My shipment of dip and pack skulls and hides arrived from Africa this week to my taxidermist. I went over to check things out after work and my taxidermist and I opened the two crates and found bugs in them. He said don't worry he gets capes and hides from Africa with bugs all the time. He did not seem worried and said he would take care of them.

My question is, are they not supposed to be taking care of this in Africa when they dip and pack? Is that not what we pay for? I am not sure what the dip is supposed to disinfect? Also this managed to get thru customs here in the USA and "Vet" inspection in South Africa.

How do I make sure the bugs do not come back after he has mounted them and they are mixed in with all my other mounts?

Believe your taxidermist when he says "Don't worry...he'll take care of them"! He surely will, the last thing he wants in his shop is dermestids infecting his other clients mounts. A taxidermist could not stay in business if they didn't run a clean "bug free" shop.

I am sure the bugs were from the horns. That is not uncommon with shipments from Africa.

You may want to reiterate your concerns when you pick up your mounts and I am sure your taxidermist will again reassure you that he has taken care of the problem. If you trust him to mount your trophies, trust in him with handling this part of dealing with dermestids.

It is always a good idea to fumigate all your mounts periodically as a preventive measure.

Kindest Regards,
Mary

Mrs. Krueger,

I believe 300 Magman may be more worried about the condition of his trophies than the bugs being in the taxidermists shop.

The bugs may or may not have done significant damage to the trophies depending on the type and amount of time they were living in there. All answers probably won't become evident until the skins are rehydrated in the tanning process and every square inch is visible. I would not loose to much sleep over it. It is quite rare to have a cape ruined by dermistids.

Smarterthanu,

Guess I just assumed he was aware there may be some damage as the dermestids were there for a reason, there was a food source (they were eating something).

I work on a large volume of African skins, after they have been tanned, and about 20% have mild to severe damage from dermestids. The taxidermist who deals with volumes of African skins can render the damage undetectable with their airbrush during the finishing process. I truely am sympathetic for the client as the fees are paid to hopefully insure the proper handeling of the skins, in Africa, to prevent this type of damage to one's trophies.

I do agree with you that it is certainly nothing to lose sleep over and I am sure 300 Magman will have beautiful trophies returned to preserve the memories of his hunt.

Kind Regards,
Mary

quote:

It is always a good idea to fumigate all your mounts periodically as a preventive measure.

Mary, what would you recommend to use to fumigate? I think that is a good idea but do not want to use anything that may damage my mounts.

David,

We recommend the heavy duty bug foggers that you can purchase from hardware stores, pet shops, Veterinary clinics, etc. the more types of bugs it states it will terminate, the better. It will not specifically say dermestids, but they certainly take care of them! The fog will not harm the mounts, of course you should not point the stream directly at any of the mounts.

It is best to move all the mounts in one room and follow the directions on the can. If it is too difficult to get all mounts in one room, you should get as many as you can into a few rooms and set a fogger off in each room.

Read the directions carefully as there are many things which will need to be removed from the house or covered. Pets and yourself need to be gone for several hours...it's all on the label.

This is a great way to prevent dermestid infestation of your mounts, just like going to the Dentist...preventive medicine.

Kind Regards,
Mary

Thank you all for the replys. I am uncertain of the damage at this time but I do not expect it to be very significant due to the short length of time.

Everything will go to the tanners next week.

quote:

Originally posted by 300magman:
My question is, are they not supposed to be taking care of this in Africa when they dip and pack? Is that not what we pay for? I am not sure what the dip is supposed to disinfect? Also this managed to get thru customs here in the USA and "Vet" inspection in South Africa.

I guess we pay for the "dip" and inspections just to pay for it because in reguards to my crate neither worked.