Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend's snake just die yesterday and asked for help.He still cant give it up since he love it too much so he thought of preserve it.

I asked my chemistry teacher how they preserve those reptile since there's few mammals and reptile preserved in container with the yellowish solution...But she not sure how the technique to be done on preservation the full body.

Was it just soak in the formalin(Formaldehyde) solution??
or need to inject in the formalin like the way to preserve insect?School only taught how to preserve insect....

so i hope anyone know how to preserved or preserved a reptile before pls show some guide as soon as possible since the snake cant last long.

Thanks a lot.

The best way to preserve it is to inject with formalin thoroughly. Make sure you inject formalin every few inches along the body cavity.

Then coil it up in a container and let it fix. Make sure you coil into a position that you want it to end up and then leave it for 24-48 hours. After this time you can store it in formalin or better yet, soak it in water for 2-3 days (changing water twice a day) to remove as much formalin as possible then store it in 70% ethanol.

It will lose some color, but that will preserve it for many years (decades even).

You can also skin the snake, scrape all the muscle and fat off the skin and treat the skin with glycerol and alcohol (about 50/50). Stretch it out flat and paint it with the 50/50 solution several times a day for a week or so. That makes a nice skin that keeps its color.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

The above methods are best. The worst is putting it in Alcohol. You lose the color and a certain amount of coruption continues before it's fixed.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."