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How to Skin a Rat Properly

Midventral Incision -

1. Lay it on its rat
2. Pin its paw to the tray if neccesary, but it sounds gross to me
3. Most lab specimens have a small opening in the neck area, where colored latex was injected into the arteries. Lift the Posterior (this is when those anatomical terms start coming in handy so click on the underlined word to get to its definition) edge of this opening, and using a blunt probe, gently separate the underside of the skin from the muslce below. While continuing to lift, use scissors to cut the freed skin along the ventral midline.
4. Continue the lift-separate-and-cut-method in a posterior direction.
5. Stop cutting just in front of the urogenital area.
6. Extend your cut forward to the point of the jaw as well.

*Be careful to cut only the loosened skin and not underlying muscle.

Lateral Incisions -

1. Make 4 lateral incisions.
2. Make the first one along the edge of the lower jaw to the cheek and then to the top of the skull, just behind the eye.
3. The Second and third cuts are down the inside of each leg to the paws; also make a circular incision around each leg at the wrists and ankles.
4. The last lateral cut is to be done from the front of the Urogenial area, around the rear margin of the hind legs, to the top of the base of the tail.

Removing the Skin -

1. Loosen all the skin on the ventral and lateral surfaces using a blunt probe.
2. Turn the rat over and remove the entire skin from the limbs and dorsal body. (It's easier to start at the rear and work your way forward, not that I would know)

Be aware of -

-brownish tissue that adheres to the skin. These are dermal muscles that allow the animal to move its skin
-the mammary glands may appear as a band of tissue running under the nipples; this tissie mau be greatly expanded to pregnant and lactating individuals.
-saving the skin to wrap your specimen between lab periods.

How to shrink a head

EMPTY YOUR HEAD
The Jívaro tribe of Ecuador believe that when a person is murdered, his soul attains the ability to exact terrible vengeance upon the murderer. Whoops! Fortunately, shrinking the victim’s severed head to the size of a softball supposedly traps the hosed-off spirit and limits its power of retribution—which is common sense, come to think of it. Bill Jamieson, founder of head-hunter.com and proud owner of 15 shrunken heads, says if the head isn’t severed already, do so just above the collarbone. Make an incision with a surgical scalpel from the back of the neck to the crown of the head. Carefully dislodge the scalp and flesh from the bone underneath and lovingly remove the skull. Hey—a new bong!

POT YOUR HEAD
Place the deskulled head in hot water, but monitor the temperature closely; if the water boils, the hair could come off. Nobody wants a little Telly Savalas head—you’d have to find a new hobo and start over. Remove the noggin after two hours of simmering and scrape out the fatty tissue inside. Sew the eyelids and lips shut to ensure the pesky avenging spirit is good and trapped, then sew the back of the head, leaving only the neck open. To dry it, fill the neck cavity with hot stones and sand. “Shake it like one of those cases used to roll dice,” suggests Robert L. Carneiro, curator of ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Anyone up for a game of backgammon at the Carneiro house? Anyone?

SMOKE YOUR HEAD
Once it dries, remove the stones and sand; the head should retain its shape. Hang it above a smoky fire overnight to preserve it like so much delicious ostrich jerky. Finally, polish it with ash. If it resembles LaToya Jackson, the operation was a complete success! The Jívaro hang ’em around their necks as trophies, but if you’re not into foppish jewelry it’ll make a great paperweight…one that sends a strong message to your underlings at the office.