So here they are after drying out in the sun.
Looks like it's going to be a tough 3D jigsaw puzzle for me to put them back together!
Made sure that most pieces are in pairs and to find any loose teeth that might have fallen off.
Now I placed them back into a strainer bag and into a bottle. Used 2 bottles as there were many bones/parts for this fish head.
Poured acetone till it covers all the bones.
++++++++++++++ WARNING!! +++++++++++
ACETONE IS A FLAMMABLE LIQUID. KEEP AWAY FROM FLAMES AND DO NOT BREATHE IN THE FUMES. WEAR A MASK!
++++++++++++++ WARNING!! +++++++++++
Closed it up and left in a cool, dry place. Will check on it in a week or so.
Feel free to ask any question in the comments section on bone preservation!
Excellent job there Glen, thanks for sharing. The timing cudnt be any better coz iv got a huge cuda head in my freezer after it failed my 15min of cnr effort. Im still in 2minds about bone preservation methods. 1 the easy fast maceration with hot water. But i will be left with a messy jigsaw puzzle i have no confidence or fixing together. A pal of mine suggested to skip this method especially for cuda it aint ez everything falls apart. The 2nd method is peeling as much meat as u can after it cools down n defrosted n leave the bugs to do the rest (dermestids) thats supoz to be what the museum does. But in our local context i think the normal mealworms from pet shops should do the trick. Idea is to let them clean up all the meat n leave the bones n teeth intact. I was thinking of going this way actually. Im kinda afraid i cant fix back all the pieces in the correct order. The more experienced fish bones taxidermist seem to share n advise this method as it preserves more of the original skeletal structure n teeth dun fall off. Was wondering if u tried this method. One major concert with the bugs is they wud stink the house. I have no clue how long to expect them to finish the job. Cheers Leo
ReplyDeleteHi Leo,
DeleteI did read up about using bugs(dermistids) to clean the fish skull. Didn't go down that road because I'm afraid of the smell and possibility of the bugs escaping n eating other things in the house! I live in an apartment and if I were to try the bugs method with the smell, I think I'll be sleeping outside with them!
I've no experience in mealworms, I only know to use them as food for arowanas!
I think whatever method you choose, fixing back the skull structure is going to be a challenge. That's why I took some pictures while de-constructing the skull. Hopefully with the help of the pictures, I can put them back.
I'm also in the process of macerating a full Cuda skull. Will post them up during reconstruction!
Cheers