Preserving A Cottonmouth Snake

We found this guy in our yard by all the berry bushes. No idea what he was doing down there since these are water snakes. After killing him and letting him flop around for a couple hours it was time to skin so I could tan the hide. He is about 3' in length.

To skin it I took scissors stating at the head on the underneath side and cut down in a strait line down to the tail. To remove the skin after that you can pull it off starting at the top and it worked amazing.

Then I began fleshing the hide. to do that just take a small knife and rub it up and down the scales on the underneath side. Within an hour my whole snake was fleshed. To let you see the difference I took a picture while I was fleshing.

The tanning solution I used for this was a mixture of rubbing alcohol and glycerin at a 1:1 ratio. I then submerged the skin in this solution making sure none of it was above the surface of the water. I let this sit for about 3 days shaking the jar once a day. Then I pulled it out so I could dry it. To do this you need three things. A bunch of little sewing pins, wax paper and something flat to stick the pins in (I used a Styrofoam floor mat and that worked great).

After a week of drying it will be done and then you will have a finished snakeskin that is soft and flexible.

Thanks for viewing and commenting