VietNamNet Bridge – Collecting or making animal skeletons has attracted many young people because it is uncommon and the collected items are different from each other.

 

Bird skeletons. Photo: Nguoi Lao Dong

 

Tien, a university student in Ho Chi Minh City, said: "I catch snakes and frogs in the countryside and then using chemicals bought from chemical stores to make skeletons to show off to my friends."

According to Tien, making a skeleton is quite complex and it requires patience, meticulousness and especially passion. To create a skeleton, the player must firstly find the animals he likes. The most common animals are snakes, frogs and birds.

After preliminary treatment (flaying skin, plucking hair...), players will strip the meat, then quickly dip the animal in boiling water for about 30 seconds before braking the remaining leftover meat. This step must be done carefully to not harm the bones.

Next, the animal will be soaked in chemicals for about two days to clean all the remaining meat. The players then use a syringe to draw bone marrow thoroughly so the bones will not be blackened after completion. Finally, the bones are dried under the sun and connected to each other by glue to make a complete skeleton.

Tien said for snake or frog skeletons, he only had to pay VND100,000-VND150,000 ($5-7) for chemicals. However, this hobby requires patience because it is time-consuming, with complicated steps. A complete frog skeleton takes Tien 3-4 days or and it is up to three week for a snake skeleton.

 

To have a skeleton, the player has to kill the animal, soak it in specialized chemicals, and dry it. Photo: Nguoi Lao Dong

 

Making animal skeletons is now spreading among the youth. "It's fun to make animal skeletons yourself so you will be respected by other players," Tien said.

However, not everyone has enough patience or talent to make animal skeletons. Therefore, many people buy animal skeletons from others. However, they are quite expensive, particularly imported ones.

Amateurs can order animal skeletons online, from professional ones. The prices for bird, snake and frog skeletons made by Vietnamese players are not very expensive, just from VND280,000 to VND500,000 ($14-25), depending on the quality.

Skeletons of big animals like dogs, cats, horses, etc. are also available. On the website of a Hanoi-based company, the price for a rabbit and snake skeleton is VND8 million ($400), VND28 million ($1,400) for a cat skeleton and VND85 million ($4,200) for a horse skeleton. The good is delivered after at least three weeks. All skeletons are imported from China.

Nguoi Lao Dong