# Taxidermy help/advice anything!?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxidermy-help-advice-anything/175589>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 16, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxidermy-help-advice-anything/175589 "2003-05-16T02:00:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![arachnidlove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@arachnidlove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arachnidlove)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxidermy-help-advice-anything/175589/1 "2003-05-16T02:00:43Z")

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Alright…I’ve tried looking online for help with this, but I really don’t know how to go about doing it.

One of my tarantulas died. Like really recently(2 days ago).☹  
I would really like to preserve him, but I dont’ know how to. Preferably in something lucite like. But I don’t know how to obtain lucite and how would I even do this? What I really want is him to be a tarantula paperweight. But I know this may not be possible.  
My second option is putting him in a shadow box. But I can’t just plop him there. I’d have to pin him, but that brings another question. How do I “drain” him?  
Any help, advice, links to websites will be greatly appreciated. And I’m on limited time since I don’t know when he’ll start rotting.

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxidermy-help-advice-anything/175589/2 "2003-05-16T03:21:44Z")

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[http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjan00/rhinsect.html](http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjan00/rhinsect.html)

[http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/spiderweb/FluidsforPreserving.htm](http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/spiderweb/FluidsforPreserving.htm)

[http://www.minibeasts.com.au/wwwboard/messages/141.html](http://www.minibeasts.com.au/wwwboard/messages/141.html)

[http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/spiders/text/a-collect.htm](http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/spiders/text/a-collect.htm)

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**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxidermy-help-advice-anything/175589/3 "2003-05-16T03:39:12Z")

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I’m sorry your tarantula died.

I first thought you could put him in the freezer (my bird Brat is in mine until I get him properly buried) but was hesitant to suggest that. But, [this taxidermy site](http://wetnwildtaxidermy.com/tips.html) suggests doing just that (in a plastic container with lid) if you need time before sending them in for mounting. I think you should do this right away to give you time to decide how you want to preserve you friend.

If you want to frame him, use a shadow box, not a Riker mount. My friend does insect mounts using shadow boxes, and they are beautiful. [A few butterflies](http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~lreed/butterwall.jpg) (sorry about the picture quality).

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**Author:** ![arachnidlove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@arachnidlove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arachnidlove)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxidermy-help-advice-anything/175589/4 "2003-05-16T04:05:36Z")

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Thanks for the help. I think I’m just going to put him in the freezer for now. I’m not really that sad because I’ve only had him for a month. If my other one died, I’d be crying now. (I’ve had the other one for 3 years)

**don’t ask** One of the links you gave me tripped me out because it linked back to the Straight Dope. It was for an article on Camel spiders.