rattlesnake skin?

[bronco611]

I just got a 5 foot rattler and want to keep the hide for backing a bow. What is the best method to do this? I know anout the 50/50 mixture of glycerine and alcohol but is a soft skin good for backing a bow?

[beetlebailey1977]

Just flesh it real good and tack it to a board flesh side out in the sun for a day or so.....will be good to go.  No need to tan it.

[osage outlaw]

Yep.  No salt or chemicals, just air dry.  If the flys are bothering it, I'll spritz it with a little bit of insect repellant.

You soak it in water to soften it before applying it to a bow.

[bronco611]

Thanks for the quick response guys. I have already skinned, fleshed and stapled it to a board flesh side out and she is cooking in the sun as we speak. I also have 2 others in the freezer but am going to see how this turns out before I mess with them. One is another 5 footer the other my son killed and it was a little over 7 ft long. The biggest one I have ever seen personally and I want to make something out of it for him. I may use the glycerine/alcohol  method and then use leather glue to glue it to a belt and also a rifle sling. Again thanks for the quick responses I am lucky to have people I can count on when I need them.

[Cloudfeather]

I was curious about something myself. Once a skin has been fleshed and dried: Do you just roll it up and stick it in a ziploc bag in the freezer?

[osage outlaw]

I roll them up and put a twist tie around them and keep them in a flat clear plastic tackle box.  I keep that inside a large tote with some other skins, furs, and sinew.  I have a layer of Borax in the bottom and some moisture absorbers in there also.  If I had the freezer room, I would probably just keep them in there.

[Catahoula]

Hi,

I am blessed with fire ants...I scrape the snake skin and tack it out and leave it in the sun for a couple of days...invariably the darn fire ants get on it but I have learned to ignor them till the sun has done its work (check it with your nose...if you are a typical guy and can't smell anything then ask your wife to sniff it...I'll guarantee she will know whether it is ready or not!)... brush off the fire ants before the sniff test!...use sizzors to cut off the outter edge (which curls on mine) and then ziplock it along with a dry paper towel...I keep mine in the kitchen up on a shelf away from the catahoula...

Rand
(BTW: without advice from Pat Brennan I would still be wandering around in the dark about all this stuff...thanks to Pat and all the great people on this site who are willing to help.)

[johnston]

Okay this was a timely thread and gives me a place to ask a question I was
going to ask anyway. Timely because a friend flagged me down this morning
to give me a rattler he had killed in his shop Saturday.

It was in a garbage bag and frozen so when I got home it went in the freezer
with my other snakes. I understand about the drying and all but do you do
anything different when a snake has been frozen or just thaw it out and proceed?
Also, do you basically cut down the middle of the belly or do you slip it off and
then cut?  The only snakes I have skinned were rattlers for meat and I don't want
to screw up through ignorance. I owe someone a snake skin and want it decent.
Thanks.

[tom sawyer]

Slit down the belly, it makes it easier to peel the skin off without ripping it.

Glycerine tanning isn't recommended (or needed for that matter) although I've done it and used the skins on a bow before.  You just have to rinse the glycerine off really good in several changes of clean water.

[osage outlaw]

Johnston,  You can cut them either way.  I have started cutting them just to the side of the belly scales on really fat snakes.  The belly skin makes a nice backing and I figure I'm getting the most I can out of the snake.  I cut all the way around the snake just behind its head.  Then I unzip it down to the pooper and slowly pull the skin off down the length of it.

The freezer won't hurt them.  Let it thaw out and cut away.