A smelly shell

[gary fredrickson]

Hi,
I purchased a triton's trumpet on ebay, no data, just cause I liked it. When it arrived and I opened it the smell nearly knocked me over. The dealer admitted that there was a mild odor. Yeah, sure. Anyway obviously this was incompletely cleaned. Is there anything I can do at this late date in its history to rid it of the smell. Right now it's sitting in the garden. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[dave r]

Hi Gary,there are a couple of things you can try. If the smell is very strong ( and it sounds like it is!) chances are that there is a portion of the animal left inside. The strong smell seems to indicate that the remains are still in a soft state so the first thing to do is fill the shell with a 50/50 solution of bleach and water.It does not need to be full to the brim but full enough to fill most of the whorls. Stand the shell aperture up so the bleach mix can work on the remains and leave it for a few days, don't worry it won't hurt the shell. After the allotted time pour out the water/bleach then rinse with fresh water and hopefully the remainds will come out too, if not fill the shell with water and shake it up then pour away. repeat this a few times to try and remove all traces of organic material. Finally leave the shell to dry for a day or two then sniff. If this does not resolve the problem half fill the shell with alcohol and stand as before for a day or two then pour it away. Leave the shell to dry for a few days in a warm place and finally plug the aperture with cotton wool pushing it deep inside so that it does not show. This should solve the problem.
Dave      

[gary fredrickson]

Thanks Dave,
Will give it a try. If all else fails it is a  lovely garden ornament. Haven't had much trouble with critters in the garden since I put it out there.lol
Gary

[dave r]

You're welcome Gary. Funnily enough some of the smaller critters may even help by laying maggots in the shell and eating out the remains, ants are also good at this. The problem is that,depending on where you live,foxes, raccoons, bears and possums can also find a smelly shell interesting and steal it away. Beware!
Dave