I know I'm a little late replying to this. I also saw the program you were talking about with the venom and the blood congealing. The venom(or a certain agent from the venom) was from a Russell's Viper(Vipera russelli) in India. They were catching Russell's Vipers with the Irula tribe of India to milk for antivenin. The Irula's have a snake co-op set up. They catch all different kinds of local venomous snakes, milk them a few times, and set them free. Good for business, science, and pest control!
Few Questions on Snakes and Spiders
- Thread starter davo
- Start date
At the risk of repeating previous answers,
1)
sheds will break down both from dryness or bacterial decomp (in moist environments). They last longer if kept dry and can be made to last even longer if rubbed with neatsfoot or glove oil (just a little bit rubbed in gently then wiped off).
2)
Several snakes produce a coagulating hemotoxin, the one in the show was a Russell's viper, which is the most dramatic but the venom of the Goboon viper is nearly as effective. In the body of a victim the action is different as it causes cappilary breack down resulting in intracellullar blleeding, and liver destruction. Victims often show bleeding from bowel bladder and eyes, as well as massive purple swellings around bites muck like those from some rattlesnakes and other pit vipers and vipers. As an aside some neurotoxic snakes have venom that can be absorded through moist skin.
3)As for daddy longlegs, there are two types, one produces no toxin at all, and the other produces a very small ammount of very weak toxins.
1)
sheds will break down both from dryness or bacterial decomp (in moist environments). They last longer if kept dry and can be made to last even longer if rubbed with neatsfoot or glove oil (just a little bit rubbed in gently then wiped off).
2)
Several snakes produce a coagulating hemotoxin, the one in the show was a Russell's viper, which is the most dramatic but the venom of the Goboon viper is nearly as effective. In the body of a victim the action is different as it causes cappilary breack down resulting in intracellullar blleeding, and liver destruction. Victims often show bleeding from bowel bladder and eyes, as well as massive purple swellings around bites muck like those from some rattlesnakes and other pit vipers and vipers. As an aside some neurotoxic snakes have venom that can be absorded through moist skin.
3)As for daddy longlegs, there are two types, one produces no toxin at all, and the other produces a very small ammount of very weak toxins.
i'm not gonna get into the venom, but here;s something for you; next time you see a daddy longlegs, count the legs and count the body parts. then look up what defines an arachnid. That provides for the most common kind. There is also a daddy longlegs spider that's no different form other common spiders, really.
about preservation- i actually wondered about this myself and there's a few solutions. The hardest part about it is that many snakes turn the skin inside out to shed, and to preserve it properly you want to turn it back to where it's inside-in. Method #1 (these are in the order I tried them, not the order of usefulness. They all work to some degree)
to reiterate-#1- if the skin is dry, mist it with very fine spray of water mixed with oil (preferably mineral oil, but vegetable if you have to. Try to keep the skin just barely damp. Now, the tricky part. Very gently, begin to work the mouth back over the body and the tail back up through the body without bending or breaking any scales, or the skin itself. when you cannot get it through with your fingers anymore, use a dowel or stick with a wide, rounded end to continue pushing it through. Once the skin is right side out, mist it again with alchohol if you used vegetable oil. Let the skin get pretty dry, as it may feel pasty at this step. Once the skin is dry, you can begin plumping it out by pushing cotton balls or filter floss into the body in small wads with the dowel. Don't try to make it look too real with this method, because overfilling splits the skin, and as it dries completely it will shrink down a little and make it look better. For a cool effect, put a little extra stuffing right behind the mouth or along the body to make it look like it swallowed something. Now is the time to maybe mist again with either just alchohol or oil then alchohol and do any slight positioning you wanted. Then, fix the skin in place on a board by putting nails on either side of it until it dries. When dry, you can remove it or glue it to the board. To solve for durability, spray the skin with spray-on laminate glue to give it support and a life-like shine.
#2 Works for snakes with bodies that would lie sort of pancake style if they were on the ground, like a rattlesnake or gaboon viper. Cut the skin all along the underside, then turn it right side out. Then, there are two ways to fill the skin. On very cool way is to get some clay and shape it to the position of your snake. Once the clay is a few hours dry, oil the skin as it lays flat, then place the clay on top of the skin (the skin should be laying inside-up at this point) and fit the skin to the clay. when they have the same curves, make sure the skin is oiled well and pull the sides of the skin up the sides of your clay body along a couple inches of skin, and sew the edges of your cut back together (it's better to leave a gap between the edges than to pull too far and break the skin. it won't show because it 'll be on the bottom) with a very fine needle and waxed thread (the outfitter sells it as fly-tying thread)Every few inches, knot the thread to itself and start a new piece, so that you won't ruin all your work if the thread breaks. When it's all sewn up you can either put dabs of glue, epoxy, or cement over the knots and weak places, or spray the bottom with laminate. Once the bottom dries, you can turn the snake over. Be sure the clay is dry enough when you put the skin on it, or lying upside down will change its shape. Or, you can sew the skin up as describes around wads of cotton, Either way, but the clay, while offering more dramatic shapes is a little more labor intensive.
#3You can also just tack the flat skin on a pretty board or plaque and then oil it, let it get to be nice and flexible and shiny, then cement a piece of glass tight on top of it and seal the glass/wood seams with something
#4 order some preserving epoxy from carolina biological. Turn the skin inside out as in the first method and then make a frame of sorts from pipe cleaners or stiff wire using connected circles of varying diameters. You should make the frame in sections and once you have the first two or so sections in place (start at the tail), just hold the skin upright and drop the rest in so that they stack up. Find a tall, skinny something to use as a mold, and then attach the very top of the skin (the head) to a string and hang it straight up and down in the mold, tail down. You can either work in layers with the epoxy, or try to fill the mold up in one go. The layers are easier, because you can go back and make sure that the skin is being filled in as well as the layers around it with epoxy. When you've gone all the way to the head, turn the dry mount upside down and have someone hold it while you do the head in the epoxy as well. it makes a very impressive paperweight with small snakes, and can be an interesting bookend, yardstick, or ornament with bigger snakes. I've always wanted to try using a triangular prism mold and having my name engraved on one side of it, so I can use it as a name-thing on my office desk instead of a crappy brass-wood-and felt block. The main reason I haven't tried it yet is probably that I don't have a desk. Or an office.
#5 for the ultimate (and hardest, and most time consuming) method of preservation, do the clay method, then paint (or get someone with talent) to paint the original colors of the snake, using the faded patterns on the skin as a guide in shiny colors. Or, invent your own snake. Then once it's dry, put the filled, painted skin in epoxy. This allows for cool positions, colors, and it also means that you can invent-a snake with the painting if you wnat to. I've done all of these with some success as I said, although I had to get my (now former) girlfriend to do the painting. Hope this helps.
about preservation- i actually wondered about this myself and there's a few solutions. The hardest part about it is that many snakes turn the skin inside out to shed, and to preserve it properly you want to turn it back to where it's inside-in. Method #1 (these are in the order I tried them, not the order of usefulness. They all work to some degree)
to reiterate-#1- if the skin is dry, mist it with very fine spray of water mixed with oil (preferably mineral oil, but vegetable if you have to. Try to keep the skin just barely damp. Now, the tricky part. Very gently, begin to work the mouth back over the body and the tail back up through the body without bending or breaking any scales, or the skin itself. when you cannot get it through with your fingers anymore, use a dowel or stick with a wide, rounded end to continue pushing it through. Once the skin is right side out, mist it again with alchohol if you used vegetable oil. Let the skin get pretty dry, as it may feel pasty at this step. Once the skin is dry, you can begin plumping it out by pushing cotton balls or filter floss into the body in small wads with the dowel. Don't try to make it look too real with this method, because overfilling splits the skin, and as it dries completely it will shrink down a little and make it look better. For a cool effect, put a little extra stuffing right behind the mouth or along the body to make it look like it swallowed something. Now is the time to maybe mist again with either just alchohol or oil then alchohol and do any slight positioning you wanted. Then, fix the skin in place on a board by putting nails on either side of it until it dries. When dry, you can remove it or glue it to the board. To solve for durability, spray the skin with spray-on laminate glue to give it support and a life-like shine.
#2 Works for snakes with bodies that would lie sort of pancake style if they were on the ground, like a rattlesnake or gaboon viper. Cut the skin all along the underside, then turn it right side out. Then, there are two ways to fill the skin. On very cool way is to get some clay and shape it to the position of your snake. Once the clay is a few hours dry, oil the skin as it lays flat, then place the clay on top of the skin (the skin should be laying inside-up at this point) and fit the skin to the clay. when they have the same curves, make sure the skin is oiled well and pull the sides of the skin up the sides of your clay body along a couple inches of skin, and sew the edges of your cut back together (it's better to leave a gap between the edges than to pull too far and break the skin. it won't show because it 'll be on the bottom) with a very fine needle and waxed thread (the outfitter sells it as fly-tying thread)Every few inches, knot the thread to itself and start a new piece, so that you won't ruin all your work if the thread breaks. When it's all sewn up you can either put dabs of glue, epoxy, or cement over the knots and weak places, or spray the bottom with laminate. Once the bottom dries, you can turn the snake over. Be sure the clay is dry enough when you put the skin on it, or lying upside down will change its shape. Or, you can sew the skin up as describes around wads of cotton, Either way, but the clay, while offering more dramatic shapes is a little more labor intensive.
#3You can also just tack the flat skin on a pretty board or plaque and then oil it, let it get to be nice and flexible and shiny, then cement a piece of glass tight on top of it and seal the glass/wood seams with something
#4 order some preserving epoxy from carolina biological. Turn the skin inside out as in the first method and then make a frame of sorts from pipe cleaners or stiff wire using connected circles of varying diameters. You should make the frame in sections and once you have the first two or so sections in place (start at the tail), just hold the skin upright and drop the rest in so that they stack up. Find a tall, skinny something to use as a mold, and then attach the very top of the skin (the head) to a string and hang it straight up and down in the mold, tail down. You can either work in layers with the epoxy, or try to fill the mold up in one go. The layers are easier, because you can go back and make sure that the skin is being filled in as well as the layers around it with epoxy. When you've gone all the way to the head, turn the dry mount upside down and have someone hold it while you do the head in the epoxy as well. it makes a very impressive paperweight with small snakes, and can be an interesting bookend, yardstick, or ornament with bigger snakes. I've always wanted to try using a triangular prism mold and having my name engraved on one side of it, so I can use it as a name-thing on my office desk instead of a crappy brass-wood-and felt block. The main reason I haven't tried it yet is probably that I don't have a desk. Or an office.
#5 for the ultimate (and hardest, and most time consuming) method of preservation, do the clay method, then paint (or get someone with talent) to paint the original colors of the snake, using the faded patterns on the skin as a guide in shiny colors. Or, invent your own snake. Then once it's dry, put the filled, painted skin in epoxy. This allows for cool positions, colors, and it also means that you can invent-a snake with the painting if you wnat to. I've done all of these with some success as I said, although I had to get my (now former) girlfriend to do the painting. Hope this helps.
