Rabbit Taxidermy

[Celice]

Okay, so here is an odd topic.

Mounted rabbits have always fascinated me. I remember the first thing I saw that was dead on a wall was a Jackalope (and my young naive mind believed the old man at the counter that the thing was a real animal) and now that I am older now look at some mounted rabbits and it look like something the cat dragged in. All guggaly-eyed and fur falling off this kind of mount if fondly called 'Taxi-derpy' (I dare you to Google the term).

I am a self taught taxidermist and now I can see how hard it can be to mount such thin skinned animals. So, as a smart person that wills myself to get the easy animals; I've started to mount rabbits and wanted to show you my most recent WIP of a rabbit I've started.

my customer wanted those pretty sea-blue eyes:

tell me what you guys think!?

I'll be posting my other WIPs as I work.

 

[Zass]

I think domestic rabbits are one of the most difficult animals to mount convincingly. It's not like there are forms that match their shapes. I'd considered casting some, but all bunnies are shaped a bit different. hmmm...

You should be able to re-hydrate as many times as necessary, but in areas that you want to keep supple (if it's to be soft sculpture) it will need re-broken as it dries.
If it helps, I do have some reference photos of close relatives.

I don't have to be as sneaky about my stuff on here, since there is far less demand for tanned pelts than there was on DA.
I just didn't want anyone over there thinking I was back "in the game" and start requesting things again...

I actually just finished skinning a pair of 11 month old pygmy wethers. I didn't lifesize them though, just took backhides with tails, ears, and one really interestingly marked face.
They didn't work out as pasture companions, terrified of the horse... or so I was told.
Looks like we'll be having chevon burger and steaks again.

I do love the expressions on the faces of older men the first time they see me handling a carcass. :lol:

 

[Celice]

with the young rabbits I had to carve out a form and put lots of clay. But I think what woulds help is using the skull that belonged to that rabbits but that would involve cleaning the skull and what-not.

if you have the photos that would be great!! this one was big enough to use a jackrabbit form but I feel the nose is too long for a domestic. It still looks good just more hare like.

Lol! I totally understand that one! I've been making more flat hides then mountable ones lately I have about 14 in the freezer. I get requests every so often but I always tell them "I don't pay attention to color when I butcher only on who's ready and who needs to be". This way I don't hold a chinchilla colored bunny for anyone that asks for it.

you butcher more than I do so I can only imagine how bad it was!

That's cool!! I love nicely marked goat pelts!


lol! I wish I can take a picture of every new persons face when I tell them I butcher and eat "bunnies". Some of my family is freaked out by it.

 

[Zass]

Well, what happened was...
I thought I'd be smart and send some of my pelts people who got a ton of page views and would give me plenty of exposure...

and the whole thing worked out better than I'd planned.

I ended up...overexposed. :roll:

So much for clever plans!
I hadn't realized just how much demand there was going to be.

Is that a buckling? You might want to build the jaw muscles up a bit more if you can.

I find some pics.
Just have to put the husband to bed first.

 

[Celice]

lol! I'd like to get some exposure. but not too much!

I was thinking it was a buckling but I'm seeing some large nipples there so now I think it just might be a doe. I dunno... it's hard to sex rabbit pelts...

lol! okay!

 

[alforddm]

But I think what woulds help is using the skull that belonged to that rabbits but that would involve cleaning the skull and what-not.

Dermestid Beetles

Crow skull with all feathers. Less than 2 days. Then a peroxide bleach.

Hubby got them to clean deer skulls. They were supposed to be his bugs, and he did build a pretty nice box to keep them warm during the winter but...somehow they got added to my menagerie. They are pretty cool little guys if just a tad bit smelly. <br /><br /> __________ Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:02 pm __________ <br /><br /> I just wanted to add that I am very jealous of both of your beautiful work. I'm not very artistic. I do fine with regular crafts and following directions but the really beautiful creative stuff ?...Not so much...

 

[Zass]

I sent some photo's to your yahoo e-mail account. I hope you still use that one.

The only other doe for sure in that batch was the one I'd sent to Cappies, and ...I think she had hers sent overseas for Meike to mount?

Unless...what you have there is a massive doe. There was one of Pancake's sisters I took the pelt from as a full grown adult. I don't remember who ended up with her though. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:18 am __________ <br /><br /> Nice skull alforddm! I sure wish I had some beetles.
It's just one of those things that will have to wait for when we move out of town.

 

[Celice]

Alforddm!! beautiful skull!! I hear it's hard to keep those beetles since they tend to clime? how is your experience with it?

thanks!! <br /><br /> __________ Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:25 pm __________ <br /><br /> Zass, got the email! your boys have really fat faces!! I'm loving the opal color you are getting! I've seen some smutty opals but yours are really coming out great!!

I have no clue! I'm tempted to rehydrate the genitals so I can take a look. I got this one from Myskullcabinet on DA it's a really big rabbit. rivals the size of my angora doe you tanned for me (without the fluff)

 

[Zass]

Ok, yep, that was the big doe then!! She's larger than the mature Lilac doe I'd also sent to her. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:37 am __________ <br /><br /> My current opals will probably look messier, since they are all part fox and have longer guard hairs.

 

[Celice]

ah! okay! then it's good that I gave it a taller forehead then fat cheeks.

I wonder because she's so big any particular reason you butchered her so late in life?

lol, my English angora had an opal that I really like. I'll have to take pictures tomorrow.

 

[Zass]

Her litters had higher than average mortality rates.

 

[Celice]

wow! well pancake really made up for it!

 

[Zass]

wow! well pancake really made up for it!

Yup, Pancake pretty much out preformed everyone. She was my special doe.

I don't think you were around for the final story, but her immune system gave out and she succumbed to pasteurella last summer.

It turned out that she was carrying 14 embryos at the time.
I always did have trouble with her trying to have more babies than her little 8.5 lb body could handle.
I culled her quickly because I really didn't want to loose the whole herd, and I'm glad I did, since she was only the second rabbit to produce white snot and I was able to stop the spread this time before it wiped out most of my stock.

I was seriously depressed for about a month too. You know, Pancake was my personal favorite. We'd been through a lot together.

The doe you have there actually outweighed her a bit.

 

[Celice]

Awwww, I wondered what had happened to her!!

Gosh! little over-achiever! Do you have one of her offspring to replace her or did you have to start over?

We all have our favorites. Umi is quickly becoming mine and Honey Bun is still around taking really good care of her litter, that little doe managed to out grow her kits long before the NZ mutts did. She's quite the sport.

 

[Zass]

I am glad that I didn't make her carry and nurse all 14 babies while she was sick. Well, that and it would have been a risk to every bunny here.

Right now, I have three of her daughters as brood does, two 1/2 sisters as brood does, a slew of grandkits (there are a few opal and lynx colored doelings out of them growing up right now), and I have some other more distant relations.

The silver fox influence has been a huge headache, but it did drop the litter sizes back to a manageable level, and increased growth rates. Seems like I'm averaging only 7-9 kits from the current does. I think it's good, since Pancake's oversized litters always stressed her system.

 

[alforddm]

I hear it's hard to keep those beetles since they tend to clime? how is your experience with it?

So far so good! None have escaped that I know. They are outside. Defiantly wouldn't want to keep them in the house. Not only do they have a rather pungent odor, I have heard if they get loose in your house they will eat just about anything, leather, books, carpet etc.

This is how we've been keeping them. It's just two rubber tubs with some foam insulation cut and put between them and the cracks filled in with expandable foam. We have a reptile heater that is between the tubs and so far as kept them alive through the winter. I have had some problems with condensate forming in the inner tub. They need a bit of water but right now It's damper than it should be.

We do put the other lid over the tubs to keep some of the heat in. Below 40F they will die. The holes in the lid are covered with window screen and hot glued down.

 

[PSFAngoras]

I'd be more interested in learning how to care for those guys if you wouldn't mind PM ing me on a good source of info. Always thought it would be cool to do a full rabbit skeleton display but didn't want to boil the flesh of the bones since I've heard it makes them more brittle.

 

[alforddm]

Honestly, my hubby is the one who did all the research and I just ask him if I have a question I'm sure you can Google Dermestid Beetles and find the sources he used. We have had ours since July and have have fed them almost exclusively on meat (mostly last years stew meat and scraps from deer kills), however, they say you can feed dog food and I have a couple of times. Don't think it hurt them and they ate it. We started with a purchase of 500 bugs off the net somewhere. We were a bit disappointed when we got them because we didn't' think (and still don't) we really got the 500 bugs we paid for. However, they seem to have done well and we now have a fair sized colony.

You do need several thousand beetles to clean a deer skull with any kind of speed. Especially if you intend to leave the brains. They need a bedding, shredded news paper is good. They need something to burrow into to pupate, styrofoam works wonderful. In the winter they need a heat source and they need ventilation. Like I said I have more moisture in my colony right now than is good for them. Hopefully we will have a couple of warmer days soon so I can leave the lid off and let things dry out a bit.

You are not supposed to let fly larva (maggots) get into your colony. I'm not sure why, I'm assuming they can introduce disease. We did once not long after we got them and thankfully it didn't kill them all. What ever you do, don't think feeding them a fish head is a good idea. It's not. Ask me how I know :x Although now that I think about it if we had had a larger colony at the time it probably wouldn't have made such a mess.

Do they smell? Yes they do, like rotted meat. It's not as bad as a really putrid carcass, but it is defiantly there. If smells bother you I don't recommend them but if smells bother you your probably not interested anyway :lol:

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Celice]

I may invest in some. I just find it so funny that you can buy them on ebay. but I have to be prepared for them. what temp do you keep them at?

 

[alforddm]

The reptile heating pad we use puts out a constant 100F however, as it is between boxes, they have a buffer and with all the bedding, they can regulate their temperature by deciding how deep they bury in the bedding. If I put my hand in the bedding a bit it feels warm.

Our coldest night this year has been 13F. I know we have lost some to cold as there are dead ones on top of the Styrofoam. I just don't think it's been very many.