Baby Ball Python

Part 2 of my Taxidermy series. This is the finished product so that the thumbnail isn't so gory.

This was the little guy when he was alive. A "Killer Bee" morph ball python (Spider x Super Pastel). Made a perfect little bracelet. Died of unknwon cause while I was on vacation.

Skinned and gutted.

Dried up under a fan, and ready for the flesh eating beetles. Don't mind stray mouse skull.

12 Hours in the beetles

About 2 weeks.

The beetles do not eat soft connective tissue, just muscle. By placing the remains in water, those tissues should rehydrate, making the entire skeleton very articulated and flexible.

Soaked in water, and flexible again.

Cleaning and disinfecting solution.

Partial drying.

Pinning on a piece of cardboard. Cut pieces of straw to give a bit of bulk under the spine to hold the ribs off the ground.

Finished placement, re-drying.

All dry.

Not flexible anymore, final position.

Pinned to the shadowbox board.

Placed in a small shadow box from Michael's.

The skin was so beautiful is don't want to throw it away. My first attempt at skin preservation. Soaked in a 50% isopropyl alcohol and 50% glycerin solution for a few days, then stapled to a board.

Dried and cut.

This baby skin is very thin and fragile. I had a friend who was going to cut pieces of it and place them in pendants with resin to make jewelry. Maybe put those pendants on a leather bracelet so he can be on my wrist again. That didn't happen, but I still plan on getting that done some time.

Answers to FAQs:

No, I'm not a serial killer. I am a biologist by education, training and passion.

I don't kill animals, most of these are old pets I wanted to preserve. Some are animals that were sent to a local Reptile and Exotics rescue, but weren't able to be saved.

It may be weird to you, but I find these animals so beautiful I find it a horrible waste to just bury or throw away.

The flesh eating beetles are from the family Dermestidae, and I found them on some old roadkill. From a few specimens, I've grown quite a colony now. You can buy these on Amazon.

The reason I don't "just boil it" or macerate it is because that destroys connective tissue, and I'd be left with a huge pile of ribs and vertebrae. I'm not good with puzzles. Plus, that cooks the fat up which gets absorbed into the bones and turns them yellow.

Yes, some of them have been dead for a long time, I've been storing them in a freezer until I could get another beetle colony. Why are so many of you confused on why the meat wasn't rotten away? How do you store meat?