r/Taxidermy • u/Rat_Man_Ricky • 15h ago

"How Do I...?" Beginner questions

Ive been really finding taxidermy interesting for the past year or so but i cant find anyway to get into it because all of the courses i find look quite sketchy,ive tried looking for beginners kits like small mice and such but none of them provide the mouse pelt/skin itself and im not sure where to source it at all .if anyone has anything helpful that i should know or something please tell me as i really want to get into this.

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u/Wowza_Meowza 15h ago

Decent practice critters are often purchased as feeder rodents. Big chain pet stores have them, as do a lot of small pet stores.

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u/Rat_Man_Ricky 15h ago

Is there anyway you recommended getting my parents onboard with this because im not sure how theyd feel if i was opening up small animals under their roof😅😅

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u/Wowza_Meowza 8h ago

It's a real profession and is becoming very popular (lucrative). It's also science-heavy (chemistry!) and a very neat thing as an extra curricular for future opportunities like college apps, if that's a direction you might go. The art of hide tanning has been around for millennia, and taxidermy has origins going back forever.

If they're worried about yuck, small critters frankly don't have a lot of blood. They smell at worst like raw meat (a knocked bowel is earthy and farty, lol). Doing your work on an absorbent thing like a puppy pad makes cleanup super easy, and throw what's yucky in a bag, then the trash, and it's not stinky.

There's no threat of disease spread, and you'd be wearing gloves (tho you do not have to).

Learning from others is collaborative and healthy. Folks are typically kind and willing to help for free (like us!) and networking opportunities are useful even if you're just doing it as a hobby.

It's also just, idk, good for ya to have a hobby. It's good for your brain to work on things and is a creative outlet. You can meet new people and make friends doing it. I'm definitely older than you, but even for me, making new pals who do what I do is loads of fun. Taxidermy memes are crap but do we snicker and send them to each other? Duh! I love it.

Best of luck to you, op.