#mycleaning

The armadillo is chugging along after 2 months of cold maceration! It’s truly winter here in the mountains but I have the maceration bucket under an upside-down aquarium to act as a little greenhouse and it has proven very helpful! Any sun that decides to peak out warms up the glass and keeps the water temperature moderately warm. It also keeps the smell in quite well! Super excited to get this one all cleaned up.

Degreasing the bobcat has been the bane of my existence but this before and after speaks for itself! Finally pulled the toe bones out of degreasing after 10ish months and they’ve come a long way from when I first got them. Now I’m just waiting on the leg bones and carpals/tarsals to finish up before finally being able to start articulating.

I’ve had this fish skull sitting in acetone for over 2.5 months and was hoping to see a little more progress on this grease! For the most part acetone is not going to “degrease” bones but it helps loosen up the grease to come out easier with other degreasing methods. However I read a lot of fish people had good luck melting the oils out of fish bones with just acetone so I was a little disappointed to open up the bucket and find crystal clear acetone. It definitely brought up a lot of the oils to the surface though so the classic Dawn bath should do wonders!

The sun came out so its time for some turtle cleaning! This female Eastern Box Turtle was beautifully cleaned by nature so she got a soapy scrub and a dip in peroxide for cleaning and sanitizing and is now sitting with a peroxide/baking soda paste for some whitening. In the first picture you can see the plastron scutes starting to come apart after drying from the soapy bath so I’m hoping they stay put now, otherwise I’ll have a fun project on my hands. Looking forward to getting this one all cleaned up!

We got a surprise snowstorm last night and my armadillo is just suffering in maceration limbo. Its been macerating since October and has come a long way from then, but still has a ways to go. The aquarium really helps keep it warmer than the outside temperature, especially when the sun peaks out. It’s incredibly beautiful up here but I am so done with the mountains!

After a year my picture taking hasn’t improved but the bobcat definitely has! Finally calling it done on degreasing the final bones to this skeleton. You’d think this was a pig or bear because of how long it’s taken, but it was likely just inconsistent heating and periods of forgetfulness with some over-thoroughness. He was a very greasy boy to begin with though! Now it’s time to get official articulating supplies together and finish this project.

And a bit of learning experience with this plastron piece! First picture is after the initial soapy bath and the second picture is after an overnight soak in hydrogen peroxide. Some nice grease popped up at the bottom but the bright orange stain is due to tannin/mineral staining that was oxidized by the peroxide. The third picture is after a few weeks of degreasing to remove some of the grease and reduce the oxidized stain. In this case, a reducer like Iron Out would be needed to help remove and whiten the staining, while an oxidizer like peroxide would bring it back full force. I’m happy leaving this piece the way it is for now!