# Tanning a Gator hide



## Hunter-Steve

Let me first say if you have never done any hide tanning, alligator is not the one to begin with. 

I have been doing my own tanning for over 20 years. Off and on that is...

After several attempts I have found the following process to work well. 

Don't hesitate to ask me questions if you need help.

here is the process all supplies can be found at any taxidermy supply. I used Van Dykes

1- Flesh the hide - I did one by hand and one with a pressure washer - Much better and easier with a pressure washer but need to wear an old raincoat !!
2- soak for 3 -4 days in a hydrated lime bath to de-scale it. (optional if you want the scales on and a hard tanned hide)
3 - rinse with cold water
4 - de-lime in a amonium sufate bath for 8 to 24 hours. It does not hut to leave it longer 
5 - Rinse with cold water
6 - soak in solution of muriatic acid and salt - about 1 cup of acid to 10 gal of water and 10 lbs of salt - Fine salt not rock - PH should be between 1 and 2 - adjust with baking soda if too low and more acid if to high. Let soak for at least 4 days.. again longer will not hurt but check the ph every day and keep it at about 1 to 2.. By the way be very carefull with the acid.. Gloves and eye protection always.
7- rinse in cold water
8- nutrilize in water with about a cup of baking soda for at least 90 minutes. Stir every 15 to 20 mins
9 - Rinse again
10 - now put it in your tanning solution
I used Lutan-F from Van Dykes taxidermy. Use 10 gal of water, 20 oz of Lutan-F and 10 lbs of salt. The PH should be 4 - Depending on the thickness of the hide it should soak for at least 24 hours. I let a 7 footer soak for 24 hours and a 9 footer soak for 30. 
11- rinse again and let hang for at least 1 hour in a shaded dry area.
12 - now you should use a tanning oil - again I get that from Van Dykes - Rub it in to the damp hide and role it up. Let it sit at least 8 hours to soak in. I let it sit a full day.
13 - Now you are ready to dry and if you de-scaled it, soften the hide.
This should take several days. The slower the better and work the hide often to keep it soft. If you just want it to lay flat for a wall then tack it allong the edges to a plywood sheet and let dry. Do not let the sun dry it . Keep it shaded and let it dry slowly.

Here is a link to some instructions at van dykes http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/tanning-hair-on-hide.php

I know it is a LOT of work. I now know why they charge so much.

And thanks again to those that gave me the hides I practiced on. I learned alot.


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## GAJoe

Sounds like good info! Thanks
GAJoe


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## Hunter-Steve

*Pics of finished hide*

just a few pics


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## Danny Leigh

Looks good Steve!


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## chuckb7718

*Gator Hide*

Oh Boy!! You just messed up!! You should have NEVER answered this post! I WILL be pming you...Just as soon as I get off this page!!


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## logger

Hey I've got a gator hide I took this past season 12 foot 10 inches I had salyed it to sell to the place in Griffin, Ga. But they were not buying from individuals this year so after the salting process I wraped it up good and put in the freezer would this process still work for me thanks Logger


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## Hunter-Steve

I'm sure it would work but it will be a LOT of work. Don't hesitate to contact me to get some help. A 12 footer is going to very hard to do by hand. Just be sure not to rush the process.


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## benosmose

steve i tanned a few in krowtans whitetail formula you mix it with salt and water let it soak a few days nutr. with water and baking soda then let it dry i left the scales on it but they look great i got it from wasco tax supply it said nothing bout using it for reptiles but it worked it even kept its color like it was just killed


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## threeleggedpigmy

Thank you for the knowledge


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## Toxic

I make my pickle for my skins with citric acid, some times I use the safety acid from van-dykes, have you thought about useing these instead of the muractic acid ?


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## caveman168

I tanned one last year in similar fashion, but I used carbolic acid instead of muratic acid. It has a real sweet smell and the smell will not come off for days. I dont think I used quite as much acid as you did, I cant remember the formula but I have it written down somewhere. I also added alum to my solution. I'm glad you told how to descale the hide, mine turned out a little stiff and I thought it was because maybe it wasn't 100% dry when I stopped stretching it. I will try descaling next time. 
Your hide looks great, but why is the belly of your hide so dark?


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## Hunter-Steve

Hi All,  Yes I have used the Safety Acid and had the same results. Just found muractic acid to be just a effective and easier to get.  The key to the Pickling process is the PH of 1 to 2

Caveman... I dyed the hide black with an oil dye from Tandy Leather. It also helped soften the hide. But you have to break it in again to soften.


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## Toxic

never thought about how easy it is to get the muratic, always orderd citric, could probably have saved some money


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## Scrove

Wow. Great info.  Thanks!
 Just a few questions. My dad got a nice 10' 9 1/2" gator on opening day this year. He wanted to keep the whole hide...horn back and all.  And he wants the scales on. Do we need to alter these instructions to do it this way other than than skipping those first few "de-scaling" steps?

Also, when we're soaking in the acid solution do we keep the hide rolled up or leave it loose in the "bath"?

And lastly, does the hide need to be heavily salted when it's put in the salt/acid bath, or does it need to be rinsed clean?


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## Scrove

Also, what are you using to test pH at levels from 1-4?  Every test kit I can find is between 6-8.


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## Hunter-Steve

Scrove said:


> Also, what are you using to test pH at levels from 1-4?  Every test kit I can find is between 6-8.[/QUOTE
> 
> I use the test strips from Van Dykes.


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## Hunter-Steve

Scrove said:


> Wow. Great info.  Thanks!
> Just a few questions. My dad got a nice 10' 9 1/2" gator on opening day this year. He wanted to keep the whole hide...horn back and all.  And he wants the scales on. Do we need to alter these instructions to do it this way other than than skipping those first few "de-scaling" steps?
> 
> Also, when we're soaking in the acid solution do we keep the hide rolled up or leave it loose in the "bath"?
> 
> And lastly, does the hide need to be heavily salted when it's put in the salt/acid bath, or does it need to be rinsed clean?




I've not been successful at tanning a hide with the scales on. But if you do skip the Lime bath it should work.  In the Acid bath you should leave it loose. And yes, rinse off all the salt before the salt/acid bath.. you want clean salt that is free of any blood.

Best of luck. The largest I have done so far has been a 9 footer and it was about 2 times more work than an 8 footer.


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## Scrove

Thanks!  We're keeping our fingers crossed that it comes out o.k.  I'll be sure to let you all know how it turns out.  We started the acid bath today.

My profile pic is the victim!.....the one lying down


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## Toxic

I would double the time in the pickle (acid bath) give it time to do a good soak into the scutes on the back hide. as long as you keep the PH between 1 and 1.5 your ok, have keep yote hides for over 2 weeks in the pickle


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## Hunter-Steve

Bump for 2014


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## Bullfrog81

Thank you for bumping this. Im at a cross road. I fleshed my hide salted and boraxed my hide. The Hide is dry and stiff and starting to curl. I want to hang in the ceiling for my mount.    It is the belly hide. I want to preserve so it doesn't smell or curl anymore. Please help anyone. What do i do now.


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## Drew dumas

Buddy of mine got his tag a few years ago and has had this hide in his freezer ever since. After some research I decided to give it a how and make a wall mount. I decided to leave the scales on. I started with a salt water bath to soften the hide. Then a citric acid and salt Pickleing solution followed by a 40 hr bath in Lutan-fn . After that it was just a matter of tacking to a board and continuously brushing with oil as it dried. Then I mounted it to a 1/4 in plywood backing.


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## Drew dumas

Drying


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## Drew dumas

Mounted


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## Drew dumas

And hung


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## Seatrout2001

I have an 11ft I've been working on and it doesn't seem like I'm doin it right. It's been sitting for day 7 as of today in hydrated lime and I can't get off all the scales. The longer it's sitting, the more scales I'm able to get off so I keep putting it back in. Anyway, I'm not even sure I'm doing this right. The scales that are coming off along the rob cage peal like paint but I have to be real hard and aggressive to get it off. Beneath that, the color is very light and looks like a murky brown or a cloudy white depending on where I pull from. Is this what it's suppose to look like? So far I regret not skipping the lime bath. Any help or advice would be wonderful.


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## Seatrout2001

The muratic acid bath made the hide nice and soft. I have it soaking in the lutan fn right now. But the flesh side of my gator skin has orangish yellow spots like its bacteria. It first started forming while sitting in my lime bath. I thought the acid would take it away but it didn't. Any suggestions what it is or how to get rid of it?


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## Seatrout2001

Gator is all finished. I descaling the creature because white powder is starting to build up randomly on the scale side. Upon research, its cause from lime blasting or soaking it in a hydrated lime too long and leaving it in the air too long afterward. Which was my mistake because every time i pulled it out of the bath to pull all the scales off, it sat in the driveway for 4 hours or more every time I did it. I also found out that orange stuff is just grease from the gator and that 99% of them will always have that on the flesh side of the skin. I guess at this point I will just make what I can with the skin that does not have the white powder on it. I'm still waiting to see how much of it is developing on my tanned hide. If anyone has any questions in the future about doing this, please feel free to contact me. I didn't have anyone to ask so I just figured it out on my own. My email is: zsryba@coastal.edu


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## ben300win

Any of you tanners interested in tanning one for a hunter? Paid of course. Haven't got my tagthis year, but should get one with 3 points wagered. Just had a bad experience with the folks at the place in Griffin. Would rather use a good ole boy like me. Thanks


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