Preparing the Python Hide for Tanning

After sending out the invitation for someone to take-over tanning the snake hide, it was evident that no one was going to undertake the task. So, it was up to us to figure out how to preserve this fine snake skin.

After some searching on Google, I found on an article on snake skin tanning written after the author interviewed a Smithsonian Museum Curator.

The steps were pretty simple, but the scale of the project was as large as the snake itself. I had to remove the flesh the hide by slashing off the steel-thread-like tendons and connective tissues with a Cutco Serrated 440 Surgical Steel Steak Knife. As sharp as that knife is, it felt like running a dowel over a washboard!

Eventually, I got the hang of it, and I unfurled the hide and rolled it back up on the other side as if it were a scroll, and managed to remove most of the flesh. The odd thing about the skin was that it smelled of dead fish, and was tacky but very dry.

At long last, the hide went back into a grocery bag at the school while I gathered the chemicals and equipment to tan it.

~ Shien