Dying P. regius. Freezer?

Socfroggy

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 22, 2017
Messages
297
Hey guys. As much as it pains me to say this my mature female P. regius is on her last legs. Her condition has been deteriorating for a while and now she is not responsive despite a few twitches. Should I let her die naturally or should I help her out? Also, being my first spider, she means a lot to me. Is there a way to preserve her??
 

spookyvibes

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Messages
366
Whether or not you help her out is your choice, I'd say if it looks like she's suffering, you should probably help her out. I know you can preserve tarantulas in a jar full of rubbing alcohol, make sure to change the rubbing alcohol whenever it turns yellow. If I remember correctly, fresh specimens tend to turn the alcohol yellow a few times. Or you could taxidermy her, you'd have to cut open her abdomin, take the organs out, and then cut open the carapace and take the rest of the organs out. Best to do this on the underside so it's less noticeable. Then stuff some cotton balls in to make her look less deflated, then superglue her back up. I've never tried either of these methods so I'd make sure to do a little bit more research on the subject, but I hope this at least helps you out a bit. I'm sorry about the loss of your spider:(
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
4,226
Sorry to hear :( You can put her in the freezer for a couple days and she'll go peacefully. Rubbing alcohol can work as a preservative, but she will discolor over time no matter how often you change the alcohol. Hand sanitizer can also work, but I've never used it before and I don't know how quickly it will discolor. I haven't done taxidermy on a specimen that small, but I've done it on several tarantulas and can say that it works pretty well.
 

JoP

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Messages
102
I use rubbing alcohol for all of my deceased inverts and keep them as wet specimens in little vials. There's usually a bit of discoloration with the specimen (usually their colors just fade a bit) but it's not terrible and I haven't had any issues with the alcohol yellowing.

I'd definitely suggest putting her in the freezer to ease her death if she seems to be suffering; it's never easy, but it's kind.
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
Using alcohol is the most common way to preserve wet specimen inverts. The fluid discolors over time because it’s a solvent. It’s slowly pulling the pigment out of your specimen. As the years progress, it will lose more and more color, until there is no more to lose. Older specimens will take on an ugly tan color. Over the course of many years, it will eventually become pale, almost white.

Another option, since it’s a small specimen, is to just dry it and make a nice mount for it. Not really necessary to do any fluid removal on something that size. And it would be difficult anyways. I recommend, if you’re going to dry her, to poke a small hole on the ventral side of her abdomen to facilitate evaporation.

If it were me, I’d elect to cast her in a small block of clear polyesther resin and make a necklace out of her. Let me know if you’re interested in doing that, and I’ll explain the details.
 

JoP

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Messages
102
How does one know if a spider is suffering??
Idk, I just usually can tell when my inverts are on their last legs/appear to be in discomfort, so that’s usually when I do it.
 

Socfroggy

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 22, 2017
Messages
297
Using alcohol is the most common way to preserve wet specimen inverts. The fluid discolors over time because it’s a solvent. It’s slowly pulling the pigment out of your specimen. As the years progress, it will lose more and more color, until there is no more to lose. Older specimens will take on an ugly tan color. Over the course of many years, it will eventually become pale, almost white.

Another option, since it’s a small specimen, is to just dry it and make a nice mount for it. Not really necessary to do any fluid removal on something that size. And it would be difficult anyways. I recommend, if you’re going to dry her, to poke a small hole on the ventral side of her abdomen to facilitate evaporation.

If it were me, I’d elect to cast her in a small block of clear polyesther resin and make a necklace out of her. Let me know if you’re interested in doing that, and I’ll explain the details.
I put her in the freezer last night. How would I go about preserving her?
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
I put her in the freezer last night. How would I go about preserving her?
Well, if you want to preserve her in resin, you will need to purchase a couple things:

1. Clear polyesther casting resin. You can usually find it at arts and crafts stores. If not, online is your best bet. I get mine on this site: https://www.delviesplastics.com/c/Casting_Resin.html
*The resin usually comes with catalyst. Make sure it DOES*

2. Resin mold. There are wide varieties of them. Find one you like the shape/size of. Variety packs like these are pretty useful: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071...resin+mold&dpPl=1&dpID=51QQeQb-LVL&ref=plSrch

3. Plastic cups and popsicle sticks. This is for mixing. The resin comes as a liquid, and you need to add catalyst to it to start the hardening process.

Let me know when you have gathered these items, and we’ll talk further on procedure:)

Also, I should add that I recommend drying her out before casting her in resin. This is because moisture might react with the resin and make it look weird. Poke a tiny hole on the ventral side of her abdomen. Put her in the position you want her, with all her legs posed, and let her dry.
 

Dovey

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
Messages
541
It is recommended that invertebrates first be put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before euthanizing them in the freezer. It puts them in a state of torpor so that they do not feel pain when their tissue begins to freeze.
 
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