Losing your beloved turtle can be hard to deal with, and is easy for no owner. We understand your pain, but there is a way to preserve your turtle so you will always a memory of your beloved animal. This method is called preserving your turtle shell, and today I’ll be going through some methods you can use to preserve your turtle shell.
There are multiple ways you can preserve your turtle’s shell after death.
Methods To Preserve Your Turtles Shell: Natural Method
There is a completely natural way that includes burying your turtle in a compost pile (just make sure you are able to remember where you put your turtle, or you can put your turtle where it is going to moist. Every few weeks, check the status of your turtle as the turtle will start to decompose. For this method, you are going to have to be patient, because, at times, it can take months for the tissue to be completely decomposed.
Once your turtle has fully decomposed, put on some rubber gloves and clean the inside of your turtle shell. They will be bones of the dead turtle, and it’s up to you if you want to remove them. You can use a toothbrush to remove some hard to reach areas.
Just gently scrub the shell underwater. Clean the shell because the cleaner the shell, the better preserved your shell will be.
Now, if you are looking for a more “unnatural” but faster method of preserving your turtle shell, you can cook your turtle straight after death to get a quick shell. If you simmer your dad turtle in a pot, the soft tissue will start to fall apart. Beware, this will produce some nasty smells, so be prepared.
This method is a quick way but is much crueler. There are also other methods that some professionals use, such as acid on the turtle that makes the turtle decompose quickly. These are much more dangerous, so if you’re not experienced, I do not recommend using that method.
There are three ways to preserve your turtle shell. Just a quick note, if you have a baby turtle, if maybe much harder to preserve your turtle shell just because their shell is so small and their bones are not fully developed.
What can you do with a turtle shell?
Well, you are able to hang up your turtle shell, or you can put in inside a bathroom as a decoration, they look beautiful, and it depends where you think it would look best.
Do turtle shells decompose?
Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. A turtles shell will eventually decompose, but at a much slower rate than a turtles shell. On average, it will take around 50 years for a turtle shell to fully decompose, around the same time as a human bone.
We hope this article was able to help you and give you a good idea of how to preserve your turtle’s shell. Thank you for reading!
