# Freeze Dry Emperor Scorpions?



## CorySpaceCowboy (Aug 25, 2011)

Would this be a good method of preserving an emperor scorpion or arachnids in general?

Anyone seen a large freeze dried arachnid?

Pictures?


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## catfishrod69 (Aug 25, 2011)

i have some freeze dried crawfish that i use for taxidermy, i imagine that a scorpion freeze dried would work well, but be careful because freeze dried things are very brittle...


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## Michiel (Aug 26, 2011)

All the museums also freeze dry their specimens, didn't you know  
It's a crappy method to permanently store scorpions like that, they should be prepared and stored in 70-80% alcohol......


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## Anonymity82 (Aug 29, 2011)

I have eaten a freeze dried Emperor Scorpion from Thailand and it is very brittle as cat said.


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## Michiel (Aug 30, 2011)

How did it taste, NJNolan? I heard some say: a bit like chicken, and others said it taste a bit like shrimp or lobster.......Curious


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## Anonymity82 (Aug 30, 2011)

It tasted better than meal worms that's for sure. It was dry and didn't have much flavor to it at all. A little fishy I guess it's also been awhile since I had it.


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## CorySpaceCowboy (Sep 1, 2011)

Michiel said:


> All the museums also freeze dry their specimens, didn't you know
> It's a crappy method to permanently store scorpions like that, they should be prepared and stored in 70-80% alcohol......


No I did not know, interesting.

So your supposed to keep it in alcohol forever?

I was wanting to mount it a box frame with a white cotton backdrop... and doing this with a brittle specimen... that sounds risky... Anyone know a good way to preserve a specimen this way?

I read in the past about someone doing it, by cutting open the abdomen and gutting it and refilling with cotton, and sew or glue shut and that was all they had done I believe, and I believe they said they had no odor/problems, but I'm not sure... and can't find the source so anyone know anything like that?


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## Michiel (Sep 1, 2011)

if you want to do that, fine, you can dry it and put it in a casing.........for research, you have to preserve them in alcohol forever (changing the alcohol every 10 years or so).....


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## shebeen (Sep 2, 2011)

Here's the link on ScorpionForum describing how to stuff a scorpion.
http://scorpionforum.darkbb.com/t5406-scorpion-taxidermy-report?highlight=taxidermy


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## Scarp172 (Sep 5, 2011)

I've mounted a lot of exuviae in the standard Riker mounts (box frame with white cotton) and once they've dried completely you can dab alcohol on the joints to soften them and position them how you want them.  It takes some patience and a steady hand, but they come out good.  I imagine if you had the whole scorpion, you'd want to removed the guts and then make sure it's dried out completely.  I've never freeze dried anything though, so I can't speak to that.  If you want another alternative preservation method, I wrote an article some time ago for this site about preserving them in resin.  You can find it in the How To's section.  Good luck on the project and let us know how it turns out.


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