HOW DO YOU keep your T's molts for record keeping

[babypiggy]

So i'm just wondering how u guys do it?

I want to keep my t's molts in a flat thing so i can put it in a box (kidna like recipe cards). So something is basiclly sandwiching the molt (which shoudl be clear).

can any of you guys give me an idea how u would go abouts doing this?


any tips would be recommended



ps- yes i used the search function and nothing came up

 

[MsG9022]

ive only saved 3 molts so far, and still brainstorming new ideas too considering all the molts ive saved are under 1 inch. However, the method i used worked fairly well.

step 1: heat up the hot glue gun
step 2: get a sheet of paper (post consumer/recycled works the best, as fancy white printer paper doesnt rip very well)
step 3: glue the crap out of the molt very fast before it dries
step 4: rip off excess paper

not perfect but i dont think they will EVER go bad.
if your molt is big, one idea i havent tried yet is getting a cup or a perti dish or something of that nature and doing the same method.. (reason being the glue tends to spread outwards, and not stay in the middle and build up vertically like it would have to for a bigger molt)

 

[babypiggy]

thats pretty nifty!

I know ppl also use resin to do the same sort of thing

 

[killy]

I face this challenge as well ...

check out this thread ...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=198248

 

[Kruggar]

I'm not a T collector, but I've got dozens of molts from the fine people on here. The youngest sling molts are the hardest to preserve, even if you can remove it immediately after it molts.

Best thing ive found to do is to collect the molt while its still soft (or relax it in a relaxing chamber: a air tight container with a wet sponge, ie high humidity). With the molt soft and flexible place it on a piece of flat styrofoam and use pins to hold all the legs in the pose you want (dont pin through legs but place one on either side, one one on every leg section makes the best final pose).

Once the legs are posed I do my best to open up the abdomen, and fill it with cotton, as close as possible to the original size. and fold the top back to fill the gap, white glue holds it into place. then glue the top of the carapace into place.

let this air dry for several days so its certain to be dry and hard (it keeps a fairly solid albeit, fragile whole). I remove the pins and then place them into a cigar box with some foamcore/styrofoam glued into the bottom, they are held in the box with one pin on either side between legs and on between the mandibles.

This is a great way to display multiple specimens, the molts look fairly close to living tarantulas. They can also be glued instead of pinned, or placed into a shadow frame instead of a cigar box if you want to display.

Hope this helps, i can give you pics if you so wish. cheers

 

[babypiggy]

no i need these molts to be flaaaaaaaat as possible

it's just for records
they dont' need to be in a frame or what not

you know
kinda like recipe cards in a box type thing

 

[Kruggar]

then i suggest lamination. You can get kits that use an iron i believe... I'd still recommend using a relaxing chamber to soften the exoskeleton before flattening, so they don't crumble. good luck.

 

[Cuddly Cobalt]

what about some sort of clear wax?