Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #10

Putting back a fish skull seems to be harder than expected! I must admit that my first attempt at putting back the skull was rather slow. I couldn't figure out which part goes where, even with the pictures that I took.

So I had to resort to intense research on the Internet for information on each part of the skull.

Finally had the necessary information and tried to piece them back together.

Finally completed!

The tough part was figuring out how the individual bones most likely fit as the skull is actually held together by flesh, skin and membranes.

I also omitted some parts that I think would have not contributed to a nicer skull structure.

From this:

to this:

There you have it! A close resemblance to an actual skull of a Coral Trout (Plectropomus leopardus)


Feel free to leave any comments on this whole process!

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #9

Having dried the bones in the sun for another 2-3 days, it's time for the final cleaning of the bones after Hydrogen Peroxide solution process.

There might still be some fatty deposits(white stuff) stuck to the nooks and crannies of the bones so it's best to try to remove as much of these stuff as you can. This will prevent smell or insect 'visiting' your bone collection.

Then place all the bones in pairs to ensure you have all your pieces. Sometimes, some larger pieces may break off to become smaller pieces during the acetone and H2O2 process.

I start off by gluing back some of the teeth that have fallen out.

Luckily for these set of teeth, most of the bigger teeth stayed on but its the little teeth that are most difficult! You just have to put them back where you think they fit!

I'm laying the bones out to see what fits where. Luckily I took some photos as I was removing the flesh from the bones. Hopefully with those pictures, I can slowly reconstruct the skull.

Check back to see the progress!

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #8

Finally satisfied with the whiteness of the bones.

Removed from Hydrogen Peroxide solution and dried under the hot sun. (Scorching hot these few days!!)


The pictures below will give a reference of the colouring of the bones during the whole bone cleaning process.

Left bones - out from water maceration after about 14-21 days

Middle bones - out from acetone solution after about 7-10 days

Right bones - out from 50% Hydrogen Peroxide and 50% water solution after about 7-10 days

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #7

An update on the whitening process of the bones.

Day 1 of adding Hydrogen Peroxide

Day 4 of Hydrogen Peroxide

You can see that the bones have whiten up and there are bubbles on the bones! Good progress!

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #6

Finally it's time to whiten the bones.

Gathered up all the bones and back into a glass bottle. Poured Hydrogen Peroxide and water into the bottle. The ratio should be 50:50 and must cover all the bones.

Going to leave the bottle for about a week or so OR up to the level of whiteness to your liking.

The lid of the bottle must be left loose as the Hydrogen Peroxide needs oxygen to react to make the bones white. Check the bottle often to see its progress. It's normal to see bubbles forming on the bones.

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #5

It's been about a week since I soaked the bones in acetone. The acetone is supposed to remove the grease from the bones. The bones turned yellow, which is normal. 

I then placed all the bones in a shallow painting tray and filled it with water.

I'm going to do the final removal of any remaining flesh on the bones, picking them out from all the nooks and crannies of the bones. The remaining flesh is quite easily noticeable as they appear as white specks.

Then a final rinse in water again. If you have those jet-spray type of kitchen tap, that'll help in getting the flesh out too!

Once you're satisfied with the 'cleanliness' of the bones, can put them out to dry again. I'm going to dry them for 1 day.

Next step is the whitening process. Check back frequently to see the progress!

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #4

Bones and teeth have been left to dry for more than 2 days actually. Been busy with work.

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!

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #3

After the 2nd water change and 2 weeks of maceration, this is the result.

The water is not so cloudy anymore but you can still see bits and pieces of flesh/fat on the surface.

I threw away the water and removed the bones from the bottle. Rinsed the bones in water and used my long needle to scrape out any other visible specks of flesh.

As you can see, the bone is rather yellowish and slightly sticky to the touch. After cleaning the bones thoroughly, a final rinse and put out in the sun to dry.

Going to dry them for about 2 days.

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #2

This is the result after about 1 week of maceration. The water is very cloudy and stinky! You can see some flesh and fats floating at the surface.

Threw away the water and re-filled it with fresh tap water again. Macerate for another week!

Check back for the results!

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #1

After doing some test specimens, now I'm ready to try to do a whole fish skull. You can follow my blog as I've just started on a new specimen.

Tools:

Tweezers, long needle, glass bottles, hydrogen peroxide, acetone, glue (I use Duco cement)

Step 1
Removed the head of the fish at one of the vertebrae. Chose a nice sized head of Coral Trout. Looks to have a pretty nice set of teeth!

Step 2 - Maceration (2 options)

Cold maceration - This means you have to try to remove all the meat and flesh on the fish head with a knife. Remove as much as you can and then place the head in a bottle. Fill it with tap water and place it in a warm place. This slow maceration might take up to a month to complete. Change the water every week or so until the water runs clear.

Fast maceration - This method requires you to place the fish head into a saucepan filled with water. Slowly heat up the water but NOT to boiling point. Just hot enough for the flesh on the head to be easily separated.

I choose Fast maceration!

At this point, I just try to remove as much meat as I can from the fish

After removing all the flesh that I can, I put it in a glass bottle and fill it with water.

Let's wait for a week!