Skulls & Tines Studio

Guy Authier Owner Operator

Service Offered

- Dermestid Beetle Skull Cleaning

-Simmering (boiling) to whiten skulls

- Broken antlers or tines repairs

- Antler Coloring

- Sheds or Dead heads refurbishing to look fresh

Why Dermestid Beetles and Euro Mounts

Dermestid Beetles (or skin beetles) are tremendously efficent at removing anything around the skull that isn't bone.

All meat, cartilage and fat are completely consumed by the insects, leaving behind a prestine trophy with even the smallest and most delicate bones completely intact.

Their use for example, is optimal in leaving the notoriously fragile bones unscathed and where they belong.

Every single centimeter of your mount will be immaculate, giving you something you will be proud to display for years to come.

This is greatly superior to boiling, which is known for driving the fat into the bones, giving them an off-white, yellowish tint over time.

Boiling also comes with a risk, if overdone, the skull can crack and even fall apart.

It should also be noted that boiling does NOT remove the meat entirely, other tools are required to complete the process, drastically increasing the odds of damaging the more fragile areas of the skull.

A Euro mount takes up a lot less space than a shoulder mount , and can even be maneuvered and displaced to your heart's content, allowing you to fully apprecdiate it from any angle or height. Shoulder mounts are also much more expensive, and cost up to three to five times as much as a Euro mount.

European mounts have gained a staggering amount of popularity since the turn of the millenium, and the reason for it is simple.

When done right, they are beautifull, and they are timeless.

Simmering (Boiling)

At Skulls & Tines Studio, we are passionate about the art of skull preservation and take pride in creating beautiful Euro mounts.

But we do understand that not everyone is willing to pay top dollar for a “museum“ quality skull or wait anywhere from 4 months to a year for a skull to be completely degreased.

Therefore, I am also offering the “boiling” option, it is much faster and it’s also budget friendlier.

My beetles will still clean your skulls or they will be macerated in the case of very large skulled animals to preserve all the fragile bones and the integrity .

Once the skulls are cleaned, they will be simmered to degrease and then they get whitened.This will make a big difference in time. A skull can take many months or even up to a year to be free of grease.

”Boiling” will remove the majority of it and then the whitening will make them turn super white.

They will look 90% as good as a properly degreased skull.
The flat out honest truth now…. They will in a few years turn color, getting a off white, creamy color.

Some yellow spots might even come out at the back of the skull.

This is inevitable, when boiling for the simple and honest fact that boiling will drive the fat INTO the bones. Not to worry, it’s not like they are going to stink or anything like that, they just change color a little.

When you get your deer mounted at the taxidermist into a shoulder mount, it can take up to a year to be completed and the antlers are the last thing to go on.

For the price of a hotel room, you can enjoy your Euro mount and antlers on the wall for 8-10 months until your taxidermist is ready to mount the antlers and finish your mount.

So the choice is yours to make and I will always respect YOUR decision.

Learn More

Dermestid Beetles Skull Cleaning

Guy Authier Owner Operator

Service Offered

Why Dermestid Beetles and Euro Mounts

Simmering (Boiling)

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