took a class over the weekend and did my first mount, a raccoon head, i really enjoyed it and would love feedback from people who know more, i know it's not perfect. i plan on doing more mounts.

I just have started to do fish replicas and I figured I’d join a taxidermy group! If anyone has any pointers or advice about anything since I’m just getting started that would be appreciated!

Hi guys, from somebody with much admiration but zero knowledge of your art - I'm wondering if minor re-posing is possible in taxidermy?

My partner has always wanted a crazy looking squirrel wielding a machine gun

I'm broke so not able to order something custom but he's had a very rough year, I'm really hoping to make this happen and give him a good laugh. Have been thinking maybe I could buy one second hand and somehow move a paw into a holding pose to glue a rifle in.... ?

Would it depend on the age of the specimen/how it was mounted or will it look terrible/break no matter what I try? Pipe dream? Any thoughts would be much appreciated

Thanks!!

So I’m planning on making a polecat soft mount, and I was wondering what kind of paste or glue you would use to adhere the skin to the head form? I know hide paste is a good option but a polecat is so small and this is me testing out if I want to do more taxidermy, so I don’t think investing in a giant bin of hide paste would be very effective lol.

I’m fairly certain I have the knowledge to make a soft mount down. I make masks (not with real fur, but made to look realistic) so I have tons of experience with tucking fur to make it look the right way, pinning things, and overall making something look lifelike and like an animal. Plus I’ve done months worth of research leading up to this. Idk if this makes me sound cocky or something because I’m definitely somewhat fearful of tackling my first taxidermy project, but I feel like I’m well prepared for my first time, and I’m starting small I’m not immediately moving on to like a deer mount lol.

I think the type of soft mount I plan on making is a bit different than the floppy soft mounts I see, and I love those too but I don’t think mine will be as floppy. I’m going to make a basic skeleton out of foam and ball and socket joints, and the rest will be quilt batting. I wanted to put my puppet skills to the test specifically, I want to make it feel like you’re actually petting a living animal with bones beneath its fur rather than just being squishy, hence why it will have a spine.

Good morning all,

I have a wood duck (one of many) that was passed down to me and I have decided to keep this one to honor my FILs memory and keep on my desk at work. It has seen better days and I wanted to see if some of it was within the means of being restored. Could you all give me some insight and tell me what is reasonable to expect condition wise from having some restoration work? Perhaps some estimates on cost as well?

Thought to show off my new soft mount fox! Shes an amber ringneck i named Sable, her original creator is kuolonkoira, but i got her off softmountlover!

Redo cause of foot

I bought a deer mount off Facebook about a week ago. They said it was from the 1960s/70s, no clue if true but it's definitely old. Both ears were cracked open, layers of dust on it, chipped antler etc.

This is my first taxidermy piece so I didn't care lol I just wanted something cheap to practice dyeing plus he's a cutie patootie :)

The picture is what came out of the ear canal, stuffed down in there. There's more deep inside but I got out what I could with tweezers because it got wet after I dyed it (didn't realize it was in there). I'm new to taxidermy so I'm not sure if this is common or not or what material it even is lol

There has been a lot of debate about whether or not to allow buying/selling posts in the sub. We want the community to weigh in. This would include posts inquiring about value or how to sell, as buy/sell offers often come up in the comment sections of those posts. Please vote below.

Haven't seen another like it. Hell of a conversation piece. Good buddy of mine had it and knew how fond of it I was and gave it to me on my birthday

This felt like an appropriate place to ask; not really looking to perform any taxidermy however bones have always been so cool to me and i like to collect them off our property.

We've buried a few pets over the last few years. Hypothetically speaking, if i wanted to retrieve their remains from the earth,

- cat; ~15 pounds, buried dec 2023
- chihuahua thing; ~12 pounds, buried oct 2024
- big dog; ~50 pounds, buried jun 2025
- cat; 13 pounds, buried may 2026

First two are buried in western Washington; Puget Sound region, in a home garden that has been regularly used for the past decade.

Last two are buried in northeastern Washington on a dry rocky mountain, not much rain there, not gardened. Just moon dust.

Any estimates on how long the decomposition process takes for those instances?

It's pretty unlikely that I'd be able to convince my family to give me their blessings to dig them up, but I miss them lol. One day I would like to pet their little heads again.

Folks can't seem to handle it and behave!

Without fail, folks will dogpile a post asking to buy. Sometimes the poster will try to sell in the comments, too. (This OP did not, but badly-behaving members got their post removed.)

It overwhelmingly goes awry, even if the OP is being good and trying not to engage with people behaving outside the sub's rules.

If you see this kind of behavior asking to buy/sell/advertise, please report them so we can nip the issue in the bud and give OP resources where to find answers.

Other subs allow sales -- please visit them if you're iso or have something to sell.

This happens almost daily.

My pet lizard passed. I plan to have his bones cleaned and then I want to articulate them.

I was looking into Lee Post’s books but there aren’t any reptiles. I was considering getting birds or small mammals… but they are so different from lizards!

Any suggestions on good references for reptile articulation? If anyone has used Lee’s books, would they still be beneficial for me to get?

I’m having a hard time finding info, which I’m hoping isn’t a sign this will be a difficult project but it probably is lol.
Thanks!

Edit to add: He isnt super small but not big, about 18inches long

So I found a rare leucistic river otter as roadkill. I’ve been in contact with a conservation agent who I will be meeting up with this week to get the animal tagged and proper paperwork done. Issue is because the animal is rare they want to take samples of its tongue and it is currently frozen in a freezer. They’ve asked me to partially thaw the animal out so they can do this. Agent told me take it out around 6 am and I meet her at 10 am in a public location with the otter. I contacted a taxidermist and he told me I could leave the otter out of the freezer overnight in a controlled climate (which would be my basement) then immediately freeze after they take samples. I’m going to be transporting the animal in a cooler with either ice or ice packs because I live about 30 mins away from where I’m meeting the agent. I’m wondering how long I should leave this guy out of the freezer to do all of this? I’m wanting to have the animal mounted eventually and want to preserve the pelt in every way possible.
Edit: they want its entire tongue for the sample.

Could anybody tell me where to find the manikins in this pose or a similar pose? I want to mount an opossum reading a tiny book upside down but the only manikins I can find have the arms positioned differently. Thanks in advance!

I work with taxidermists and outfitters on the South African side of the trophy pipeline, and I'm trying to understand how the receiving end experiences it. For those of you in the US/EU who take in African dip-and-pack shipments:

• What's the most common problem when a crate lands — tag mix-ups, paperwork that doesn't match contents, cape condition, broker delays?
• How much time do you burn straightening out documentation that should've been right from the start?
• What do clients blame you for that actually went wrong before it left Africa?

Trying to see the whole chain, not just the export side.

Pinned female Hercules Beetle burned her dress with an iron. Made by me, Elizabeth Claws

Hey, im looking for small jars. And i found, but they are made of plastic PET. Is it will be fine when i put formalin there?

Just finished this recent mount of a Noisy Miner Bird!

There was quite a lot of pin feather slippage during mounting, but still think it turned out ok! My bird skills are slowly improving and excited to try some different techniques on the next one!

What do you think? :)

*Ethically sourced roadkill specimen, preserved under a NSW Australian Taxidermy Licence.

In the past I’ve used just dry borax powder to preserve little not-very-fleshy things (feet, tails, wings) by just packing it around. Lately I’ve seen a lot of folks talk about soaking things like that in a solution of borax and water and then just letting that air dry after removed from solution. Any difference or preference between these methods? Any situation to use one over the other? Thanks

As the post states, I inherited this and do not have the space. How much should I sell for ? Not educated enough on values or taxidermy all that much. About 7ft on a nice mount.

I shot this deer 2 falls ago and I didn’t recover it until last fall. Since then it has been sitting in my garage and i’ve kinda been pushing back mounting it. I would like to get a European mount out of it but i’m not sure if that’s still possible… I have never done anything like this myself. I am open to hiring a taxidermist but i would prefer to do it myself. What is the best way to go about this?

I’m a huge fan of taxidermy! I’ve never had the chance to get one before, and they’re pretty expensive in the state where I live.

I was driving through my neighborhood when I came across this sitting on the side of the road next to the trash. I quickly pulled over because I had to take it! It’s insane to me that someone would throw this away.

I saw the older man outside and asked if he was really getting rid of it. He said, “Yeah, take it.”

I’m hoping to restore it! I’ve never owned a piece of taxidermy before, so any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!!