Dog Skull Maceration OR Another Disturbing Project by Bio [WARNING: GRAPHIC PICS!!!]

fishycat said:
Ah, I remember a Dirty Jobs episode where Mike Rowe had to do this... only it was a huge plastic tub with an entire capibara or other large rodent. He had a really tough time with the smell... the company was "Skulls Unlimited" in Oklahoma City. They also used carrion beetles and had a huge cauldron/vat for boiling large animals like horses.

This is a very interesting thread. :)
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Skulls Unlimited is a great company to get odd bones, skulls, and skeletons from!

I'm doing the same thing right now with an entire cat, a new one. This one was given to me by my high school bio teacher. My brother took her AP Bio class last year and they dissected a cat. It's soaked in formaldehyde. Will that require any extra work?

I'm also working on a small black rat snake and 2.5 catfish skeletons. The snake was at a friend's house and I found the catfish on a river bank.
 
Death Pony said:
Skulls Unlimited is a great company to get odd bones, skulls, and skeletons from!

I'm doing the same thing right now with an entire cat, a new one. This one was given to me by my high school bio teacher. My brother took her AP Bio class last year and they dissected a cat. It's soaked in formaldehyde. Will that require any extra work?

I'm also working on a small black rat snake and 2.5 catfish skeletons. The snake was at a friend's house and I found the catfish on a river bank.
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Skulls Unlimited is excellent....IF you have a LOT of money. Their stuff is museum quality, and EXPENSIVE. You can find most of the common stuff MUCH cheaper on sites like Ebay.

Hmmmm. The formaldehyde cat is going to be tricky. The issue is, it was soaked in something that is supposed to STOP exactly the processes you WANT going. Insects aren't going to touch it...not even most bacteria will. Not for a loooooong time. I think your best bet will be boiling, but it is going to be DIFFICULT to piece this guy back together when you are done. I would get filter bags, and dismember the cat into sections. Remove as much flesh as possible, and put one limb in each bag, the head in one bag, the neck, spine and ribs in one bag, and the tail in one bag. Get a big pot, and simmer them, OUTSIDE. Make sure you do this OUTSIDE, there could be some dangerous fumes released. Make sure you clean the skull out first. If there is brain inside, it will expand and crack the brain case. Just push a bent wire up the foramen magnum, swirl it around to break up the brain, and use a hose or something to force water up to wash it out. As the bones simmer, remove them every 30 minutes or so, and try to get more flesh off.
This is just my best guess and advice, though. I have never tried prepping a preserved specimen, as the time and labor involved is generally not worth the result. It is much easier to go roadkill hunting! :D
 
BioHazard said:
Hmmmm. The formaldehyde cat is going to be tricky. The issue is, it was soaked in something that is supposed to STOP exactly the processes you WANT going. Insects aren't going to touch it...not even most bacteria will. Not for a loooooong time. I think your best bet will be boiling, but it is going to be DIFFICULT to piece this guy back together when you are done. I would get filter bags, and dismember the cat into sections. Remove as much flesh as possible, and put one limb in each bag, the head in one bag, the neck, spine and ribs in one bag, and the tail in one bag. Get a big pot, and simmer them, OUTSIDE. Make sure you do this OUTSIDE, there could be some dangerous fumes released. Make sure you clean the skull out first. If there is brain inside, it will expand and crack the brain case. Just push a bent wire up the foramen magnum, swirl it around to break up the brain, and use a hose or something to force water up to wash it out. As the bones simmer, remove them every 30 minutes or so, and try to get more flesh off.
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:22_yikes: :eek: :yuck: :crazy: :barf:


That about sums up my feelings on this, lmao!!!
 
BioHazard said:
Skulls Unlimited is excellent....IF you have a LOT of money. Their stuff is museum quality, and EXPENSIVE. You can find most of the common stuff MUCH cheaper on sites like Ebay.

Hmmmm. The formaldehyde cat is going to be tricky. The issue is, it was soaked in something that is supposed to STOP exactly the processes you WANT going. Insects aren't going to touch it...not even most bacteria will. Not for a loooooong time. I think your best bet will be boiling, but it is going to be DIFFICULT to piece this guy back together when you are done. I would get filter bags, and dismember the cat into sections. Remove as much flesh as possible, and put one limb in each bag, the head in one bag, the neck, spine and ribs in one bag, and the tail in one bag. Get a big pot, and simmer them, OUTSIDE. Make sure you do this OUTSIDE, there could be some dangerous fumes released. Make sure you clean the skull out first. If there is brain inside, it will expand and crack the brain case. Just push a bent wire up the foramen magnum, swirl it around to break up the brain, and use a hose or something to force water up to wash it out. As the bones simmer, remove them every 30 minutes or so, and try to get more flesh off.
This is just my best guess and advice, though. I have never tried prepping a preserved specimen, as the time and labor involved is generally not worth the result. It is much easier to go roadkill hunting! :D
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I remember the brain thing from the last one...... There's still a stain on the rock it splattered on. Luckily the head was cut in half and I can remove all of that easily. I'm not concerned with keeping everything in order, as it will be turned into a piece of wearable art (the model will have a underlayer between them and the bones) or an abstract sculpture. I'll put the skull back together with wire binding and sheet metal.

Is the dog skull ready yet? And thanks for the tips again!
 
Death Pony said:
I remember the brain thing from the last one...... There's still a stain on the rock it splattered on. Luckily the head was cut in half and I can remove all of that easily. I'm not concerned with keeping everything in order, as it will be turned into a piece of wearable art (the model will have a underlayer between them and the bones) or an abstract sculpture. I'll put the skull back together with wire binding and sheet metal.

Is the dog skull ready yet? And thanks for the tips again!
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Ahhh, the bisected head will make brain removal easier this time, lol.

Sound like this project is going to look really cool! Just watch as you simmer the bones that the skull does not fall apart. They like to separate into their respective portions if they are boiled too briskly. You want a nice simmer, not a rolling boil.

I haven't checked it since the last photos, but I doubt it. The weather has been good to me, in that it has been way too freakin hot for the likes of this cold lover. That should have it decomposing well. I need to get it out again soon and try to do some flesh removal, but I have misplaced most of my dissection kit. I will have to run by the university store and pick up another one. Hopefully it is coming along though. I would like to have it done before the weather starts to get too cold. Eventually, the bacteria will die when the water gets too cool. At that point, I would likely bury in and mark the spot, then exhume it next summer. I had it in our freezer once, but I daresay my mom will not let me put it in again. I need to get the stuff currently in there over to the U as it is!
I will try to break open the bucket again in the upcoming week, and see how we are progressing. I will be curious to see if the red bacteria is still as prevalent.
 
BioHazard said:
Ahhh, the bisected head will make brain removal easier this time, lol.

Sound like this project is going to look really cool! Just watch as you simmer the bones that the skull does not fall apart. They like to separate into their respective portions if they are boiled too briskly. You want a nice simmer, not a rolling boil.

I haven't checked it since the last photos, but I doubt it. The weather has been good to me, in that it has been way too freakin hot for the likes of this cold lover. That should have it decomposing well. I need to get it out again soon and try to do some flesh removal, but I have misplaced most of my dissection kit. I will have to run by the university store and pick up another one. Hopefully it is coming along though. I would like to have it done before the weather starts to get too cold. Eventually, the bacteria will die when the water gets too cool. At that point, I would likely bury in and mark the spot, then exhume it next summer. I had it in our freezer once, but I daresay my mom will not let me put it in again. I need to get the stuff currently in there over to the U as it is!
I will try to break open the bucket again in the upcoming week, and see how we are progressing. I will be curious to see if the red bacteria is still as prevalent.
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If I remember correctly, the brain has already been removed.
I'll keep that in mind if I take that route. I might let one of my bio major friends tear into it. She likes disgusting projects and might enjoy disemboweling the preserved cat, and skinning it.

It looks like most of the formaldehyde has leached out of the corpse and the flesh is starting to fall off. I'll check it's progress next time I'm home. It's been sitting under a deck, covered by a tarp, so heat is in abundance.

I've found straight razors to be very helpful with removing large chunks of tissue.
 
I don't know why but I am fascinated by this thread. :o

I can just picture a visitor to your home for the holidays. They--trying to assist with the kitchen 'stuff'--open the freezer to get out a turkey and out tumbles a bag containing your dog head.

The look on your Mothers face would be priceless!:woot: And a new family story would be born!!
 
Death Pony

if you soak the specimen in water with an excess of ammonia -- e.g. straight, non-surfactant, non-scented store ammonia -- and then rinse it well, you can probably get rid of the formaldehyde.

as long as the water remains basic (not acid; pH>7.5 as i recall) the hexamine formed by the ammonia and formaldehyde will remain intact and go away with the rinse water. the ammonia wash is not a problem (ammonia is very basic), but make sure the rinse water is basic as well. if the pH goes down, the hexamine decomposes back into formaldehyde and ammonia, which is how many preservatives and prescription drugs like "methenamine" work.

with luck, a couple of passes with ammonia water should do the trick, and your single- and multi-celled scavengers can have their way with the fleshy parts..
 
Very interesting... I'm impatient as hell, so I would have manually scrubbed the flesh off and then whitened it...

On an odd note, looks like a boxer mix :D
 
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