mount my dead scorp

[Se/2aph]

hey all! one of my scorps died the other day and i wanna mount it in an airtight casing of some kind. any ideas where i can get such a thing?

 

[hornet]

no sorry, and not sure of the procedure to prepare the scorp before mounting. Best way to prezerve is in metho

 

[eladidare]

very interesting thing to do...

 

[Riley]

can u get dried metho?
my friend has his old scorp in something like that
ill ask him..

 

[jack]

dried metho?

perhaps you are thinking of some sort of resin?

 

[Se/2aph]

resin moulding is what i was thinking but i dont no much about it. i was lookin for sumone that cud do it 4 me, or educate me on what i need where to get it and how to make it all work.

 

[hornet]

try to find someone who stuff animals, cant remeber the name of the profession but they will tell you want you need to know.

 

[jack]

you buy the resin as two seperate components, one of which is the catalyst that sets the resin... start with a mould, add some resin and catalyst to make a base, let it set, put in your specimen, add a layer of resin and catalyst, let it set...repeat, gradually building up layers in your mould... then leave it for a couple of days, pull it out and polish with increasingly finer abbrasive...
it is a fiddly process... don't try and do it all in one go as you will get air bubbles, and a large amount of heat is created... wear goggles as the catalyst is not good for the eyes....and make sure you specimen is dehydrated first, i tried this once with a small gecko and it was not pretty!

 

[krissy78]

try to find someone who stuff animals, cant remeber the name of the profession but they will tell you want you need to know.

I do believe you are thinking of Taxidermy

 

[hornet]

thats the one, thanks krissy

 

[Retic]

Just treat it like a spider, they have an exoskeleton and will just dry out in whatever position you want it in.
I have done dozens of spiders and scorpions. Get a piece of corkboard or some similar soft board and set the scorpion out in the desired position, then just put pins each side of legs or whatever to hold them in place until they dry out and set. You can scoop out the soft insides and stuff with cotton wool if you like. It will smell for sometime so try and put it somewhere away from people.

 

[nuthn2do]

Dried first then encased in resin would be the way to go for the scorp, not an easy task though if you've never played with resins before. For a specimen in a jar metho is ok short term but methanal (formaldehyde / embalming fluid) is the go for long term stuff.

 

[hornet]

Just treat it like a spider, they have an exoskeleton and will just dry out in whatever position you want it in.
I have done dozens of spiders and scorpions. Get a piece of corkboard or some similar soft board and set the scorpion out in the desired position, then just put pins each side of legs or whatever to hold them in place until they dry out and set. You can scoop out the soft insides and stuff with cotton wool if you like. It will smell for sometime so try and put it somewhere away from people.

for me scorps either dry up and look crap or rot, larger scorps will certainly rot so i'd do what boa mentioned and scoop out the guts. The intersegmental membrane rots very easly.

 

[mickousley]

you can buy the casting resin from bunnings in the paint section follow the instructions on mixing make sure the mould or dish is clean whipe it with a car polish or oil spray as a mould release . first you put it in about 4mm thick letting it cure for a bit then lay the specimen up sidedown add a bit more let it cure and then add some more if you put to much in it will crack when curing, when mixing stir gently as to not get so many air bubbles in it let it stad for a minute before using this will eliminate most air bubbles wear Glasses as its not good for your eyes
i have been doing this for over 30 years as they use to make a craft thing called plastic craft in th 70esnow i do it with my kids its great fun hardist thing is finding a good mould tupper ware is good

 

[Se/2aph]

thanks again fellow herpers!! all info is most useful.

 

[Mrs I]

Yep Epoxy resins we use them on floors and the bugs dont come out or decompose..

Two part resin system similar to superglue, you should be able to find some at a hardware store if not let me know could send you a little.

Mrs I

xxx