest teeth inside is NICE
2. A sink strainer is ALSO NICE
3. I use spice/salsa dishes to hold skull parts.
4. Wear latex gloves with peroxide.
Bobcat is ready to be pulled to go in a soap bath before drying and reassembling!
Rock squirrel, American mink and eastern spotted skunk pulled to dry before being moved to the whitening bath. Bobcat in a soap bath for now. Will pull to dry after a bit!
Time for the whitening bath.
Bobcat is finally pulled to dry! It is now officially completed! Just needs to be reassembled, which I will do later in the week. The skull as to COMPLETELY dry before being glued.
Rock squirrel is complete! Into a warm soap bath then to dry for reassembling!
Progress on the eastern spotted skunk (1st and 2nd pics) and the American mink (3rd and 4th pics). Gonna return the skunk to the whitening bath and the mink back to the ammonia bath for more work.
Swift fox isn’t perfect, but I’m ready to be done with it. This is round 2 of processing. It’s in MUCH better shape than it was. Into the soap bath with the rock squirrel, then to dry and reassemble.
Also pulling the domestic cat. To a soap bath then to dry and finally reassemble.
