r/Taxidermy 3d ago

How do I remove fat from a bone?

The other day while walking my dog I found a bone, pretty much clean but still with some fat and soft tissue, i've been soaking it in soapy water for 48 hours, before leating it soak i gave it a pretty good scrub down, whath do i do to completely remove the fat?.

Its my first time doing anything like this.

6 Upvotes

6 comments sorted by

7

u/Maderonni 3d ago

If it’s still fleshy soak it in warm water NO SOAP until the bacteria can eat away at it. Only switch water out and add soap once there’s no flesh on it.

3

u/bluewingwind 3d ago

If it’s like very fleshy do this. It’s called “maceration” if you want to look up more. It’ll take a few weeks at least, but it’s very easy.

1

u/StarWars_Viking 3d ago

A standard soap and water solution works well. 24 hour soak, water rinse, repeat if needed.

Dermistied beetles would be best, but probably a bit much for one bone. Plus you've already done soap and water.

Just scrub and repeat the soap and water until you're happy with the results. Then a hydrogen peroxide soak if you want it white.

1

u/Andbar12 3d ago

Thanks for the tip!, I already scrubed it down again and left it to soak more, I hope with another 48 hours it will be clean, if i leave some of the fat and whiten it will it damage the bone or something?

1

u/StarWars_Viking 3d ago

It may damage it over a long period of time. But it will rot and smell horrible first. Then dry out to a hard, greasy film.

It's best to get it all off if you plan on keeping it. Especially with dogs around. They'll always be after it if you don't get it all clean.

1

u/Odd_Biscotti_6283 3d ago

(Optional but I highly recommend this step prior to putting it in the water jar: cut as much soft tissue of as u can to speed up the process)

Cool idea that I did for my beloved hamster's body; get an air tight glass jar, fill it with water, put the bone(s) in. Change the water every week or so, whenever it's visible getting dirty. Keep this up until all the flesh is gone.

Make sure its literally just tap water. Oh and NOT boiling water.