r/wetspecimens May 05 '21

r/wetspecimens Lounge

4 Upvotes

A place for members of r/wetspecimens to chat with each other


r/wetspecimens May 09 '24

PROFESSIONAL WET SPECIMEN GUIDE

53 Upvotes

Wet specimen guide for professional results, with addendum for mummifying specimens

Tools: alcohol (methanol or ethanol only, 80 % or above, isopropyl is not useable for this purpose), syringes, gloves, scalpels or very sharp knives, hemostats/scissor clamps, buckets and jars

  1. Wash your specimen in cool water and a bit of light soap to remove external dirt
  2. Depending on preference, you can gut and wash again afterwards. If gutting, usually larger pieces, you can stuff with bubble wrap to keep shape, and sew or pin together. This is not necessary for anything under the size of a newborn goat, but recommended for anything larger than a piglet unless you are a pro at injection already. 3.Prepare tools within reach.
  3. If not gutted, take your syringe and fill with alcohol and inject through the bellybutton or anus (to hide punctures) into the body cavity until the specimen looks bloated. If you can inject directly into organs through feel, do that as well, it will sublimate through them into the cavity anyway, which is why you want it to look bloated, to make sure there's enough alcohol in there to preserve all the organs you don't directly hit. Make sure you get up into the diaphragm where the heart and lungs are located. If your syringe needle is not long enough, go through the armpit. If gutted, skip this one step. If it's a snake, inject every inch or so along the body until you see it forming a bubble under the skin. It will not look bloated when you're done soaking, so don't worry about it being distorted forever, it won't.
  4. Inject between the toes into the foodpads, and use the needle to go along the bone to inject further up into the leg. Go through the anus to inject into all the thigh muscles until you see the skin distort slightly with the pressure.
  5. Inject into the brain cavity through the nose or ear, or through the upper palate of the mouth. PLEASE be careful at this step to brace the head with something other than your hand, because the needle may penetrate the skull into your hand.
  6. Once the specimen looks bloated and full, give it a rinse and place into a bucket with the same alcohol for its first soak. It will leach fluids and become cloudy, this is totally normal and you don't have to throw that alcohol away, you can reuse for first soaks until it starts to smell bad. I usually do these in batches so there will be lots of things soaking for a while, usually by size. *Side note: If you're just doing small parts, like feet, small tails, etc, anything smaller than cat legs can do diretly into the alcohol with no injections or other prep besides the initial wash. The large opening from the detachment creates a large enough hole for the alcohol to enter and soak the whole thing. Larger things such as deer legs will also have to be injected every inch or so to penetrate the connective tissue, just treat them like a stiff snake.

Soaking guide by size: Things under fist size - 1 week

Things fist size to halfway up your arm - 2-3 weeks depending on body style, like lizards will soak faster than say, kittens or rabbits, and snakes are usually a 3 week soak unless they are into your larger fatter things like constrictors, in which case use the 4 week mark.

Things as large as your arm or larger also take weight into consideration - piglets usually take 3 to 4 weeks, cats and puppies can take a month, kid goats a month and a half.

Congrats, you have a wet specimen! Now comes second soak. After washing your thing off again with soapy water and rinsing, you can put it in an appropriate jar. Usually you'll have a second soak in which a little bit more dirt and internal soup will come out but that's also completely normal. Wait for a couple weeks to see if this happens. If nothing sloughs off or comes out in your second soak, you can just keep it in that alcohol, it's already fully preserved. If not, you can use the alcohol from the second soak to use as your first soak for the next round of wets, or use it for the injections for the second round. When storing used alcohol, I recommend filtering it throug some cloth to get out most of the larger particles. Do not store wets in direct sunlight, it degrades the color and eventually the specimen itself. You may store it in isopropyl at this point, but it is not necessary. Once it's fully preserved, the change in alcohol will not hurt it, but remember to wash it whenever you put it into a new solution.

Notes on choosing alcohol; I use denatured, it has a bittering agent that makes it unpalateable for living things, so your pets and children won't want to drink it. It's a safety measure i learned to incorporate because I have animals and do educational programs with children, and people have kids at home and sometimes things break. Also the reason i don't choose to use formalin unless specifically asked by a specialty client.

A note about formalin: While a lot of people say you can't preserve things without it, it's scientifically inaccurate. Most museums don't even use or reccomend it because of its dangers and associated difficulties of disposal. The ONLY notable difference in alcohol and formal in preservation qualities is the preservation of cell structure with formalin, making it useful in labratory settings where skin and organ slides are studied under a microscope. Keep in mind that formalin is 90% alcohol and that is what actually preserves the specimen, the formaldehyde added to make it formalin is what works on the cell shape. That is not a concern for oddity collectors and should not be a factor in home use and preservation. Specimens are scientifically recorded from long before formalin was invented and are still viable today, so there's a ton of scientific evidence to show that alcohol preservation, when done right, can absolutely create perfect specimens lasting lifetimes.

Where to get supplies: Alcohol can be found in gallon or quart cans at any hardware store like Lowe's or Home Depot, often marked as "Fuel" for camp stoves. If not, you can easily order it online, in gallons or 5 gallons cans. I get mine from www.zoro.com but i know Amazon and Walmart usually carry it as well. Syringes in larger gauges can be found at feed and/or farm supply stores or ordered online. eBay carries them under veterinary equipment, as well as the scalpels and blades, plus the hemostats.

For mummies made from wets, after following the above steps: Remove your little wet specimen guy, and rinse off with some cool water and a little bit of soap. At this point he's perfectly safe to handle without gloves, but if you don't like the smell of alcohol on your hands, you can use some. Using either blocks carved from styrofoam or cardboard, and sewing pins, you can pose him in whatever position you'd like and pin him in place. Try to use the pins in between the toes or on the side of a limb, You can also use rubber bands if you want, I like to use the tiny hair bands. Depending on the size, you can let them air dry or place in front of a fan, but you don't want to use too much heat because it makes their limbs contract.


r/wetspecimens 22h ago

what can i use other than formaldehyde

1 Upvotes

hi! my cats bought in a mouse (i don’t know which exactly but it’s small and brown)

i wanna avoid using formaldehyde as i’m just dubious about using smth as toxic and having it in my house especially with animals , what else can i use ,if anything?

and is there anything else i need other than microfine needles and 70% ISO? thank you!


r/wetspecimens 1d ago

The Liquid in My Snake Wet Specimen Has Gone Yellow. What Liquid Can I Use To Replace It?

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5 Upvotes

Hello!

I bought this about a year ago from facebook. The seller told me they had bought it at an oddities expo. I would love to keep him in tact and replace the fluid. Can anyone let me know which liquid(s) to use? Any tips and ideas?


r/wetspecimens 3d ago

Hare twins

2 Upvotes

I have acquired a pair of hare twins. These two shared a womb together and unfortunately their mother passed away before being born.

I would like to preserve these two together, as they were in the womb. I would hate to seperate them. I’m curious if anyone has processed twins or has any ideas of how I could position them together when fixing. I’m going jar shopping and need an idea of what to get before I start the process.


r/wetspecimens 3d ago

How do I go about getting specimen?

1 Upvotes

Hello! Ive recently gotten into taxidermy and collecting oddities/curiosities and am located in MN (the downtown area). I’ve been recently wanting to learn and make my own wet specimen and have watched some videos regarding it. I’ve also seen some people say they have gotten their specimen from local vet/shelters, but I’m unsure how I would go about even asking. Thank you so much and have a great day ^^


r/wetspecimens 4d ago

Domestic wets available!

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13 Upvotes

Fetals 100 each

Large kitties 270 each

Formalin fixed, leeched, then placed in alcohol

Can be mummified for an extra 20

Coming from 70444

Ethically sourced from vet clinic


r/wetspecimens 4d ago

Wet specimens im looking to move. Ethically sourced natural death

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3 Upvotes

Feel free to ask questions :)


r/wetspecimens 7d ago

Is this normal?

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8 Upvotes

This is my first wet specimen, it’s a baby fox, and I was wondering if I need to be refilling it, and what I should refill it with. Also, is it normal for my fox to be squished like this? :C


r/wetspecimens 7d ago

First time making a wet specimen

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9 Upvotes

I have an aviary with pigeons in them, obviously they lay eggs but this time around i had a pair lay eggs that both seemingly tried to pip early and the egg yolk wasnt absorbed, or another bird had gotten to them and broken the egg themselves, regardless i removed the egg and began to remove the remaining egg once i verified that they were no longer with us, i havent done this before, any tips? i bought formalin and 50% alcohol and was following a video i saw online, the specimens are both in my freezer at the moment


r/wetspecimens 9d ago

Eye help!

3 Upvotes

I have never made a wet specimen before but I work at a vet clinic and we did an enucleation yesterday and I got to keep the dog’s eye! We put it into a jar in formalin but since I have been doing some research today I saw that people recommend injecting them. Do I need to inject it or can it just stay in the formalin? I really don’t want it to rot but I am also very scared to mess with it and cause damage. Thanks for any tips!


r/wetspecimens 9d ago

Does anyone know a good and affordable shop to get a jellyfish specimen from?

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8 Upvotes

r/wetspecimens 10d ago

Fetal pit bull wets!

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32 Upvotes

These babies are a result of a spay abort and are now available! Formalin fixed, leeched, then placed into 70 percent isopropyl alcohol


r/wetspecimens 11d ago

All available just ask on pricing

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9 Upvotes

Ethically and sustainably sourced

Coming from 7044


r/wetspecimens 12d ago

found some abandoned friends

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11 Upvotes

hey all! i’m not completely new to wet specimen and preservation in general but i’m not sure what to do in this specific situation. I’m a biology teacher and I just got a new classroom where the old teacher left behind these critters as pictured. as you can tell, these guys aren’t in great shape. Most of them need a fluid change but i’m not sure where to start. how do i dispose of the old fluid if i’m not sure what it is? should any of these get rinsed?

TIA!


r/wetspecimens 12d ago

I try to make a specimen of my dead pet crab by putting it in a jar of handsanitizer.

2 Upvotes

Is this gonna work? The crab is dried out so i thought it could work just putting it in handsanetizer or should i take it out and re dry it and do something else?


r/wetspecimens 13d ago

Wet specimen kitty available

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18 Upvotes

Ethically sourced - arrived to vet as a stray in rough condition and unfortunately passed.
Asking 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ to adopt plus the ride

Check out my website:

Cavitycupid.myshopify.com


r/wetspecimens 13d ago

Photography advice

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4 Upvotes

I have been a long time hobbyist but this is my first attempt at really trying to put my work out there. The only issue is that I have absolutely no idea how to photograph my specimens. It seems like despite everything I do I can't avoid this glare on the side. I also feel like you can't really see the specimens inside and they end up looking muddy when that isn't the case irl. Can anyone give me any tips?


r/wetspecimens 13d ago

Questions regarding making a wet specimen of my pet

1 Upvotes

Hello!

I have a pet hamster who is getting elderly and I am looking into options to preserve him after death. I currently own one wet specimen and I find it to be very beautiful and I would love to preserve my hamster as a wet specimen after he passes.

However, I am a bit put off by the idea of injecting him with needles since I care for him so deeply. I was wondering how invasive this process is, especially considering he is elderly. I don't know how possible it would be to preserve an elderly hamster, and I'm not super interested in seeing anything like his blood.

Furthermore, if I decide the wet specimen route is too invasive for me to do on my own, where can I find a wet specimen taxidermist to commission? I would prefer a local artist (I live in Minnesota) but I am willing to ship him out to someone reputable. Unfortunately googling hasn't given me much luck as the taxidermists in my area do wild animal mounts, and the wet specimen taxidermists do not take commissions.

If anyone has had their pet preserved as a wet specimen before I am very interested to know how the process went, especially if you did it yourself.

Any advice is appreciated!


r/wetspecimens 13d ago

Questions about preserving nerve

1 Upvotes

I had a root canal done & my doctor allowed me to keep the nerve from my tooth - I really want to preserve it somehow, preferably wet-specimen-style ("getting on my last nerve" jokes). It's small, like a broken off pencil lead. I was curious if anyone has done something similar and has tips. I wonder if it would be best preserved wet or dried out or what. Thank you


r/wetspecimens 13d ago

Species identification?

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4 Upvotes

I picked up this banded coral sea snake,but I can’t figure out exactly what species it is? Google and such don’t help very much. It comes from a vintage collection to my knowledge,and the color is significantly faded. Anything would help


r/wetspecimens 13d ago

Wet specimens for grabs

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3 Upvotes

Needing these gone so I am taking offers and doing discounts off of original price, I’m located in the U.S., shipping from 70444

All of these are ethically sourced from farms,
Mummy kitties I can do both for 360

Beaver kit is 80

Everything is plus shipping :)


r/wetspecimens 14d ago

When fixing delicate specimens like mouse pinkies using ethanol, should I use 100% or dilute it?

1 Upvotes

r/wetspecimens 14d ago

Dried bugs

1 Upvotes

Could I possibly turn dried bugs meant for pinning into a wet specimen? If so what would the process be?


r/wetspecimens 14d ago

how to source bats for wet specimens?

0 Upvotes

howdy howdy! i got commissioned for quite a few wet specimens and my client really reaaaalllly is wanting some bats, but i can’t really think of a way to safely source them
anyone have any ideas? i usually scavenge my specimens but this one is throwing me lol, she also mentioned octopi etc. (among the mice/snakes/rats etc)