ATTN: People who shoot things!

[Europhyllia]

My little dude is taking a class at the zoo about Texas Wildlife. They just did birds and since we have a pair of hawks and some nice big owls on the property we thought we'd go look for some feathers to add to the teachers collection of local birds' feathers.
Instead we found a very large and pretty turtle shell - complete top and bottom carapace.
Must have not been able to get itself right side up and dried out. There are still a few bits of skin and bone in there (gross I know but the shell was so pretty)

How do I clean out the stuff and sanitize the remaining shell so that the kids can hold and look at it without getting salmonella.

I was thinking of bleach but was worried it would bleach the shell and the pattern is so nice. Maybe dillute? What ratio? Or something else?

[Big_Pun]

boil it, best way to remove flesh from bone then just a lil bleach in ro water should kill any germs and not harm color dont need a lot of bleach......... i like your title lol should of said Hunters

[Europhyllia]

eww . gross. I am hesitant to boil dead turtle in my cooking pots. I'll have to think about this...

[bryancb]

Find a fire ant hill and put it on top, give them some time but they will strip it clean. Ive seen them clean a cow skull so should work on turtle

[txav8r]

If there is a lot of flesh left I would find someone wit a colony of flesh eating beetles. They really do a great job at cleaning up a skeleton. I have a friend with some that would let you put the turtle in but its a pretty good drive for you.

Careful with the boiling. if you boil it too much the plates on the back of the shell will come off.

your best bet is to find a red ant hill and stake it near that. It needs to be red ants not those pesky fire ants that have invaded over the last decade.

[Big_Pun]

If there is a lot of flesh left I would find someone wit a colony of flesh eating beetles. They really do a great job at cleaning up a skeleton. I have a friend with some that would let you put the turtle in but its a pretty good drive for you.

Careful with the boiling. if you boil it too much the plates on the back of the shell will come off.

i love how jack has boild turtle shells lol

[ErikH]

If there is a lot of flesh left I would find someone wit a colony of flesh eating beetles. They really do a great job at cleaning up a skeleton. I have a friend with some that would let you put the turtle in but its a pretty good drive for you.

Careful with the boiling. if you boil it too much the plates on the back of the shell will come off.

Does he own a pig farm too?

[txav8r]

See what I get for trying to help?!?!? LOL

[Third Coast Tropical]

Does he own a pig farm too?

Gotta watch out for anyone who is a pig farmer!



If you are not in a hurry....find a nice sized ant hill to finsih of the flesh, then let sit in that good ole Texas sunshine. Tie it down though so it doesn't sprout legs and walk/run away..

[Kristy]

Wow.... this is officially the WEIRDEST thread I've seen in long time!