Apologies in advance! I get countless messages in many online locations daily about bone processing, bone ID, etc. Please try to find your answers in these links before messaging me. If you still have questions you are welcome to ask but I may not reply for a while.
Sorry guys, I'm a full time self employed bone artist and simply do not have the time to always get back to your questions in a timely fashion. Especially when it is a time where I have to really focus on something like holiday sales. Which start for me in October. Or an art show or convention that could be any time of the year.
Please take note of the SEARCH THIS BLOG field to the right here where you can quickly search for answers in my many posts rather than having to look for it one at a time.
FOR EVERYONE WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT PROCESSING BIRDS:
I really hardly ever post anything anywhere in general about birds because of legal issues. Most birds you're going to come across in US/Canada are illegal to have any part of dead or alive because they are Migratory Bird Treaty Act protected species. If you were to macerate most birds you're likely going to end up with nothing but a stinky pile of mush. To process birds, rodents & small reptiles/amphibians you can't really macerate like larger medium sized animals. You literally have to carefully remove the feathers, skin & muscle with surgical tools, tweezers & scissors as best you can. I rarely do this myself because it is so tedious. If it is mummified it may be even harder to accomplish. Or you can soak a while in water & if you're lucky you can carefully peel away the skin from the bones & just hope that most of the muscle was already eaten away by carrion insects. I'll have to make a longer blog post about this sometime for sure. But for now there's this one:
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT BIRD REMAINS:
Most of the birds protected by the MBTA are not endangered. They are very common and abundant. But that was not the case when the MBTA was created back in 1918. Many common birds were being wiped out into extinction from people hunting them and collecting them & their eggs/nests for their collections. And people using the feathers in fashion. That's the misconception that most people don't understand now. The species that are alive now were saved from extinction by the MBTA. That's why they are so common and abundant now.
It is illegal in US, Canada, Mexico, Russia and Japan to even possess bird remains of species listed on the MBTA. We can not have or sell birds, feathers, bones, eggs, or even nests from anything on that protected list. Likewise, you could be fined up to $15,000 and/or do jail time for having/selling them. So be careful!
Your legal common bird options are - European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Feral Pigeon (Columba livia domestica), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), chickens and other domesticated birds and birds like quail, grouse and pheasants. But some of those game birds you still need permits to hunt and can not be sold.
I want to point out as well that there are MANY pigeon/dove species that ARE protected species and many people have a misconception that they are not. Only Feral Pigeons are OK to have. Also, people often mention that crows are hunted and OK to have. Not that simple. You must have a permit to hunt where they are permitted to hunt and do so in season. Also, hunted crows can not be sold, they can only be gifted. Info about Regulations For Crows.
Final List of Bird Species to Which the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Does Not Apply - Note though that it is somewhat out of date - file orig dated 2005, PDF from 2008. Could be changes since then.
Tons More Animal Parts Laws Can Be Found Here. Here in the US you can quickly look up info on your exact state at the link above which is especially helpful with some laws being so varied from state to state.
Tons More Animal Parts Laws Can Be Found Here. Here in the US you can quickly look up info on your exact state at the link above which is especially helpful with some laws being so varied from state to state.
Here is a list of my most frequented blog posts and topics related to the questions I get for quicker reference to find your answers.
TIPS FOR BEGINNER BONE COLLECTORS:
BONELUST BONE PROCESSING Q&A: I want to start collecting bones/animal remains but I'm concerned about disease.
Most Important Thing For a Bone Collector? Patience.
Starting Over, Learning Anew
Bone Collectors Are Not Sociopaths
BONELUST Q&A: "Can't you get leprosy from armadillos?
DEFLESHING WITH NATURAL DECOMP IN A BONE CAGE:
BONELUST Q&A: "Can I just leave animals to decompose in a bone cage & do nothing else?"
BONE CLEANING WITH MACERATION:
BONELUST BONE PROCESSING Q&A: What should the remains look like to begin maceration?
The Mathematics Of Maceration - A HowTo Guide For The Patient
BONELUST Q&A: "I've been macerating bones & they are now a strange color! Are they ruined?"
BONELUST Q&A: "What's this white stuff on my bones? How do I get rid of it?"
WHITENING AND SANITIZING BONE:
Whitening Bone Using Hydrogen Peroxide NOT Chlorine Bleach
Bad Words: BOIL & BLEACH
WHAT'S WRONG WITH USING CHLORINE BLEACH ON BONE?
Bad Words: BOIL & BLEACH
WHAT'S WRONG WITH BOILING BONE?
BONELUST Q&A: "Why is it bad to boil bones? It is the way I was taught to clean them a long time ago."
Bad Words: BOIL & BLEACH
TROUBLE SHOOTING PROCESSING ISSUES - RED OR BLACK BONE, GRAVE WAX, MOLD, ALGAE, & MOSS GROWTH ON BONE:
BONELUST Q&A: "What's this white stuff on my bones? How do I get rid of it?"
BONELUST Q&A: "I've been macerating bones & they are now a strange color! Are they ruined?"
Whitening Bone Using Hydrogen Peroxide NOT Chlorine Bleach
DEGREASING BONE:
BONELUST Q&A: "How will I know if a skull needs degreasing, I'm not sure what it even looks like?"
HOW DO I PUT MANDIBLES TOGETHER & TEETH BACK IN:
BONELUST Q&A: "The teeth fell out of my skull! Did I do something wrong? How do I fix it?"
BONELUST Q&A: "How do I put mandibles back together & teeth in?"
USING INSECTS FOR BONE PROCESSING:
"Stick it on an ant pile!"
BONELUST Q&A: "Do you use dermestid beetles?"
WHO AM I? WHAT'S ETHICAL BONE ARTIST MEAN TO ME?:
Meet Jana Miller: Founder & Artist of Bone Lust
BONELUST Q&A: What do you mean when you say you’re an ethical bone artist?
BONELUST BONE ART SHOP Q&A: Who is your animal bone supplier?
Jana Miller Bone Lust Interview on Postal Treats
Bone Collecting from the Beginning
Hi Jana, I will be processing cow skulls shortly and am wondering how to deal with the horns. What do I need to do to remove and preserve the horns? I also have some ram skulls but understand these are processed differently? I am a beginner and experimenting with different techniques but don't want to take chances on these beautiful specimens. Any information you could provide on horns for various animals would be greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThousand thanks Jana, I really appreciate your time :)
DeleteHi, I honestly very rarely work with any raw animal heads that have horns. I also rarely polish them. I highly suggest taking a look at what people say about those things at taxidermy.net
ReplyDeleteIf they are not raw the horn sheaths may be even harder to remove. I will say I advise again maceration to remove them as it can destroy the quality of the horn sheath. Also keep in mind that you will not be able to remove the horn sheaths from all animals.
Look up "sweating" off animal horns and maybe that will help. Good luck, jana
Hi Jana! You have very beautiful and informative content in here. I tried searching your blog but after coming up empty handed, was wondering if I might get on your advice on something.
ReplyDeleteI've cut one of the antlers I found this autumn into small discs, but found that while the bone inside was in great condition, the colour is quite dark. Do you have any ideas how I could efficiently whiten the stained-looking middle part of the antler discs, while still leaving the beautiful dark brown of the outer side untouched? If I do the usual soak I will lose the beautiful dark brown of the edges, so I was wondering if there is maybe some substance I can use to protect the edges.
I fully understand if you don't have time to get back to me, you must be very busy. I thought I would leave a comment just in case, since you seem very knowledgable about this subject :) Have a great day!
Hi Elisabeth! That inner color is likely natural as different antler vary in color. If you were to use hydrogen peroxide, yes, it would likely remove the color inside and out. I honestly don't know what else you could do than using a different antler… or experimenting with different sealants although I suspect it may not work as the peroxide can still get to it from the inside. Sorry I don't have a better answer. Take care, jana
ReplyDeleteHey Jana! I plan on getting into bone stuff at some point in the future because it's really interesting but I rarely find dead stuff so I don't really know where to start. That being said, when my cat dies, I want to be able to keep her skeleton to remember her by sorta? I hope that makes sense. What options would I have for defleshing her? I don't know if carrion insects really live around here, and while I'm not super squeamish cutting up my cat would be sorta weird and also messy as I don't exactly know how I would go about that. Any help is much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI was just curious if you had any tips on preserving/protecting fish scales. I received some araphima scales and wanted to make earrings. Thanks for your time.
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth... Arapaima scales are often quite solid from my experience. I'm unsure if there is a need to seal it. Sorry, wish I had more info for you. I don't real seal any of my pieces like that. Good luck, jana
ReplyDeleteKayla DeRamus - Everything you see here on my blog is how I process cat skeletons. I do pet memorial processing actually. if this is something you want more info about please message me directly at my shop - https://www.etsy.com/shop/BoneLust
ReplyDeleteHi Jana, I have recently received a deer skull. It is right now in the process of whitening. It's a beautiful piece except the jaw bones are unattached. What I was wondering is what you would recommend using to reattach them, if anything at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sierra
Hi Sierra, You'll find two blog posts on this topic in the links in the above blog post in this section:
ReplyDeleteHOW DO I PUT MANDIBLES TOGETHER & TEETH BACK IN:
BONELUST Q&A: "The teeth fell out of my skull! Did I do something wrong? How do I fix it?"
BONELUST Q&A: "How do I put mandibles back together & teeth in?"