How do I preserve a tarantula

[GOKU]

How much rubbing alcohol do I put in a glass jar can add a little water or something?

 

[spideyspinneret78]

There are a few ways to preserve it. My BF makes resin molds of insects, arachnids, small fish, etc. and it works really well. You can get materials at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Plus it's easy to display or show visitors. Also, from what I understand, ethyl alcohol generally is preferred. I've also seen people create taxidermy, where you remove the insides from the abdomen, rinse it out with alcohol, stuff it, and glue it back together. I'm not too familiar with how to do this, though, but there are videos of it on YouTube.

 

[Smotzer]

This is my method but I definitely dont recommend it for someone who has never pinned anything before. I do this with caterpillars too, which produce the most amazing preserved caterpillars.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

How much rubbing alcohol do I put in a glass jar can add a little water or something?

You just need enough so the whole tarantula is submerged in the alcohol. By rubbing alcohol I am assuming you mean 70% isopropyl, or isopropanol, which you find most commonly at the drug store. You can dilute to about 50% if you want to keep it flexible for later examination. If diluting from 70%, use distilled water which doesn't have any minerals or other trace elements or chemicals in it.

 

[Sterls]

I've used ethanol (Everclear), and diluted with water to about 70-80% alcohol. I've only done it a couple times though so I might go around 60% next time.