# Rattle snake skinning and hid tanning PICTURES POSTED And LOTS OF THEM!!!!



## scoggins

where do i begin ?


where do i begin skinning and preserving the skin?

i have a 5' snake that i killed this past week in the freezer and i would like to get started before it goes bad

thanks in advance 
Scoggins


any and all help greatly appreciated!


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## Nugefan

skin em out and remove all the flesh and membranes ...

tack it down but not too tight , put 20 Mule Team Borax on it till it dries out ...

take 50 / 50 glycerine and denatured alchol mixture and put on all over the skin , will take 3 or 4 coats and skin will be soft as a babies bottom ...



you can use antifreeze but I have not tried it yet ....


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## Nicodemus

Follow the advice Andy just posted, and you`ll have a nice skin. 

I don`t like the antifreeze method. It gives the skin a greenish cast.


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## schreck_1

What if you use the pink antifreeze?


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## Nicodemus

schreck_1 said:


> What if you use the pink antifreeze?





The snake would come back to life, just to bite you!


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## swampbogger

Nicodemus said:


> The snake would come back to life, just to bite you!


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## Katera73

Nugefan said:


> skin em out and remove all the flesh and membranes ...
> 
> tack it down but not too tight , put 20 Mule Team Borax on it till it dries out ...
> 
> take 50 / 50 glycerine and denatured alchol mixture and put on all over the skin , will take 3 or 4 coats and skin will be soft as a babies bottom ...
> 
> 
> 
> you can use antifreeze but I have not tried it yet ....



Where can one find the 20 mule team borax??


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## Nicodemus

Katera73 said:


> Where can one find the 20 mule team borax??



Grocery store, soap aisle.


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## Katera73

Thanks Nick I'll keep an eye out for it.


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## scoggins

it will be in a greenish box with red writing on it if i remember right....


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## Nugefan

here is a link to what it looks like ....

http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/


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## sqhunter

You can skip the borax, flesh the hide well and then I soak mine in the 50/50 glycerin/alcohol mixture.  I have one that I did 8 or ten  years ago and it is still pretty and supple.  Good Luck!


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## scoggins

I have pictures coming soon if i can find my card reader


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## scoggins

*Pictures Posted on Snake Skinning*

Any one care to guess why I don't fit-in in my "neighborhood"


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## scoggins

round 2


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## scoggins

third round

i spread it out on a 1x10x8 and boraxed it


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## Nicodemus

Looks good so far.


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## scoggins

thanka Nic
where am i gonna get some Glycerin?

i am gonna ask the lab where i work if they have any

need a plan b though


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## Nicodemus

scoggins said:


> thanka Nic
> where am i gonna get some Glycerin?
> 
> i am gonna ask the lab where i work if they have any
> 
> need a plan b though





Try the drugstore.


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## fishfryer

I saw nothing that shows you wouldn't fit in that neighborhood.Is this a trick question?


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## lagrangedave

Anybody ever skin a rattlesnake and find live babies?


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## scoggins

fishfryer said:


> I saw nothing that shows you wouldn't fit in that neighborhood.Is this a trick question?





the truck is a dually and it is the only house that will have various and saundry animal skins "hanging around" (so to  speak)

I stick out kinda like a SORE THUMB


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## scoggins

lagrangedave said:


> Anybody ever skin a rattlesnake and find live babies?



i aint real sure i want to skin a live snake but a baby snake would be kinda COOL to try


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## fishfryer

I was trying in my usual charming way, to suggest that cleaning a rattlesnake on the tailgate of a truck was the most natural thing in the world.Did anyone stop and ask what you were doing?A few years ago I was standing in a back country road,after having just shot the head off a nice canebreak.Here comes a good ole boy by, and he asks me what I'm going to do with the snake. I told him nothing,he broke out in a big grin and said,have you ever had one of them on a grill? I asked him if he wanted it and he acted like I'd given him a hundred doller bill.To some weirdos in New York City that scene was probably strange,it made my day.


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## lagrangedave

I meant it to mean, has anyone ever killed a female snake and upon skinning it discovered live baby snakes inside? They just finished breading and this is a legitimate concern of mine.


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## Nicodemus

lagrangedave said:


> I meant it to mean, has anyone ever killed a female snake and upon skinning it discovered live baby snakes inside? They just finished breading and this is a legitimate concern of mine.





Never have, Dave. And I`ve skinned a few. I did find a pile of small yolk sacks in a big diamondback once. 34 of em, if memory serves me right.


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## lagrangedave

Thanks Nic.


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## fishfryer

I worked one summer for Ga Kraft,painting property lines and spraying kudzu.There was an old house on some of their property in Twiggs county.Along about the end of a work day,I convinced a couple of other boys to go look and see about old jars or other "valuables" around that old house.What I found was a whopper Timber Rattlesnake. The dark version not the canebrake.We killed her with a bushhook,and cut her open and thirteen babies,just barely able to crawl, were in her.She never rattled.But we didn't skin her.


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## scoggins

Fishfryer: I understand completely i had a few looooong looks as we live on a major through way through the 'hood

My cousin's wife's brother captures Ratttle snakes in SOWEGA for the rattlesnake round-up in Whigham, Ga (very SOWEGA) I have put word in to him that I wanted a 'lil baby snake to skin out and see how it comes out

BY THE WAY someone please comment on the Photography job that my loving patient and "understanding" wife did while I was skinning this thingh out.


please and thank you!


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## fishfryer

You've got a rare one there.Most ladies won't get that close on a bet.Those are nice pictures.Did you also talk her into frying you some rattler?When I was young,I tried to get momma to cook me some coon,she wouldn't ever do it, said coon looked too much like a dog.


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## Nicodemus

She did a fine job on takin` good clear pics! Next time you skin one, instead of the knife, borry her scissors and use them. With the knife, it`s easy to run off to the side. Just make sure to wash em good before you give em back to her.


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## scoggins

Nic - I thought about that about 3/4 of the way through the process

FishFryer- there ain't a whole lot she hasn't done growing up on a cattle farm with a dad that was an OTR truck driver. so blood and guts don't realy bother her that much

and this little project is actually for her
the snake skin and the rest of my hides are actually going to be decore for her western/outdoors themed Christmas tree (one of 3 or 4)


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## fishfryer

If you can,post some pictures about Christmas time.


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## Lowjack

I don't use borax as borax is a desiccant.
The formula for professional reptile tanning is.
Flesh and remove all flesh and fat, apply table salt liberally , fold the skin and the 24 hours later remove the wet salt and apply salt again, then remove all the salt and prepare in a plastic bucket by adding , 3 LBS of salt and one  pound aluminum sulfate, soak the skin for 72 hours , take it out and rinse , then tack it down and apply "WASCO"reptile Oil with a brush, then 24 hours later remove it from the tacks, "DONE "

WASCOTAXIDERMYSUPPLY.COM


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## scoggins

*snake skin used as table runner*

as promised 
sorry they are a little late


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## Dudley Do-Wrong

scoggins said:


> Fishfryer: I understand completely i had a few looooong looks as we live on a major through way through the 'hood
> 
> My cousin's wife's brother captures Ratttle snakes in SOWEGA for the rattlesnake round-up in Whigham, Ga (very SOWEGA) I have put word in to him that I wanted a 'lil baby snake to skin out and see how it comes out
> 
> BY THE WAY someone please comment on the Photography job that my loving patient and "understanding" wife did while I was skinning this thingh out.
> 
> 
> please and thank you!



My wife wouldn't have gotten within 50 feet of the snake.


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## Whiteeagle

Arm & Hammer washing Soda is the same as Borax, just finer grind. What I use when can,t find 20 Mule Team.


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## SSGN_Doc

Nice job.  Nice hog skull too.


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## scoggins

David Mills said:


> My wife wouldn't have gotten within 50 feet of the snake.



David that snake came from one of the farms  that we hunted last season.
Pretty close to where we had the rifle pointed out the window at us. (hopefully that won't happen again this year!)


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## scoggins

SNN DOC
thanks

finding glycerin was a little tricky until i found a "REAL DRUG STORE" not a major box type store. the only thing missing from this one was a lunch counter that permeiated the air with the smell of fresh  hamburgers and hot butter.  I sure miss my unkle's DS in Bainbridge, GA


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## scoggins

Whiteeagle said:


> Arm & Hammer washing Soda is the same as Borax, just finer grind. What I use when can,t find 20 Mule Team.



I will remeber that. THANKS


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## fishfryer

Scoggins,That's a beautiful skin.Congratulations to you and the wife.


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## Capt Quirk

I was also going to suggest scissors. I've used a scalpel before, since those belly scales can be a tricky part. I don't want to puncture any internals, since I eat the meat.

And mink oil also works well on the finished skin to make it supple and shiny.


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## applejuice

Cool info guys.

Has anyone ever tried to euro mount a rattle snake head? 
I always wanted a rattler skull with the jaws wide open.


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## Capt Quirk

applejuice said:


> Cool info guys.
> 
> Has anyone ever tried to euro mount a rattle snake head?
> I always wanted a rattler skull with the jaws wide open.


Sorry, never tried doing heads, got no clue.


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## scoggins

give it ago and let us know

the heads on the few that I kill are usually demolished


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## knap_123

nice skin,  now if you want to use one for bow backing or belts.  you just vwant to skin, scrape belly clean, air dry, store and rehydrate when neened.


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## TNGIRL

scoggins, that's a fine looking skin!!!!! turned out really nice!!
lagrangedave, stop and think, female reptiles lay eggs that have to hatch out, so in fact you might find eggs inside a female but none would be live baby snakes as yet.......


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## Capt Quirk

TNGIRL said:


> scoggins, that's a fine looking skin!!!!! turned out really nice!!
> lagrangedave, stop and think, female reptiles lay eggs that have to hatch out, so in fact you might find eggs inside a female but none would be live baby snakes as yet.......



There are snakes that have live births, and here is what I found about rattlers-
Life Cycle

While some types of snakes lay eggs, rattlesnakes give live birth. The rattlesnake, however, does have eggs, but the eggs are carried inside the females body. Once the eggs are fertilized they are carried for approximately 90 days. The eggs hatch inside the rattler's body and then she gives live birth to her young. A reproduction system of this type is called ovoviviparous. The female rattler may contain from 4 to 25 eggs, from which an average of 9 or 10 hearty young are born live.


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## jebaneezer

I would definitly harvest that meat!! It's some good eating. I ate my first one 2 years ago. I made my wife and 6 year old boy try it. It was great but my wife couldnt get past the mental aspect of eating a snake so now there is always plenty for me and the boy.


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## LEON MANLEY

TNGIRL said:


> scoggins, that's a fine looking skin!!!!! turned out really nice!!
> lagrangedave, stop and think, female reptiles lay eggs that have to hatch out, so in fact you might find eggs inside a female but none would be live baby snakes as yet.......



Our poisonous snakes bear their young alive, except for the coral snake.


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## LEON MANLEY

Capt Quirk said:


> There are snakes that have live births, and here is what I found about rattlers-
> Life Cycle
> 
> While some types of snakes lay eggs, rattlesnakes give live birth. The rattlesnake, however, does have eggs, but the eggs are carried inside the females body. Once the eggs are fertilized they are carried for approximately 90 days. The eggs hatch inside the rattler's body and then she gives live birth to her young. A reproduction system of this type is called ovoviviparous. The female rattler may contain from 4 to 25 eggs, from which an average of 9 or 10 hearty young are born live.



I would call them egg sacs, for there is no shell.

I cleaned one that had 12 little fellows about a foot long inside her and the man that killed her said they killed 2 little fellows when they killed her.


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## 308-MIKE

Sittin' at a beauty parlor with wife. She has white stuff in her hair, wrapped in aluminum foil, and her head under a dryer. Looking at her, and imagining the look on her citified face if she came home and saw me skinning a rattler off the back of my truck. Got more than a chuckle.  She would soil her pants. Then I would have two messes to clean up.LOL!


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## KentuckyHeadhunter

this may seem like a stupid question, but I thought a timber and a canebrake were the same thing.  Are they not?


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## scoggins

308-MIKE said:


> Sittin' at a beauty parlor with wife. She has white stuff in her hair, wrapped in aluminum foil, and her head under a dryer. Looking at her, and imagining the look on her citified face if she came home and saw me skinning a rattler off the back of my truck. Got more than a chuckle.  She would soil her pants. Then I would have two messes to clean up.LOL!





Mike mine is chemically dependant too but she will take pictures of me doing my do-ins (from time to time)

she is rather comfortable with living in the city ; our neighbors aren't quiet so comfortable with me living near them especially when I am cleaning dead animals in the driveway but I get a kick out of the double takes i get to witness.


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## Lukikus2

I've used the anti-freeze method on a couple of skins and it does okay. Next time I'll do the borax though. It looks more supple and like it would last longer plus the anti-freeze never quite dries to the touch.



> KentuckyHeadhunter this may seem like a stupid question, but I thought a timber and a canebrake were the same thing. Are they not?



I'd like to know the answer also. And what about "velvit tip" as some people call them?


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## dm/wolfskin

Got 18 little ones out one back when me and my friends were young and dumb. We killed the rattler with a sword out of a dead log that we had camp out by. We rolled the front tire of a motorcycle over it and all the little ones came out. This was back in the mid sixties around Columbia, S.C.


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## arkie1

nice thread cool nice pics


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## scoggins

thanks ARKIE1


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## Son

I mounted several large rattlers for a tourist attraction back in the 50's. Used borax on those back then. Now, some taxidermist supply companies sell a special snake tan product.


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## Wolf'n

That is a beautiful diamondback and a great job on the skin.  I just finished my first snake skin, an unfortunate copperhead who got run over.  The skin turned out really good. Instead of regular scissors, I used cuticle scissors and they made a great cut, but I want to get some surgical scissors. I did not use Borax, just denatured alcohol and glycerin.  I did however locate a steady supply of glycerin: The Herb Shop.  They sell it in 8 or 12 ounce bottles.  I'm looking for another snake or two, but they seem to be in short supply in my area.  This is a great thread, lets keep it going and hear from others who have gotten into skinning snakes and their methods.


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## SemperFi

Nice work scoggins.  I killed a 4 footer this morning that was as big as my bicep.  Had 16 rattles on it.  Looking to do the same thing you did.  Thanks for posting the progress.  Should be really helpful.


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## scoggins

you are quiet welcome SemperFi
thank you and all the rest of your Brothers and Sisters in Arms for what you do to keep us ALL safe and FREE.

and if you need any help with the snake let me know I will be glad to help any way I can.

Macon is only about 20 minutes from here and I don't mind the drive.


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