u/felis_hannie

Between r/bonecollecting and r/vultureculture, many people offered helpful suggestions and a few people asked for updates on this buck skull covered in fake blood:

**Good/Bad News:** After a soak in the rain, the dye was *better.* (Grass pictures.) I then gave it a thick layer of “creme peroxide” from Sally Beauty which bubbled nicely but ultimately didn’t do much.

**Good News:** I did sloooowly pour some traditional peroxide as a test and that made two fantastic clean spots. That and the pink tinge on the tub makes me believe a full soak would actually get this shit out.

**Bad News:** I’ve already spent about $50 on supplies to clean this skull, but I don’t have near enough trad peroxide to actually soak this skull. I’m part time at the moment, so I can’t really justify (financially) spending more.

**Call for Suggestions:** What do? Originally I was thinking if the stain was too set to completely erase, I would try to paint or dye this skull a dark color and do a kintsugi style art project. Technically I think I could get it clean but like…. I don’t want to spend another $50 on something I wasn’t planning on selling. Halp. Moral vs Financial Dilemma.

- Hannie

Between r/bonecollecting and r/vultureculture, many people offered helpful suggestions and a few people asked for updates on this buck skull covered in fake blood:

**Good/Bad News:** After a soak in the rain, the dye was *better.* (Grass pictures.) I then gave it a thick layer of “creme peroxide” from Sally Beauty which bubbled nicely but ultimately didn’t do much.

**Good News:** I did sloooowly pour some traditional peroxide as a test and that made two fantastic clean spots. That and the pink tinge on the tub makes me believe a full soak would actually get this shit out.

**Bad News:** I’ve already spent about $50 on supplies to clean this skull, but I don’t have near enough trad peroxide to actually soak this skull. I’m part time at the moment, so I can’t really justify (financially) spending more.

**Call for Suggestions:** What do? Originally I was thinking if the stain was too set to completely erase, I would try to paint or dye this skull a dark color and do a kintsugi style art project. Technically I think I could get it clean but like…. I don’t want to spend another $50 on something I wasn’t planning on selling. Halp. Moral vs Financial Dilemma.

- Hannie

Fake blood on a foraged skull, gifted to me by an acquaintance. Their son did this as a Halloween decoration, and then it sat in their garage for almost ten years.

Giving it a good rinse first. Plan is to scrub with dish soap a little, see what happens, then move on to a peroxide and/or soapy water soak.

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please feel free to share. If I can’t get this clean, I plan to paint it a solid color and do a kintsugi style thing.

🤞🤞🤞

Partially buried this jaw fragment in my bioactive toad habitat. The substrate is home to robust populations of isopods, springtails, red worms and soil mites along with a fluctuating population of crickets.

I’m curious how much of the remaining tissue will be eaten by these critters, and how quickly. The tank is 4 ft X 2 ft, with a good 6 in of substrate. There are the above mentioned animals, two E. American toads and two plants living in this habitat.

The fragment came from a young, male deer that was killed in a two-car collision this past winter. I saw the cars on the side of the road on my way home. I pulled over on a side street and waited 45 minutes for the drivers to leave so I could drag the deer off the road and into the woods. When I came back a few weeks later to look for remains, I was delighted to find almost nothing! The coyotes and other wildlife were nourished safely, which is always my hope when moving someone off the road. 🥰

Tank is 4’ wide x 24” deep x 18” tall.

Substrate is 4” deep. Base: Mixture of reptisoil, jungle mix peat moss. Top layer: Sphagnum moss, live oak leaves, magnolia (?) leaves, burr oak and maple leaves (decomposed at this point), and bits of bark/sticks from outside.

Substrate layer is semi planted and bioactive with springtails, isopods, red worms and crickets. All species are actively reproducing; all but crickets are self sustaining. All prey receive calcium and vitamin resources (mazuri mix, fresh veg, FD shrimps, etc).

The birds nest fern is real and has a full spectrum plant light above it. Night light is a color changing smart bulb. Both are on timers.

Bath tub has two ramp entrances.

There’s a heat mat on medium-low beneath the cave on the right. If it gets cold, G + D burrow in that spot.

Neighbor came out while I was taking pictures to tell me he saw the hawk die yesterday in a car collision while chasing a dove. Neighbor moved the hawk off the road so it wouldn’t be squished. I moved it further from the road so no scavengers are killed.

Rest in peace, Friend. I’ll remember you.

I forgot to snap pictures of the info plates, so the only species I remember is the Lake Titicaca Frog 😭

Hi. I keep my two toads, Gayle and Darryl, in an open-top enclosure that has bioactive substrate. There are no real/living plants, but I have isopods, springtails and crickets intentionally living in the habitat.

Are there any other natural prey items I could introduce? There’s no lid, so prey must be unable to crawl up glass or fly. Willing to change habitat features to support additional species.

Toad Tax: Queen Gayle x 2, Darryl x 1

My rock words: granite, mica, striation, uhhh.. fossil, geode, mineral, sediment, crystal, quartz, galena, iron, shale, obsidian. That might be it, haha.