I recently killed a large southern brown banded water snake that was eating all the fish in my little pond. In hindsight, I would have purchased a tanning kit for best results, but I went online and found much conflicting info on how to tan it. I have gotten no help from taxidermy forums yet, but I figured somebody here would know.
The skin came off very easily with almost no flesh, just a little catfish-like sinewy fat here and there. I scraped the hide and tacked it to a board, then applied antifreeze several times over a few days. The antifreeze seemd to be disolving a layer of the skin, so I thoroughly washed it with hand soap and water, dried, and applied salt to the inside and glycerin to the outside. After several days, I scraped off the salt and "broke" and scaled the skin quite easily, then applied a light coat of glycerin all over.
I now have a very beautiful, pliable, clean, dry, and tough skin, but just one problem. It mildly smells like a dog. Wanting to use it for a hat band, but I'd like to deoderize it. Any ideas? Denatured alcohol treatment? I know these snakes have musk glands, or it could be some remaining bacteria from the "tanning" process. It's not a very strong smell, but, for a hat band... you know. Thanks for any suggestions!
