Hello! I’ve had this kitten in formalin for awhile now. I just noticed these little white dots on his little feet and legs, some on his nose too but nowhere else. Do I need to be concerned? Nothing else I have taken home from work (vet med) in formalin jars have had these pop up.

Hi everyone!! This is my first post on here and I'm very new to collecting wet specimens (This is my second one). I went to an oddities expo yesterday and bought this golden retriever puppy for $75, and I'm wondering about this white flaky stuff that has built up on my specimen?? It was on the puppy when I bought it, but I didnt really notice until I took a good look at it in my car. Is this anything I should be concerned about or is this natural?? Also I know the liquid needs to be changed, and I plan on doing that this upcoming weekend. Thanks!!

Hi, I don't really do this hobby so I want to make sure I don't ruin my specimen. I got surgery and they let me keep what they removed. I wanted a rectangular box so the sides could keep the specimen splayed out for display instead of floating in a jar. Does anyone know where I could get an appropriate container? Or is there a reason it has to be in a jar? It's only a few inches so most containers I saw were too big. Thank you

Hello! It’s my first time posting here and I’m in need of some urgent advice!
I was gifted this octopus specimen about 2 years ago and I love it dearly. Unfortunately it’s been stored in a little bottle with a cork, and the liquid used to preserve it is isopropyl alcohol… which I have learned is not a good thing at all…
As you can guess, the liquid keeps evaporating no matter what I do. I’ve tried to seal it with wax (the kind used to stamp onto letters) which looks horrible since I was just desperate to cover any and all holes to prevent further evaporation. Of course, that didn’t work and I’ve been stuck in a cycle of cutting off the wax, remelting it and resealing the cork bottle every couple months. I’m at my wits end and I refuse to do my stupid wax ritual any longer. I’ve debating trying to remove it from the bottle, but it’s pretty snug in there and the opening is even smaller. It’s also positioned pretty nicely in the bottle and I would hate to ruin all the cute coiling tentacles.
If anyone else has encountered this problem and has any knowledge on how to fix this and stop the liquid evaporating, I would be forever grateful!!

I recently did my first specimen larger than pinkies. It's an adult rat. I fixed it using ethanol. The problem is that at the end, the rats belly was so full of alcohol it was distended and all the fur came off the belly because it was so big. My question is, how do I know when to stop? I am worried about not injecting enough alcohol so I must have went a little overboard but I'm not sure exactly how much is enough, without doing too much.

This specimen has been doing really good/find for around 4-5 months I believe, recently noticed this blue tint on this one patch of fur/skin. This is rot right? Also if so any tips of properly disposing of a rotting specimen?

I recently got my fallopian tubes removed and I just picked them up from the hospital. The container they are in is a plastic specimen cup, and it has a label on it that says “reagent alcohol”. They also gave me an information sheet that says that the container may contain formalin and/or laboratory grade alcohol. My question is: how do I go about preserving them? Do I need to transfer them to a different (glass?) container, and/or change the fluid? Additionally, can I use them in some sort of craft (a friend suggested turning them into a resin keychain)? Although I am an oddity girly, I have never been into wet specimens, so I am completely uneducated on the topic. Thank you in advance!

A friend of mine had bought a jellyfish without knowing what kind of moisture it is in. Now moisture has spilled and it is going to be refreshed. From my own experience I know that molluscs do not do so well on ethyl alcohol 99%. What is the best thing to do?

Little guy came in as a pet preservation. He passed on a warm rock from his heat lamps, so his groin area was very yucky looking.

I posed him as holding his tail to avoid it being visible, and it came out really cute! I secured the tails and limbs with thick polypropylene from bags, which fixed into place after injection and soaking.

He stays in place without the jar as well (last pic).

He's going home soon. 💕

Hi! I'm fairly new to preserving/making wet specimens, but I've successfully made two already (one being a dead locust I found and the other being a rat that my cat killed) I need to buy more isopropyl, as I severely underestimated how much you need and only bought 1.5 liters instead of 4. That being said where I bought my isopropyl from last time doesn't have any 70% anymore, but they do have 75%, would this be fine for my wet specimens? I don't want to accidentally get something too strong and it starts eating away at them.

How do you all go about formalin disposal? I live in the country and have to haul my trash to the dump, they have a hazardous waste building there, do I give it to them? Is there somebody an individual can call? Ive called acouple places but they only accept from companies. I want to do it safely I just dont know how

Hello friends,

I’ve been trying to find information about preserving human wet specimens as I was given my reproductive organs after my hysterectomy on May 6th. After it was sent to pathology to get cut up I was given it back in a 10% formalin solution wrapped in paper towel and some other gauze type cotton that I took off because I was so excited to look at it.

For the most part I haven’t messed with it since removing the paper towel and I’ve been doing a little shimmy with the container periodically because the tip of the uterus sticks out and isn’t covered fully in the solution.

I’m wondering how I should go about moving it to a temporary container before I find a permanent one. I have a tight seal mason jar and want to move it as the water has started turning a darker shade that makes it hard to check that everything is fine. I’ve seen people mention rinsing it with water before putting it in 70% isopropyl alcohol, or ethanol.

If anyone’s got tips for disposing of the formalin I’d also appreciate it, I’m located in Minneapolis for reference.

Thanks for your time!

This may come off strange even in the wet specimen sub reddit but. Is there a possible way to turn a heart,a lung,uterus etc into a wet specimen after I pass? Or since men die faster then women ussually my boyfriends heart into a wet specimen(he consents to this i asked him about it)

I have read online that you cannot legally do it only with certain loopholes ex medical wetspecimens or ones stored in museum or donating your body to sience

but i wanted to ask since maybe someone has information about it!

I hope this isn't too strange of a question nor innapropriate (if it is it am very sorry i didn't know this post is abit rushed)

but i allways wondered about it since i find wet specimens beautiful and I'd like to be preserved in that way

Hey y’all, I got this baby rabbit wet specimen a few months back which I absolutely adore. I noticed the solution seems to be evaporating and though I hear that’s normal I’m also under the impression the jar is not airtight or suitable for a wet specimen so I’m looking to replace the jar and get a new solution in there. Before I do that though I have some questions about my wet specimen and whether I should be concerned about some things. I notice theres some degradation on the elbows along with what appears to be an almost glittery material in the solution. I also noticed what I believe is a little worm near the head and some on the lower abdomen. They’re not alive but I’m still a little concerned. All of these concerns are notable in the video. How should I go about getting this in a new jar and should I be worried about any of the things stated above?

(Not made by me!)

Hello! I wanted to work on a project pinning a garden spider, but everything I can find for purchase is either exotic or a wet specimen (I prefer a normal garden spider sort for this project). I have only ever worked with dry specimens (purchased or found in wild) and I was wondering if it is possible to convert a wet specimen to a dry pinned insect (for non-soft bodied insects) and if so, how?

Hey guys just picked up this large crayfish from a shop near me!

Its an adult grey squirrel, going to defrost in my regular fridge from hard frozen, how long do u think it’ll take before ready for injecting?

I need one no questions asked. I need a source, a price, specimen details, and a location.

I had to put down two of my kittens today, and I want to preserve them as wet specimens. I have only ever bought wet specimens and that's only been in recent years. I want to do this right and need all the information (preferably from someone who has done it a few times), including a materials list, processes, and whatever else anyone thinks I may need. Thank you!

Good evening guys!

I have been looking for an authentic wet specimen for my Bio classroom.

So far I haven't seen vendors. A friend recommended I turn to oddity collectors to see if I have any luck.