Shipping dead stuff

[Asa]

Yes i have also heard of people wrapping the dead specimen that has gone rigid with tissue paper and then soaked it in the water til it gets soft, then reposition it and dried it up quickly in oven (a very risky step).

What I do. The oven hasn't caused me any problems yet.

 

[yen_saw]

I had a friend completely toasted the specimen leaving the it in the oven for too long.

 

[Asa]

I had a friend completely toasted the specimen leaving the it in the oven for too long.

The trick...not too leave it in more than a couple seconds.

 

[OGIGA]

Well, you know...

1. Put it in the oven.

2. Get all excited.

3. Got to the bathroom.

4. Forget all about it.

5. Start doing other stuff.

6. Oops.

 

[Asa]

Well, you know...1. Put it in the oven.

2. Get all excited.

3. Got to the bathroom.

4. Forget all about it.

5. Start doing other stuff.

6. Oops.

A couple secs is not enough to go the bathroom.

 

[yen_saw]

Well, you know...1. Put it in the oven.

2. Get all excited.

3. Got to the bathroom.

4. Forget all about it.

5. Start doing other stuff.

6. Oops.

A couple secs is not enough to go the bathroom.

Couple of sec is also not enough to dry a wet specimen. :wink:

 

[Asa]

Is for me. If they are really wet I put them in the microwave.

 

[OGIGA]

Is for me. If they are really wet I put them in the microwave.

If that's not enough, I stir fry them. :lol: jk

 

[athicks]

I had a friend completely toasted the specimen leaving the it in the oven for too long.

Uuh, that would be gross!

hahaha

 

[Horatio]

I am very sorry when you lose a mantis as you are definately an excellent caregiver for them :wink: . I find it great that you do the specimen thing (my youngest collects all of our specimens including molts) - I actually did a lot of birds and a few mammals in my younger years and still have an old coot (really! and it is not me or my husband!) in the basement that I bring to schools for teaching. ANYHOW, I was just going to let you know at university and home we always used cheese cloth for wrapping. Maybe that would help with the shipping. It is very inexpensive and then you can use insect pins to pin the cheese cloth to styrofoam and then cover it with the cup and send it. You can wrap a few layers around for security and stability. My coot has about 10 wraps to keep it from getting dust & moisture etc. It was collected in about 1990 and is in mint condition. Is it possible, I wonder, to relax them afterwards in posed positions? Now that would sure be neat for teaching! Good luck! H.

 

[Asa]

Hey :shock: :!: That's a great idea! You could put a mantis in the 'killer death' pose!

 

[OGIGA]

I am very sorry when you lose a mantis as you are definately an excellent caregiver for them :wink: . I find it great that you do the specimen thing (my youngest collects all of our specimens including molts) - I actually did a lot of birds and a few mammals in my younger years and still have an old coot (really! and it is not me or my husband!) in the basement that I bring to schools for teaching. ANYHOW, I was just going to let you know at university and home we always used cheese cloth for wrapping. Maybe that would help with the shipping. It is very inexpensive and then you can use insect pins to pin the cheese cloth to styrofoam and then cover it with the cup and send it. You can wrap a few layers around for security and stability. My coot has about 10 wraps to keep it from getting dust & moisture etc. It was collected in about 1990 and is in mint condition. Is it possible, I wonder, to relax them afterwards in posed positions? Now that would sure be neat for teaching! Good luck! H.

Oh cheesecloth! Thanks for the suggestions. I was wondering if you had any ways to keep specimen from rotting. Both of my dead female adults started smelling like they were fermenting.

 

[Hypoponera]

Freeze the adults as soon as you find them dead. You should also gut the females. For best results, gutting should be done prior to freezing. Removing the contents of the abdomen helps to stop rotting. It removes excess water that would be stuck inside!

 

[Asa]

Freeze the adults as soon as you find them dead. You should also gut the females. For best results, gutting should be done prior to freezing. Removing the contents of the abdomen helps to stop rotting. It removes excess water that would be stuck inside!

Oh gross...I could never do that. OGIGA might be able to though .

 

[OGIGA]

Freeze the adults as soon as you find them dead. You should also gut the females. For best results, gutting should be done prior to freezing. Removing the contents of the abdomen helps to stop rotting. It removes excess water that would be stuck inside!

Oh gross...I could never do that. OGIGA might be able to though .

What?? :lol:

How do you remove the contents? Wouldn't the abdomen deflate?

 

[Hypoponera]

Slice the abdomen open on one side or on the underside where the thorax and abdomen join. Remove the contents. You can leave the abdomen as is and it will look deflated. Or you can stuff the cleaned out abdomen with cotton balls. Both options will keep the specimen from rotting. You can do the same thing with the males, but it isn't usually needed.

I remove the contents with a small steel styrene scriber. But any small, thin and flattened tool should work. You just want to scrape everything out. Ever cleaned out a pumpkin? This is the same thing, just on a smaller scale!

 

[OGIGA]

Oh I see. That's a little scary. I think I will leave that up to whoever wants to keep the dead specimen.

 

[Asa]

Oh I see. That's a little scary. I think I will leave that up to whoever wants to keep the dead specimen.

C'mon, you're brave .

 

[OGIGA]

I don't know about that. I'm scared of saliva, germs, and things that are going bad. I'm not afraid of things like chicken guts because I know I'm going to eat it.

 

[Hypoponera]

Just remember, mantid guts are high in protein!!