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Thread: Gator skull mount

  1. #1
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    Sep 2019
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    Default Gator skull mount

    My son and I killed a 9’ gator here in Florida last weekend. I’ve got it skinned and froze the head. He wants a skull mount of the gator.
    Best diy technique for that? I’d prefer not to boil.
    I’ve heard stick them in a bin of water for a few months. Put in a pond. Thoughts? I’d prefer to have a method the teeth don’t fall out. (Heard boiling makes brittle)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
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    Idk about brittle, but we've been boiling the last few heads of the gators we've killed and not the first tooth has fell out. Clean as much as possible and drop it in.

    We might just be getting lucky so knock on wood.

  3. #3
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    You soak it in a tub of water a few weeks, not to mention a few months, you’ll have a rotten, rank tub of maggot infested water with a pile of bones settled into the bottom. I’m no expert, but I know from experience that what I said above will happen.

  4. #4
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    i'd buy one while in florida
    Ugh. Stupid people piss me off.

  5. #5
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    Dec 2007
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    Taxidermist

  6. #6
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    Based on my experience with deer heads, prep work is key.
    As scmudder said clean it good first and limit the amount of time you boil it and you should be good.

    Protip: don’t fool with pressure washing it at the house, just ride by the car wash and spend $1.25 there and then wash the crap drown the drain. You might get some weird looks but no one has stopped me from doing it yet
    Houndsmen are born, not made

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    I STAND WITH DUCK CUTTER!
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    I knew it wasn't real because no dogbox...

  7. #7
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    Jan 2017
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    drop that sucker in a big ol ant bed

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    i'd buy one while in florida
    I live in Florida
    58A058DB-D036-4D0E-B9B4-DD714BE3F568.jpg

  9. #9
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    Aug 2006
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    love that boat
    "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
    I am haunted by waters" Norman Maclean.

  10. #10
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    Sep 2019
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    Florida/SC
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    Thanks. It is a salt marsh 1656. Had for 5 years now. I take it gator hunting, duck hunting, redfishing etc

  11. #11
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    I boiled one and teeth cracked and fell out. Skull came clean though.
    Low country redneck who moved north

  12. #12
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    I did the barrel in a pond method. The teeth did indeed fall out and I had to glue them back in but the skull still came out looking good enough for me. It looked good enough that my wife was even in favor of displaying it in one of the window sills. Gator skulls are stitched together very well. Not only will teeth get loose, the whole thing needs to be handled with kid gloves.

    I've been doing the pond cleaning method on deer skull "mounts" too. I don't need another head or skull to hang but I just can't make myself throw away a decent rack so I tie a rope to it and pitch it in one of the ponds for a few weeks. They get a bit stained and could use bleaching, if I cared enough.

  13. #13
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    I have a 12’6 euro mount in my office that looks awesome
    "You are Citadel Men, you have no pension for failure, you wear the Ring, you never let a friend down, you will be good fathers, husbands, and leaders in the armed forces and industry, you are strong in heart, body, and mind. You protect such things as Honor and Fidelity. Your virtues matter not only in wealth, but in the richness of family, you are the last of the knights."
    - late President Ronald Reagan

  14. #14
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    Oct 2019
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    Quote Originally Posted by BuckyTownsend View Post
    drop that sucker in a big ol ant bed
    I've always wanted to try that method.

  15. #15
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    Have a taxidermist do it correctly for 200$ and be done with it

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by BuckyTownsend View Post
    drop that sucker in a big ol ant bed
    Wives' tale.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Palmetto Bug View Post
    Wives' tale.
    Tried it with a smaller one and it didn’t work out. Destroyed it.
    Also had a deer head in one once and cabled to base of tree around rack. Dog came along and chewed the rack off which was a big drop on one side and a ball the size of a baseball hanging alongside the ear. Found it about 25yds from where I had it cabled down.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  18. #18
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    I did my son's. Lightly "cooked" it in a water and dish soap until the skin and meat were loose about an hour at less than a boil. I used wire to clean the pores and sockets. Then bleached it with hair bleach I got at a professional salon supply. I boiled it too hard during the bleaching so some of the teeth came out and the bones separated so I had to glue some stuff back together. It wasn't a bad finished product but I'll do a much better job next time.
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  19. #19
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    "You are Citadel Men, you have no pension for failure, you wear the Ring, you never let a friend down, you will be good fathers, husbands, and leaders in the armed forces and industry, you are strong in heart, body, and mind. You protect such things as Honor and Fidelity. Your virtues matter not only in wealth, but in the richness of family, you are the last of the knights."
    - late President Ronald Reagan

  20. #20
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    Ruffin
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    I do a fair amount of them and a bunch of deer heads. I macerate everything. Maceration is placing that skull in a tub of water and letting the bacteria do its thing. When i do gators I will remove as much flesh as possible and separate the top and bottom jaw. Then zip tip all around the bottom jaw and around the top jaw. Again zip tie it good or you will have a puzzle to deal with. Next I place the zipped tied jaws with the teeth sticking up so they wont fall out. With maceration the teeth will fall out, and the jaws will separate hence the zip ties. I have tanks built for this and keep my water temp at 90 degrees for the cleaning process, but just stick it in a good covered tub and let the heat of the day work on it. Gators are a special kind of STINK just awful. After a few days you can start to remove the teeth. Place these on some cardboard and lay them out as you pull them so you know right where they go once the head is clean. So once the head is clean gently remove both top and bottom jaws from stink tub. Rinse off and place into fresh water with dawn and ammonia. I heat this mixture to 120 deg for degreasing. Swap water out every few days until water is clear and gator skull should be degreased. At this point every thing is clean and nothing stinks. Then you can whiten the skull however you like. I use a strong Peroxide and soak for 24 hours then dry it in the sunlight. Then glue all the bones and teeth back in and your done. You can also spray a clear coat on after finished if you'd like.
    They are a pain to do and several ways to do them.

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