Snake skin help needed!!!

[gutpile]

DO NOT repeat DO NOT stretch the skin either...let it lay naturally to tack out and dry....am sure that is what Pappy meant just when I read it , I would of interpreted stretching it....I also use masking or painters tape to remove scales after I apply to bow..good luck..gut

[Easternarcher]

Sidebar question here...
can you apply skins to a bamboo backed bow, and what procedure and/or glue is best to use...even with the cloth look-a-like ones?

[Thesquirrelslinger]

Normal cloth(linen/cotton/nylon) can be applied with slightly thinned TB2 or 3, or pretty much any wood glue or even white glue. (used TB2, and white glue on a short oak, TBB says nylon can be applied with those).
I assume hide glue would work with snakeskin or cloth.
Never tried it though.
Never glued a snakeskin on a bow before... but have glued them onto other stuff using TB2.

[osage outlaw]

I picked up two roadkill rat snakes today.  I have another one in the freezer that I picked up at work.  I'll post some pictures tomorrow after I get them all tacked down.  I don't put anything on the skins.  I just let them dry out.  I soak them in water for a few minutes before I glue them down.  That makes them soft and pliable.

As for the the best finish to put over them, I prefer tru-oil.  It really makes them shine.

[threefingers]

Scrape the back and get off all the meat,soak in 60% glycerin and 40% denatured alcohol for 3 to 4 days.Remove,wash,and stretch it on a plank.let dry.

[osage outlaw]

Here is how I tack them down.  I like to do them scales up.  If they need scraped I'll do that before I tack them down. 



If the snake is fat enough I split them one scale to the side of the belly.  When its dry I'll carefully cut down the other side.  Then I can get two backings, the normal back pattern and the belly scales.

[DLH]

Clint that looks like an awesome idea will have to try that next time I get my hands on a snake. My fiancé found one dead on the road this week but I couldn't convince her to pick it up for me any tips on that?

[osage outlaw]

Drop her off and go back and get it.  That's how I got one of the smaller ones yesterday.  It was hit on the road about a mile from the house.

[DLH]

I would have but I was an hour away tried to get her to put it in a bucket for me but it wasn't happening. Seems like she sees all the dead snakes on the road while I'm away.

[osage outlaw]

I keep a bucket with a lid and my snake tongs in my car at all times.  I got the one by my house right out the car window.  Didn't even have to open the door.

[hedgeapple]

My wife came running into the house out of breath and terror on her face a couple nights ago.  She managed to be the words out, "big rat snake in chicken coop.  I've been down in my back all week and was laying an ice pack on the couch in a t-shirt and boxers.  I slid on my slippers and away to the coop I went.

There was a big guy all curled up on about 8 eggs in a nest. I sent Schuy to workshop for my snake catcher and grabbed the Bersa .22 from my office.  My snake catcher, actually I made it for Schuy, is a 3/4" PVC 5 foot long with a string through it, a handle on one end of the string and braided wire loop on the other.

I slipped the loop over his head and pulled the handle.  Now this guy was a tussle to remove from the nest.  First he wrapped around an upright support pole, then around an electrical wire for the vent fan.  I had to grab him by the tail to unwrap him.  There was no way to just pull him out.

Normally, I would have dropped him in an old pillow case and relocated him a mile or so down the road.  But there was no way I could tolerate a road trip with my back ache.  And, Schuy sure wasn't going to do a relocation of him.  So the Bersa ended his egg sucking habit.

Nice snake, about 5 1/2" long, 3+ inches dia.  He'll have a place of honor on an osage bow.