How Do I Become a Taxidermist?

Animal specimens are made in whole or in part by physical or chemical means. Animal specimens play an important role in the field of teaching and scientific research, and their types mainly include immersed specimens, stripped specimens, skeletal specimens, dry specimens, slide specimens, etc.

specimen

The value of animal specimens in zoology teaching is mainly reflected in its role as an intuitive teaching tool, as a teaching material to ensure practical teaching, and to improve students' practical ability by making animal specimens. The value of animal specimens in scientific research is mainly to provide physical evidence for the publication of new species, and to provide genetic information for research on phylogenetic evolution, biodiversity, and protection of endangered species.

The Herbarium not only pays attention to the ornamental, but also emphasizes the interactivity and participation. It should not only popularize the natural science knowledge of the citizens, strengthen the concept of loving nature, but also provide a platform for young people to participate interactively. ^[1]

Specimen of mantis

1. Preparation of mantis specimens.

(1) Collection: The praying mantis lives in a place with a lot of grass and trees. When capturing, use a plastic bag or a wide-mouth bottle to prevent the praying mantis from hurting people.

(2) Anesthesia: Put the collected praying mantis in the box, make a few holes to breathe, and be hungry for a while. After the mantis's excrement is discharged, kill it with alcohol or formalin. Use an insect needle to pose and place Dry in the sun.

(3) Preservation: After the body of the mantis is dry, put the mantis in the specimen box and it can be stored.

Specimen of dragonfly

2. Making of dragonfly specimens.

(1) Collection: Use the insect net to catch the dragonflies by the river or pond.

(2) Kill; kill the caught dragonfly in a poison bottle or suffocate in a small box. Dig up the internal organs and dry them.

(3) Save: You can save it in the specimen box.

Animal specimens

3. Know the preparation of specimens.

(1) Collection: In the woods, insect traps can be used to capture knowledge.

(2) Production: Put the collected knowledge in a small box and suffocate it. Put the knowledge in water to soften the wings to prevent the wings from becoming brittle and hard. Then use insect needles to fix it to the foam plastic. 34 insect needles, one fixed on the chest and two on the abdomen. Stretch your body to a natural state, especially your wings and feet. Finally, it was dried in the sun and stored in a specimen box.

Crab specimens

4, the production of crab specimens.

(1) Collection: Use crab cages to catch in lakes and rivers, or use your hands to open the rocks to capture. Be careful

(2) Production: Anesthetize with 5-10% alcohol, put it in 10% formalin solution or 70% alcohol to kill, then place it on a glass sheet, fix it with a white thread, and put it in Store in 80% alcohol or 70% formalin solution. To prevent the specimen from being brittle and hard, 10% glycerol can be added to the preservation solution.

Fish specimen

5. Making fish specimens.

Fish specimens should be appropriately sized and fresh. First kill the material in hot water at 60 or suffocate in the air. Then put it in a porcelain dish and use a soft-bristled brush dipped in soapy water to brush off the mucus attached to the fish body, but do nt hurt the scales. If it s a catfish or other fish without scales, do nt worry. Then, the fish was wrapped in a gauze cloth on a glass plate and fixed with 10% formalin. The fixing time is about one week, and the fixing solution is changed once. After fixing, remove the material, remove the gauze, and then use the needle lead to pass from the front and back of the fish body to the fish body on the glass plate, and save it with 15% formalin.

Animal specimen amphibians

6. Preparation of amphibious immersion specimens.

The main representatives of amphibians are frogs or toads. The immersion specimens are prepared as follows: Select the appropriate size frog or toad to anesthetize with ether, kill and wash. If the body size is large, 3-5ml of 15% formalin solution should be injected from the abdominal cavity obliquely from the back. Immediately postulate the posture, and thread it through the forelimbs and hindlimbs to tie it to the glass plate, keeping the natural posture as much as possible. If the specimen has hardened, it should be placed on a dissecting disk. Use a pin to fix the frog's cymbal posture during life, spread the fingers and toes, and fix it with 10% formalin. After 5-7 days of fixation, it was stored in 15% formalin.

Herbarium

7, reptiles (take gecko as an example) specimen production.

A complete, large live gecko was selected and killed by anesthesia with ether. Use a syringe to insert the gecko's neck, chest, and abdomen, and inject a small amount of 10% formalin each. Place the preservative-injected gecko on the anatomical plate with the back facing up, and place a cotton pad under the head and neck to raise the head. If you need to open your mouth, you can stuff a bat in your mouth. Position your forelimbs, hindlimbs, torso, and tail according to your living conditions. If the specimen bottle is short, bend the tail. Secure your upper fingers, toes, and tail with a pin. The gecko is easy to break the tail. If the tail breaks off, you can insert bamboo wire or iron wire to connect the tail, and then adjust the posture. Dip a 40% formalin with a brush and apply it twice to the gecko's skin. About 1 hour later, the fingers, toes and tail of the gecko's forelimbs were all shaped and hardened. Remove the pin, and immerse it in 10% formalin for 3 months, and replace it with new liquid 3-4 times. Take the gecko out of the fixation solution, put a white silk thread through the needle, and put a silk thread on the gecko's chest near the forelegs and the abdomen near the hind limbs. Take 50% of 10% formalin, 330 ml of ethylene glycol, and 620 ml of water. Add 0.05-0.5% of activated carbon to the prepared mixed solution and stir it. After a while, precipitation will occur. The upper clean solution is filtered to make a preservation solution. Serve the fixed gecko in this fixing solution.