Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a box turtle a few weeks ago, and it died last week The vet I work for said he didn't look old nor skinny. The thing is, I want to save his shell and bones... Does anyone know how this could be done without burying it and waiting for a few years?

Sorry the turtle died

I found a dead box turtle in the ally 4-5 years ago. I thought this would be neat to use for educational purposes so I could show kids how their spines are connected to the shell. Kids always think that a turtle can leave it's shell- they've seen that in cartoons.
I had no idea how to preserve it so I didn't keep it.
Maybe you could call a taxidermist for some ideas?
I should've done that but didn't, on the one hand it's educational but on the other hand I just am not fond of the idea of keeping a dead animal.
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PHRatz

Thanks for your reply.
I'm going to start vet school next year. I love the turtle world, and so I thought this might be an opertunity to explore their world some more... I'm sad that I wasn't able to help this poor boy/girl, but I guess that is life.
So now I'm looking to learn from it. Still, I don't know how to find someone who knows about this stuff.

My husband used to do taxidermy for the natural history museum at his university. They used dermisted beetles. Basically placing the carcas in a tank with them and leaving it there for about a month.

Here is a link on this.

http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/mammals/dermestid.html

Hope this helps.

Find a fire ant pile in a location you can rope off, and shove it in there, fire ants are pretty good at stripping some carcasses
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba RIP 10/23/04)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud) MIA
Brown Water Snake 0.1 (Fang)MIA
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1 (Sherman and Tiger)
(RIP Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)
African Rock Python (Mongo) 0.0.1
Rosy Hair Tarantula (Shelob) 0.1.0

Sorry about the turtle.

I've never actually done this, but my brother in law collects skulls (he's a Biology Prof.) and once shared his basic technique.

Put the remains in a mesh bag and partially bury the bag in some lose soil and cover with plenty of organic matter (leaves, dirt etc.). Do this away from your house (gets pretty smelly). You might also want to cover the area to keep larger scavengers away...a laundry basket weighed down with stones would probably work.
The mesh bag is important so that you don't lose the small bones in the process. The nylon bags used for machine washing lingerie work well.

It probably won't take a full year, now that the weather is warming up.

Once the remains decompose, I've heard you are
supposed to coat the remains with something....
you can get it at the craft store....I want to
say neoprene or....I can't remember but If I do,
I'll post more. Its something to preserve the shell
as the scutes (colored part of the shell) will eventually
fall off and sometimes the shell will fall apart.

I found out about this because we were at an art
show last year and someone had made craft items with
red eared slider shells and I asked her how she preserved
the shells to keep the the natural color and she
said she coated them with....polyprolene? Something.

I was somewhat concerned as to how she had so many RES
shells, but decided I didn't want to go there.

Anyway, it shouldn't take a year, more like a summer at most.
I lost a turtle and dug him up 2 or 3 years later and I could
not find any sign of his head, the scutes were coming off and
the shell fell apart at some of the seams, so you will need to
keep an eye on the remains and pull them as soon as they are clean.

Not only will the scutes fall off, but the sutures of the carapacial bones will give way and the entire thing will just fall apart...after a few years. Polyethylene furniture varnish would work. You can get a very small can and a brush at any big box store for less than $5.

You can purchase Dermestid beetles-
http://www.dermestidbeetlecolonies.com/

Or, call any higher education Zoology Department, Zoo, or Natural Museum and they'd probably be willing to either sell or lend you some.

I think I was thinking of Polyurethane.
Probably similar to Polyethylene.

Ok, I've never hear of polyethylene varnish for furniture, but I do know that polyurethane will yellow quite quickly. Spray on 'clear coat' varnishes are just that: they don't yellow the way urethane does, which may be important to anyone who is trying to preserve the color.
I have never used any of these products to preserve a turtle shell, so I won't vouch for their comparative effectiveness in this application.

Haha, poly-something-or-other. Lisa, you're right. Brain malfunction on my part. I worked at a nature museum for a while with a guy who loved to assemble snake skeletons. He'd spray a coat of polyurethane over them when he was done. He had some that were almost 20 years old.

I know that polyurethane and acrylic(clear coat) both yellow from sun exposure.

Put the turtle outside on a pile of dry leaves. If its not going to rain put a milk crate over it for a few days and weight it down good. If it might rain put a bucket over it. The animal has enough moisture for the maggots beetles and worms to tear the flesh apart. After a couple days put a bucket over it and weight that down real good. If its warm after a couple weeks you should be able to pull the insides out you'll have to use a long thin knife to disconect some conections. Make sure it stays dry or the shell will come apart. You can put the insides under another bucket and leave a couple more weeks if you want all the little bones you will be able to pick them out. After you can wash the shell and dry it good. You will not need to paint it with anything. Total time 3-4 weeks when insects are active and they should be soon in most of US. You can put it in the freezer next to the steaks so its not accidently mistaken for a lump of hambeger and thawed out for dinner.