Alcohole problems

[Crotalus]

I pickled a few spiders a while back and when I was about to photograph them they was rock hard.
What is the best alcohole to pickle critters in? I thought this would work since I got the tip but apprently not.
I dont have the alcohole bottles so I cant say exactly what I used.

Take a guess on the ID:

Sorry for the large size. I dont have a edit prog available.

 

[Herp13]

I was just wondering, do you kill the animal for the purpose of pickling, or when it dies do you then pickle it to preserve it?

 

[Crotalus]

I was just wondering, do you kill the animal for the purpose of pickling, or when it dies do you then pickle it to preserve it?

I didnt kill it and I dont kill animals for pickling
Yes it was allready dead when I got it

 

[Herp13]

Ok, i was just wondering. I've never pickled an animal so i just wanted to know if they are killed for that purpose.

 

[Tarantula]

Hadronyche infensa/versuta?

 

[Crotalus]

Hadronyche infensa/versuta?

Yep versuta

 

[Code Monkey]

I pickled a few spiders a while back and when I was about to photograph them they was rock hard.
What is the best alcohole to pickle critters in? I thought this would work since I got the tip but apprently not.

As far as I know, any alcohol is going to give you a stiff critter (well, except the one in your pants ;P). You are, after all, replacing all the water in the cells with alcohol. However, somebody I know is bound to know what you can do to restore pliability, so I'll check this week and see if I can find out if no one's offered a solution before then.

 

[Crotalus]

As far as I know, any alcohol is going to give you a stiff critter (well, except the one in your pants ;P). You are, after all, replacing all the water in the cells with alcohol. However, somebody I know is bound to know what you can do to restore pliability, so I'll check this week and see if I can find out if no one's offered a solution before then.

Thanks, I appreciate it.
I had a H minax pickled before and it was loose even after a long time in the drink

 

[Scourge]

Not quite on topic, but in Sklipkan 2/2003 there's an article on invertebrate preservation, and it mentions 2-phenoxyethanol. It doesn't mention spiders in particular, nor stiffness of preserved specimen, but did mention that this substance seems to have better colour holding capabilities than others.

 

[lucanidae]

I use 80 percent ethanol and it works great.

 

[Code Monkey]

OK, the suggestion that was made was to soak it in a series of decreasing percentages of alcohol for one day at a time until you get it down to 50%-60%, i.e. 90% for a day, then 80%, then 70%, and so on. Some mild detergent should also help with the pliability problem.

To represerve it, repeat the process, but in reverse.

 

[Crotalus]

Thanks, I will try that!