Preserving tarantulas in resin

[spideyspinneret78]

My juvenile female C. versicolor recently died due to getting stuck in her carapace during a molt. My fiance was kind enough to glue her together, pin her, and cast her in resin to preserve how beautiful she was. For smaller tarantulas especially, this can be a great way of preserving them.

 

[BoyFromLA]

That is awesome! How kind of your fiancé.

 

[ApexApinkPanda]

Thats amazing! I wondered about making art with T's when they died.

 

[viper69]

My juvenile female C. versicolor recently died due to getting stuck in her carapace during a molt. My fiance was kind enough to glue her together, pin her, and cast her in resin to preserve how beautiful she was. For smaller tarantulas especially, this can be a great way of preserving them. View attachment 381279 View attachment 381280

What product did you use?
Did you need to remove air bubble around the setae, if so, what was most effective for removal?

 

[spideyspinneret78]

What product did you use?
Did you need to remove air bubble around the setae, if so, what was most effective for removal?

It's Castin' Craft resin, catalyst, and gloss spray. Michael's and Hobby Lobby have it. My fiance uses a very small paintbrush to get rid of any bubbles before the resin hardens.

 

[viper69]

It's Castin' Craft resin, catalyst, and gloss spray. Michael's and Hobby Lobby have it. My fiance uses a very small paintbrush to get rid of any bubbles before the resin hardens.

Thanks!

How does your fiancé minimize bubbles from forming with the tool entry and removal?

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Thanks!

How does your fiancé minimize bubbles from forming with the tool entry and removal?

I think that if you just do it slowly and carefully, you'll be less likely to get bubbles. Another thing he does is that he'll pin insects and spiders in the desired position for a few days before casting them. He mentioned to me that if you don't do this, their legs can curl inward during the casting process. For things that might rot in that time period, he puts them in the refrigerator. Beforehand he coats the mold in a base layer of resin, waits for it to dry, then casts the animal layer by layer, gently removing bubbles with a tiny paintbrush or in some cases a small toothpick if the item is really small. I watched him cast this tarantula, and the bubbles were pretty easy to remove, and didn't form that much if you go slowly and use a small, pointed tool.

 

[viper69]

I think that if you just do it slowly and carefully, you'll be less likely to get bubbles. Another thing he does is that he'll pin insects and spiders in the desired position for a few days before casting them. He mentioned to me that if you don't do this, their legs can curl inward during the casting process. For things that might rot in that time period, he puts them in the refrigerator. Beforehand he coats the mold in a base layer of resin, waits for it to dry, then casts the animal layer by layer, gently removing bubbles with a tiny paintbrush or in some cases a small toothpick if the item is really small. I watched him cast this tarantula, and the bubbles were pretty easy to remove, and didn't form that much if you go slowly and use a small, pointed tool.

Layer by layer— the T is not immersed in a bowl of resin all at once?

A video would be helpful. Maybe I’ll google this.

This is helpful thanks

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Layer by layer— the T is not immersed in a bowl of resin all at once?

A video would be helpful. Maybe I’ll google this.

This is helpful thanks

Sometime I'll ask him to make a video! He's really into it as a hobby and has literally made hundreds of them....here's a shadowbox table he made with some other examples. I'm just learning how to do it but I think it's a cool and easy way to preserve inverts. I previously had an insect collection that got destroyed by mites. The only thing is that prolonged exposure to sunlight can damage the molds, and I'm not sure how well this would work on very large tarantulas, since sometimes their soft abdomens can end up a little distorted.

 

[viper69]

Sometime I'll ask him to make a video! He's really into it as a hobby and has literally made hundreds of them....here's a shadowbox table he made with some other examples. I'm just learning how to do it but I think it's a cool and easy way to preserve inverts. I previously had an insect collection that got destroyed by mites. The only thing is that prolonged exposure to sunlight can damage the molds, and I'm not sure how well this would work on very large tarantulas, since sometimes their soft abdomens can end up a little distorted. View attachment 381399

Sunlight- is it UV sensitive?
Large T- how large?

I think this is interesting. I would have put my H sp Columbia in this, and my AF I mira -She was special.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Sunlight- is it UV sensitive?
Large T- how large?

I think this is interesting. I would have put my H sp Columbia in this. She was special.

I believe so. If it's in direct sunlight for a while, yellowish discoloration can start to develop. I think probably anything larger than a few inches DLS might have the risk of a shriveled or distorted abdomen. When you mix the catalyst with the resin the chemical reaction produces heat, which can cause some shrinkage of soft structures. But I honestly don't know for since I've never tried it on a specimen that large. However I've seen him cast small fish, squid, etc. and they remained intact for the most part.

 

[thedragonslapper]

That’s neat and thoughtful. Sorry about your loss though. Someday, whenever my fat and old but sweet and super special G porteri passes, I’d like to do something similar in remembrance with her fangs and chelicerae and make a necklace pendant with them.

 

[Kibosh]

My juvenile female C. versicolor recently died due to getting stuck in her carapace during a molt. My fiance was kind enough to glue her together, pin her, and cast her in resin to preserve how beautiful she was. For smaller tarantulas especially, this can be a great way of preserving them. View attachment 381279 View attachment 381280

Very impressive. Inspired to try.