# Drying out a scorpion for mounts



## arachnophoria (Feb 9, 2008)

I did a quick search here on how to dry out scorps for display,but didn't find anything I liked or had any methods that would work with stuff I had around the house.I tried my own method on a deceased emperor and it was a success.It is not the most glamorous thing,but it works.

I made an incision from anus to where the legs begin to join on the underside of the scorp.I then,under running water, removed ALL of the visible guts,spreading the segements and really doing a thorough job.Then I packed the cavity with tissue and posed her on a plate.I set the over to 250F and set her in there for several hours.She is dry and crisp with a slight odor,but not the putrid stench of rot,from drying them other ways.This was a freshly deceased scorpion and an adult,I kept her in the oven for about 5 hours.In hindsight,I would have used some floral wire to pose the tail,as it becomes limp and then very rigid during death and drying.Hope this helps other people looking to preserve a dead specimen for display.


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## skinheaddave (Feb 9, 2008)

Some other techniques for preservation can be found here:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=114182

Cheers,
Dave


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## Mr. Mordax (Feb 10, 2008)

That's about what museums do with their "juicier" specimens (gutting and packing with cotton).  I've soaked specimens in acetone for several days and then air-dried for several more days.  Works pretty good, but they get kind of a funky smell and their mesasoma sort of collapses (making them look really skinny when viewed from the side).

Out of curiosity, does it still fluoresce after the heat treatment?  The acetone doesn't seem to impact the fluoresence very much if at all.


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