General Information

ECK Taxidermy specializes in quality skull cleaning and European mounts. We utilize the time-tested methods of Dermestid beetles. ECK Taxidermy would love to contribute to your hunting and fishing trip by cleaning and preparing your skull for display.

Dermestid beetles are a specialized species of beetle that eats only animal flesh and meat. Dermestid beetles are the preferred method of preparing skulls, used by many museums, criminal investigators and universities around the world. 

Preparing skulls with Dermestid beetles has many benefits over other methods of skull cleaning. These include no damage to fine bones, no damage to suture lines of the skull, no shrinkage of the skull, and won't yellow over time like other methods (when done correctly). 

ECK Taxidermy has completed a large variety of different skull types and are able to accommodate about any skull you would like to have beetle cleaned *please see exceptions below*. 

We were trained by a top skull cleaner in the United States on how to properly clean skulls/skeletons utilizing dermestid beetles as well as procedures/chemicals in degreasing and whitening that won't damage/erode away any bone, 

*We are unable to accept any domestic animal which could have been in contact with medications such as flea and tick killer. These include domestic cats, domestic dogs, etc. These chemicals will stay in any animal's body for a long period of time and will kill our beetles. For this reason, we will not accept ANY of these domestic animals. *

Dermestid beetles don't like to eat Rotten Meat, and it could harm/kill our colony. 

Please protect the skull/animal/fish from any other insects/animals until your appointment with ECK Taxidermy. 

If unable to schedule an appointment within 24 hours of kill, please freeze your specimen to ensure specimen stays fresh. This will not harm your skull/fish/skeleton.   

At ECK Taxidermy we complete the skulls as they come into us. If the beetle box is full (it normally is) your skull/animal/fish is placed in our freezers and put on a list to be completed. We take the skulls in order of how they come into us and don't skip around under any circumstance. 

We ONLY place your skull/animal/fish on the list once we have it in our freezers and have received the required 50% due at drop off down. 

Once you have done all the legally required processes to tag your hunt (if required by MDC/US Fish and Wildlife), it's time to get your specimen into ECK Taxidermy. 

If you have any questions about license requirements and tagging, please reach out to the Missouri Department of Conservation and/or the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

We have limited "open" hours outside of busy hunting/fishing times (see contact section for all the details). We do schedule appointments 7 days a week, from 9 AM to 6 PM for drop offs and pickups. 24-hour notice required for these appointments. To schedule, see appointment section above, call/text us 660-641-2425, email us at eckfarms22@gmail.com or submit a contact form. We will return any missed calls/messages as soon as possible. 

During drop off, we will be collecting a few pages of information including MDC tags, conservation numbers, driver's license information, etc. We do require all this information be with you either electronically or printed for us to look at. 

We require a 50% down payment for services at drop off. We accept a number of payment methods, for questions please contact us. 

After the above is completed, we place identification tags on your specimen and place them into our freezers until they are ready for the prep work and beetle box. 

Once your specimen is completed, we will call/text you with the phone number(s) left during drop off. If for some reason we are unable to reach you, we will then send a letter to you in the mail, to the address left during the check-in process. 

We require taxidermy items to be picked up within 30 days of notification of completion. If it's going to be longer for any reason, simply call/text/email to arrange pick up plans.

The remaining balance owed will be required at pickup. You will need your ID as we want to make sure we are releasing the taxidermy to the correct person.