Respectfully Dead

03/01/2022

Knocked out another commission piece this weekend! This beautiful unique display was a bit tricky to work in, but I think this ferret skull was the perfect use for it. 🖤💀

Tucson, AZ

02/28/2022

Respectfully Dead - New Dome Display done! This was a naturally mummified Sonoran toad I happened upon last year while doing a snake search in a garage; no snake but a cool perfect mummified toad! ☠️🐸 Dude got a second life here & will forever be admired! Tight space used to the max, video in separate post!

Tucson, AZ
www.scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/26/2022

Respectfully Dead's newest piece, a shadowbox measuring 11x17", all Arizona native species, collected by both myself & my partner over at The Heathenry !

About this Piece: All items used (other than the moss filling) were collected by me locally here in the desert, some of the pieces used I've had for 3-4yrs just waiting to be used for something special. Everything came from AZ native species; both snakes are Desert kings, paper wasp nest, quail skull, quail eggs, kangaroo rat skull, jackrabbit bones, cotton tail ears, rock squirrel foot, cicadas, butterflies x2 species, bark scorpions, rhino beetle, Palo Verde beetle, fig beetle, pungent snail shells, flat coil shells x2 species, prickly pear pad skeleton, cholla cactus skeleton, cactus boot, all rocks & gems collected by me as well. 🖤💀

Critters used in this & every project are always ethically sourced!

02/23/2022

🐰💀 Two different types of rabbit, both adults, similar yet different!
The larger top one is a from a native Black-tailed Jackrabbit, that was about 7lbs, the smaller skull is from our native Cottontail rabbit, about 4lbs as an adult.
Both animals were taken legally & fully processed here, skeletons are bagged up and ready to use for crafts!

Tucson, AZ

02/23/2022

Adult Rainbow boa skull just finished up!
🌈🐍💀

Tucson, AZ
www.scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/22/2022

Here's a cute lil Skunk skull I just finished up! 🦨💀🖤

Tucson, AZ

02/22/2022

Here's another cleaned project I've recently called finished.. until articulation. This is Stella the Green iguana, she was quite old & had a very rough past until being rescued several years ago.
It's crazy how long these things take, this iguana was first prepped & cleaned about a year ago, majority of this whole time the bones have been degreasing.
There's a lot that goes into proper bone cleaning & we still lots of projects in the works!

Tucson, AZ
www.scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/21/2022

From fresh to display ready! I think this DoR gopher snake will end up in a shadow box & forever be surrounded by bits of his native environment. A lot of our items & accent bits are sourced ourselves locally!

Tucson, AZ
www.scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/18/2022

Here's a personal project I'm really glad to be done with, for now. This adult female Desert tortoise has been in the works for probably about a year now.
The bone took an extremely long time to degrease thoroughly; the full shell was kept soaking in Acetone that entire time, only drying out to check on occasion, and the rest of the skeleton was degreased via hot ammonia soaking & acetone later on for the stubborn bits, then to peroxide.
The skull fell apart a bit but all pieces are there, at some point she will be rearticulated, who knows when that'll be though. I do plan on whitening the inside of the shell as well but need to pick up some more creme peroxide first.
Through all this time, not a single scute fell off the shell either. You can see the small separation line between the scutes where beetles cleaned, but all scutes are still firmly in place on their own. Thanks Acetone.

www.scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

Tucson, AZ

02/09/2022

It's now easier to send Respectfully Dead a message.

It's now easier to send Respectfully Dead a message.

02/07/2022

Respectfully Dead updated their business hours.

Respectfully Dead updated their business hours.

02/07/2022

Respectfully Dead updated their business hours.

Respectfully Dead updated their business hours.

02/05/2022

Reptile hide tanning! Here are 5 of the Western diamondback rattlesnake hides I have tanned. Most of the snakes I do are picked up as roadkill, so some have more damage than others.
I love seeing the differences and individual patterns amongst the same species, and that sun shining through, beautiful!
None of the skins are currently for sale, but you're always welcome to bring us your own snake! Roadkill or a passed pet, they get cleaned and tanned all the same!

Tucson, AZ
www.scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/05/2022

Respectfully Dead updated their phone number.

Respectfully Dead updated their phone number.

02/05/2022

Before photos! Respectfully Dead will be restoring and correctly processing these skulls. All 5 of these are still extremely greasy and dirty, yet they were sold as 'finished' & two of them have irreversible damage from the original processor boiling them; it's easy to tell which skulls are boiled because they will always be missing the nasal turbines. (See front view bear photo).
I'll be spending the next few months with these skulls, getting them degreased & whitened up properly this time! ☠️

Looking forward to a few months from now when I can do the 'After' photos and see the huge difference!

Tucson, AZ
www.scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

Respectfully Dead updated their website address.

Respectfully Dead updated their website address.

02/04/2022

Here are a couple Before & After photos of these two dead-head javelina! Both skulls were found out in the field by Respectfully Dead’s partner The Heathenry, they were nature cleaned but still a bit too dirty and rough for display. They requested just a basic clean up without further degreasing or whitening; so basically maceration (water soaking) until the remaining crud came off and then I gave it a good manual wash and scrub!
The skulls fully dried within a few days and went back home, they darkened up some over the following weeks due to the natural fat and grease that is still present within the bone. Over a long period of time this may begin to have a bad odor or further worsen in color/condition, but being ‘dead-heads’ or ‘field-finds’ they’re often left in a more natural state of being!

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

This is KB the Mata-mata turtle- a personal project, one I was both happy and sad to work on; I knew KB when he was alive and he was just a total badass of a turtle honestly. He had a great home and a wonderful family who put an incredible amount of work into his care and setup, until tragedy struck.
We had our suspicions as to what had happened to KB, but upon necropsy it was confirmed that he had died due to ingesting a poisoned rodent. While the home he resided at would never use poison baits, that can’t be said for the surrounding homes sadly; he lived outdoors and an effected rodent decided to skip over his pond one evening.
Mata turtles are ambushers, they lay in wait and have bullet quick speed reflexes to snatch prey in the water. We all miss you bud, but we hope you can continue on to help educate others this way.
🖤☠🐢🖤

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

Here was a fun dead head restoration! This big buck skull had been left on a back porch in the elements for 3+years and had loads of grease in the bone still.
I agreed to take it in to clean up for a proper display; a few months and a lot of work later, BAM, looking handsome as ever! It is very common for the antlers to lose their coloration during the bone degreasing and whitening process, thankfully there are some great ways to restore a beautiful and natural antler coloration!
A lot of work, research, knowledge sharing, hours of time, money and supplies go into high quality products.. but I love it!

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

Pet commissions come in a variety of different degrees, from basic skeleton & tanning, to full blown art displays!
This is Clementine, a loved corn snake who had a rough life but found a loving family in the end until her passing due to health complications. Her skeleton was beetle cleaned and the hide tanned to preserve; snakes come in such a wide variety of colors and patterns, their beauty never ceases to amaze me.

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

This hatchling box turtle passed away too early in life, as many do, but now they'll be around forever more. I plan on creating him his own display here soon. 🖤☠🐢🖤

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

Finished commission piece for a local hunter friend! Thanks for being patient!
In this line of work, not many things go very quickly, even basic projects can take weeks to finish, with most things ranging into several months to fully clean / complete; for high quality results the best method is to take is to go low and slow.

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

Here is a fun crafty piece I did for my own home!
My 'day-job' is working with exotic animals, including a huge variety of birds! I can't help but pick up and save every good feather I come across (from captive animals, it's actually illegal to collect and posses a lot of wild bird feathers!).
Eventually I have to find something to do with them all, so I made up a few of these wonderful feather displays! This is just the most recent I have done, and more to come I'm sure!

02/04/2022

This is Frankenstein the Cat, who sadly passed away, despite vet care, due to multiple blood clots that started in the chest and traveled to her brain.
Her mom had some experience with bone processing but reached out to us during this difficult time. We were happy to help and got her skull beetle cleaned right away. When I checked the next day I was in awe of the unique blood veining and color that appeared within the bone.
This is thought to be "an example of peticheae, or pinpoint hemorrhages that occurred within the blood vessels of the bone and surrounding tissues."

Mom picked up Frankenstein soon after and will continue to process her at home. Despite the beautiful uniqueness of this bone, further cleaning really should be done to prevent issues down the road. Skulls or any bone left 'dirty' with grease, blood, fat, oils and much more still trapped inside the bone will slowly, but surely over time begin to rot and decay, causing severe discoloration, foul odors, and an oily/greasy feel to the bone.

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

A finished display for a pet scorpion, on a half racoon skull the client also gave us to use.
We're happy to incorporate custom items into your display, from the focal point, accent items, to the display case itself, we can work with what you have, and use our own supplies to fill in the rest!

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

02/04/2022

Memorial for Boomi the young leopard tortoise who sadly passed away early in life; but now he will stay with his family forever. 🖤🐢

Tucson, AZ
https://scaledsittingandservices.com/beetles-and-bones/

01/31/2022

Respectfully Dead's latest commission is complete! This was a pet rattie who passed and mom wanted her skeleton displayed in some way, & this is what we came up with!
Thank you to my dead partner The Heathenry for the shadow box; you'll all be seeing a lot more from us soon!
Stay tuned, Like & Follow! 🖤☠️