BONELUST BONE PROCESSING Q&A: I want to start collecting bones/animal remains but I'm concerned about disease.

What sort of safety precautions do you take while removing flesh from bone?

Good questions that I think not enough beginning bone collectors think about. Well obviously be super sanitary about each step of it. Here are some steps I take to stay sanitary:

Wear a respirator or at least a surgical/dust mask when you have concerns about airborne disease. I always wear high quality well fitted latex gloves when handling any remains until they are completely sanitary AFTER the hydrogen peroxide bath, which is the final step of processing. You can get every size imaginable in boxes of 100 on Amazon.com. You don't want cheap gloves tearing open while you're handling rotting carcasses. If you only have cheap gloves, double up.

Take care not to do processing where you eat or bathe. Every time I see a photo of a skull in a bathroom sink with their toothbrush and glass nearby I cringe. Keep your processing tools separate from your kitchen tools AND wash separate. Yes, these things would seem like common sense but I've seen bone collectors do things you wouldn't believe. Also, do not let your pets drink maceration water, peroxide bath or chew on dead things. I've seen far too many photos where people think this is funny. It can be VERY bad for your pets to do any of these things. Would you let your child drink/chew on these things???

Also, wash your hands/arms, hair and clothes/shoes after possible contamination. After I've gotten myself into some REALLY nasty stuff I put my clothes (shoes included, I wear Chucks so I can) into the wash and take a shower myself. When you're working on maceration tubs or handling dead animals you can expect a certain amount of contamination of your clothes/shoes. Splashback from maceration baths is very common. If you have long hair like me, take care to pull it back and keep it out of the nastiness. Likewise, wash down your processing work area and maceration tubs after use. The only time I use chlorine bleach in relation to bone processing is when I clean out maceration tubs when they get really bad. Although most of the time I let everything sun sanitize. Because I don't want bleach killing off my maceration bacteria colonies. So if you do use bleach rinse VERY well.

When picking up dead animals to process watch out for gases and liquids escaping the body. Which will almost always happen when you move the body. If you don't have latex gloves with you use a plastic bag to handle it and flip it right into that same bag. Don't lay dead animals in your car without a plastic bag or you'll be sorry. That smell will stay around and leave a very unsanitary stain where it laid. Keep hand sanitizer, gloves, and bags in your car so you're always prepared.

I could go on but that covers the basics and a little extra, just use common sense. Stay safe and sanitary friends.

Most Important Thing For a Bone Collector? Patience.

One of the main things I see most bone collectors struggling with is having the patience to get the job done right. Right meaning using steps that leave the bone strongest as a finished piece. Processing from start to finish for me can take weeks or even months per skeleton/skull. Start being a dead animal, finished being only the bone/horn/hoof/claw/antlers.

The way I get around being impatient is to always have several projects going on at all times in every step of my bone processing.

1) Natural decomposition and/or maceration.



Naturally decomping deer remains, nearly ready for maceration.


Naturally mummified opossum skull ready to macerate.


Filling up a maceration tub of deer and wild boar bones with water.


Flesh free bones after maceration.


Wild boar and deer bones in different stages of maceration and degreasing.

2) Degreasing.

I honestly don't do a lot of degreasing. I've found that a lot of the oils rise to the surface during maceration. On a rare ocassion I do some extra degreasing though with a dishsoap and water soak. Or super weak ammonia and water soak. Both can take months. Also degreasing is really a personal preference of the bone collector. Some people don't care to degrease at all and some like their bones grease free.

3) Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) bath.


Wild boar bones and skulls in different stages of peroxide bath sanitizing and whitening.

Right now I have these skulls/bones in their final H2O2 bath. Deer skulls, goat skull & wild boar vertebrae. One deer skull is on the side to further lighten a stain. The goat skull was too big for the container so once the skull lightened it was time to do the same to the horns (minus the horn sheaths).




4) Drying.


Deer and boar bones sun drying.


Finished skull example of a goat.

Want more detailed info on each step? There are extensive blog posts covering each of these steps pictured here. For more info read the rest of my blog posts.

BONELUST BONE PROCESSING PROGRESS: First Adult Goat Skull processing progression photos & timeline.

1) As it started in early March, horn sheaths removed. Added to maceration tub. Some minor flesh and grease present.



2) Removed from maceration and rinsed, mid April. Had been dumped and refilled once with water.



3) Started hydrogen peroxide bath mid April. No grease present or flesh. Only some bone staining.



4) Done and horn sheaths replaced late April. Turned out gorgeous.