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Formaldehyde


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#1 hollisterbay

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Posted 18 September 2008 - 08:47 AM

Have you guys heard of something called formaldehyde?

It's like a chemical compound you can use to store living animals for example without them getting ruined...

I wanted to know if something like this is accessible to the normal person, I had an idea for a college art project

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#2 pyromaniac303

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Posted 18 September 2008 - 07:12 PM

I've heard of it, its quite nasty stuff. Both toxic and carcinogenic, it is best avoided. What were you wanting to preserve, and how long for? There may be safer alternatives.
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#3 seymour

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Posted 18 September 2008 - 11:01 PM

Store living animals?

I don't like the sound of this!

I assume that was a typo?
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#4 mike_au

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Posted 19 September 2008 - 05:24 AM

Plain old metho is probably fine in most cases. I have a snake at home in a jar of metho that I found at least 12 years ago, it's a bit bleached (probably from sunlight) but otherwise fine.

The museum guy who identified it for me (it's a dugite, when we found it we thought it was a green tree snake and wanted to pick it up!!) said that it would last longer if we had put a small incision in the stomach to let the preservative get in and kill off anything inside it.

#5 Arthur Brown

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Posted 19 September 2008 - 06:23 AM

Most of us have ideas to help preserve biological specimens, but this is not specifically a taxidermy forum, some of our ideas may be outdated.

Strongly suggest that you consult an appropriate specialist. ALSO please consider things like the Wildlife ans countyside acts which can give extreme protection to wild animals. Even having a dead one for preservation may not be lawful.
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#6 wjames

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 09:41 PM

its not LIKE a chemical compound....it IS a chemical compound...H2CO to be precise



you can buy it on ebay- also known as formalin - around 40% mass saturated in water normally.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...id=p3286.c0.m14

( just like anything else, short of SAM missiles ! )

its also banned in the EU - since for about a year now....its very carcinogenic.....why its still on ebay i have no idea.


and if i remember correctly, "metho" and formaldehyde are common neighbours....i think organic flash can convert de-natured alcohol into formaldehyde....i may be wrong here.
i'd suggest contacting your local taxidermy club/society for further information.

http://www.britishhi...ysociety.co.uk/

hope this helps

Edited by wjames, 08 October 2008 - 09:46 PM.





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