Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not sure where to post this, but does anyone know a good safe way of getting to the bare skeleton of a lizard without destroying the bones?

You will need to skin the lizard remove the guts and large muscle masses and allow it to dry out. Then place it in a box with dermestes beetles. They will remove all the remaining flesh. Dermestes larvae can sometimes be found in with shipments of crickets as they are used at cricket farms to remove carcasses too.

dermestid beetles. First, the beetle larvae work much better if you do not let the specimens tissue dry out, as they prefer moist tissue. Secondly, do not let them escape in your home as they can cause damage to clothes and other organic materials. Otherwise they work quite well.

Kelly

Slower but less troublesome then dermestids are terrestrial isopods (a.k.a. pillbugs, sowbugs, wood lice, rolly-polies); place your lizard carcass, with the guts and large muscle masses removed as described above, in a container with some slightly moist soil and leaves, and drop in a bunch of isopods (you can usually find them under logs and stones). Don't let the soil dry out, and keep tabs on their progress; when the skeleton is clean, take it out and wash it (you can bleach it with hydrogen peroxide if you want the bones to be white), and put your isopods back where you found them.

Good luck!