Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
General Discussions
The Watercooler
Forget the lucky rabbit's foot, dead mice are the way to go.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 297255" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>The mouse skeleton could have stayed together if the tendons etc dried instead of being eaten away.</p><p></p><p>The really small creatures are very tedious to prepare as skeletons - if you want to make it a bit more permanent, he could carefully take it apart and glue it together more carefully. You could use PVA glue but if you look around there might be something a bit less water-soluble you could use. For the spine, thread the vertebrae onto a length of florist wire.</p><p></p><p>An alternative I did years ago, was to do an alizarin preparation. You begin with the dead animal (fresh) and you do this with the small creatures (or the very young small creatures). The purpose of an alizarin preparation is to show the bones, but in situ, not having to be glued together or held on aboard. Small creatures and/or very young creatures often need the tissues to hold the bones in place, but this can get messy. Alizarin preparations have the flesh etc go clear and the bones are then stained with the alizarin dye, which turnes the bones a rust colour. The preparation is kept in a jar, in glycerin. To do this involves several weeks of daily changing of solutions (or sometimes every few days). It's not too tedious, it's more a case of a couple of minutes' check each day, that's all. And the end result is something a museum would be proud of having on display.</p><p></p><p>Frankly, I think it's a lot easier than carefully taking a mouse skeleton apart then re-gluing it!</p><p></p><p>A uni lecturer of mine used to do all the museum preparations for the department, she showed me a lot. I remember her showing me a fish skeleton she was preparing, all the bony plates of the fish skull were separating off and it looked like a very confusing 3-D jigsaw puzzle. The tiniest skeleton I saw her do was a planigale, a marsupial mouse that would fit inside a matchbox. She used carpet beetles to do that one. But taking it apart and gluing it - no thanks. Too challenging a job. The skull was the size of my little fingernail! Can you imagine how tiny a newborn planigale would be? Smaller than a grain of rice, for sure.</p><p></p><p>The alizarin preparation is an easy option for any small animal he finds freshly dead. Until he makes up his mind/gets the ingredients, you can keep the body in the freezer. Doing the whole thing is a very useful lesson in anatomy and zoology.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 297255, member: 1991"] The mouse skeleton could have stayed together if the tendons etc dried instead of being eaten away. The really small creatures are very tedious to prepare as skeletons - if you want to make it a bit more permanent, he could carefully take it apart and glue it together more carefully. You could use PVA glue but if you look around there might be something a bit less water-soluble you could use. For the spine, thread the vertebrae onto a length of florist wire. An alternative I did years ago, was to do an alizarin preparation. You begin with the dead animal (fresh) and you do this with the small creatures (or the very young small creatures). The purpose of an alizarin preparation is to show the bones, but in situ, not having to be glued together or held on aboard. Small creatures and/or very young creatures often need the tissues to hold the bones in place, but this can get messy. Alizarin preparations have the flesh etc go clear and the bones are then stained with the alizarin dye, which turnes the bones a rust colour. The preparation is kept in a jar, in glycerin. To do this involves several weeks of daily changing of solutions (or sometimes every few days). It's not too tedious, it's more a case of a couple of minutes' check each day, that's all. And the end result is something a museum would be proud of having on display. Frankly, I think it's a lot easier than carefully taking a mouse skeleton apart then re-gluing it! A uni lecturer of mine used to do all the museum preparations for the department, she showed me a lot. I remember her showing me a fish skeleton she was preparing, all the bony plates of the fish skull were separating off and it looked like a very confusing 3-D jigsaw puzzle. The tiniest skeleton I saw her do was a planigale, a marsupial mouse that would fit inside a matchbox. She used carpet beetles to do that one. But taking it apart and gluing it - no thanks. Too challenging a job. The skull was the size of my little fingernail! Can you imagine how tiny a newborn planigale would be? Smaller than a grain of rice, for sure. The alizarin preparation is an easy option for any small animal he finds freshly dead. Until he makes up his mind/gets the ingredients, you can keep the body in the freezer. Doing the whole thing is a very useful lesson in anatomy and zoology. Marg [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
General Discussions
The Watercooler
Forget the lucky rabbit's foot, dead mice are the way to go.
Top