Snake Skin tanning

[AA3JW]

On 10/11/2018 at 9:55 PM, Chief Filipino said:

Did you stretch yours? I just thought that maybe it would help both of us. I didn't stretch mine but from the videos I've watched of skinning mammals they stretch it... maybe I'll try that on my next one. 

Have not stretched it yet. When it comes out of the liquid either today or tomorrow I will "board Stretch" it.

 

[AA3JW]

On 10/13/2018 at 6:28 AM, AA3JW said:

Have not stretched it yet. When it comes out of the liquid either today or tomorrow I will "board Stretch" it.

 

Here it is stretched on the board.

[Chief Filipino]

On 10/16/2018 at 12:16 PM, AA3JW said:

Here it is stretched on the board.

How did it come out? looks good!

 

[koreric75]

7 hours ago, Chief Filipino said:

How did it come out? looks good!

 

I'm curious as well...my buddy gave me the skin friday, but all he did was salt it after putting it on the board, i'm not sure if we need to do anything else to it before attempting to make anything with it...i know one thing for sure, it stinks!...lol  Can you go back and do the glycerin/alcohol mix tanning solution after drying and salting?, and would that help get rid of the dead animal smell?

[Chief Filipino]

12 hours ago, koreric75 said:

I'm curious as well...my buddy gave me the skin friday, but all he did was salt it after putting it on the board, i'm not sure if we need to do anything else to it before attempting to make anything with it...i know one thing for sure, it stinks!...lol  Can you go back and do the glycerin/alcohol mix tanning solution after drying and salting?, and would that help get rid of the dead animal smell?

I don't know why it would you couldn't do the alcohol/glycerin, they both just preserve it. I think if you washed the salt off it would be alright.... hate to say experiment with it but sometimes that's the only way to find out. 

[ScoobyNewbie]

I’m pretty sure that if it stinks, It’s rotten. And the best thing you could do with it is pitch it. 

Start over on a new one. 

The salt is only a stop gap for maybe a week or two at most, if you keep it in the fridge or freezer. Wash the salt off and then soak it for a week or two in the glycerin/alcohol mix. Then pin, stretch and dry. 

[koreric75]

On 11/11/2018 at 7:37 PM, Chief Filipino said:

I don't know why it would you couldn't do the alcohol/glycerin, they both just preserve it. I think if you washed the salt off it would be alright.... hate to say experiment with it but sometimes that's the only way to find out. 

I'm hoping so, he had been hunting for years and this is the first time he's come across one, 

 

2 hours ago, ScoobyNewbie said:

I’m pretty sure that if it stinks, It’s rotten. And the best thing you could do with it is pitch it. 

Start over on a new one. 

The salt is only a stop gap for maybe a week or two at most, if you keep it in the fridge or freezer. Wash the salt off and then soak it for a week or two in the glycerin/alcohol mix. Then pin, stretch and dry. 

It's not a rotten smell but it ain't a good smell either... It's been cool here and I'm keeping it in a sealed bag with as much air as I could suck out of it until I can get the glycerin.... Thanks fellas, I kinda knew this was the case but he's "sure" that salt was all that was needed to "tan" the skin...I explained to him pretty much what y'all said, the salt preserved it until it can be tanned but if I put it on a belt as is it'll be too rotten smelling to wear before the leather even broke in...

[Chief Filipino]

On 11/12/2018 at 8:41 PM, koreric75 said:

I'm hoping so, he had been hunting for years and this is the first time he's come across one, 

 

It's not a rotten smell but it ain't a good smell either... It's been cool here and I'm keeping it in a sealed bag with as much air as I could suck out of it until I can get the glycerin.... Thanks fellas, I kinda knew this was the case but he's "sure" that salt was all that was needed to "tan" the skin...I explained to him pretty much what y'all said, the salt preserved it until it can be tanned but if I put it on a belt as is it'll be too rotten smelling to wear before the leather even broke in...

On the python skins I tanned with glycerin/denatured alcohol they came out of the bath still kind of stinking. It took a week or so to stop smelling. When I hold it up to my face now and give a whiff it doesn't smell rotten but it has that tanned smell. 

[koreric75]

2 hours ago, Chief Filipino said:

On the python skins I tanned with glycerin/denatured alcohol they came out of the bath still kind of stinking. It took a week or so to stop smelling. When I hold it up to my face now and give a whiff it doesn't smell rotten but it has that tanned smell. 

Good deal, I'm hoping that is the same for me, the rattler is in the solution, hoping a week or so will do the trick

[ScoobyNewbie]

That would be cool.