Preparing Snake Skin

[ronnie_kennedy]

I have found a really nice snake skin in the yard and would like to use it for something. How would i go about preparing the skin for some kind of project? Of course, it is brittle right now, so is there a way to make it pliable to work with, or would i need one to have a fresher skin to prepare?

 

[Black Hand]

In order for a snakeskin to serve a function, it should be found still containing the snake. Once divested of its occupant, the skin can be tacked to a board, gently scraped of adherent tissue and allowed to dry. From there it can be tanned (hatbands, belts, etc) or used as is for particular applications not requiring tanning (backing a bow).

The shed stuff makes a neat discussion item.

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

Oh well...it is a nice skin. About 4-5 foot long. I'll just try and tack it to a nice piece of old weatherboard and set it up in the shop. Thank you for your help!

 

[crockett]

Most folks I know just tack them on a long board and hang the board on a wall. If you do that the sunlight will fade them so pick a wall that doesn't get any sunlight. You might want to put a coat of spar varnish over the skin so the bugs wouldn't eat it. There is a way to tan them, I think you first rub in salt or borax and then glycerin. If you want to use one to back a hunting bow or cover a tomahawk handle- you could likely just slip on the skin and let it dry. I've heard you can put a skull with fangs in some type of acid that leaves only the bone and fangs and then have that put into a solid block of Plexiglass- as a paperweight/conversation piece.
All this snake talk has gotton me interested in a rattlesnake skin tie. Not PC to my knowledge but sure bound to get some comments. There is a picture of Emmett Dalton wearing one in a book.

 

[Birdman]

ronnie what ya found was a shed skin, like its been said its a great conversation piece but not much more then that, really, its to fragile to do much with. Also like whats been said iffen ya get one with the snake in it n have no other choice but to dispach said snake then ya got something to work with, I have a black snake shed I found this past spring that measured 6' n 1/2 " longest skin from a blackie I have ever seen. But again its just a shed n only good for talken about, I've seen the ol girl that shed it n figure she hibernates in a wall of my basement, we have an understanding, she stays there or outside n all is kool, she comes inside n upstairs n she n I are gonna have a problem :haha: just thinking she n I may have to have a discussion anyway, at 6 foot she could be a danger to my monkey butt dogs(chihuahua's)probably big enough to eat one if given the time--which she ain't gonna get :blah:

 

[LRB]

Yep. If you found it in the yard, it is a shed. I don't know of anything it is useful for.

 

[Sperit de bois]

I give mine to the grand kids to take to school for show and tell,then leave it at school.Some children might never see one otherwise.

 

[omarick1948]

Give it to a VOODOO woman and have her make up a love potion! :stir: ___ Can't Hoit!

Just kidding! __ There not much good for anything except what was said already!

:wink: