Mantis died. :( :( Questions on preservation maybe?

[got chow]

Well a couple nights ago, my 6" peacock male died. My circuits suddenly popped and I was wondering what made them go off. I turned it back on and things looked OK. Lights fired up in a while, all pumps were working etc.

It turned out that the little heater in my separate mantis tank shorted out. I'm not sure if the mantis could've hit the heater and broke the glass and caused it to short, or if it was just a bad heater. Either way, it really really sucks that this poor guy died.

My question is, is there a way that I can get these things preserved in some way? They look so cool, and this one was such a nice specimen. Right now I have him frozen in a block of ice in the freezer, but was wondering how hard / expensive it would be to get somebody to encase him in an acrylic block. You know... like the ones that they encase the insects in at some museums and stuff... Something like that. If anyone knows (bay area or anywhere for that matter) then I would love to get some info.

Thanks.

 

[shinsei]

This is kinda left field and from total inexperience with preserving something...but I believe that the acrylic block can be made from the same stuff that they use to make 'water' for little railroad miniatures. Took an art class where we had to build an environment and that was one of the things that came up...it felt pretty solid when it dried, but I dunno if that'll be good enough to preserve the lil fella...especially from bacteria already in there...

hmmm...I'll ask around, see if any of me colleagues would know...some of them play with that railroad acrylic water stuff a lot..

Good luck and sorry to hear about your poor fellah passing...

 

[RogueCorps]

Hey Got Chow,

Sorry for your loss. Were you using a protected heater?

You can find casting acylic and molds at hobby stores and plastic suppliers like Tap Plastics. I'm unsure if you'd have to preserve it in something like formaldehyde first or just dry it out. It's kinda gross to think about it, but the color should come back with a layer of acrylic painted over it. The casting resin should have instructions on positioning it and how to suspend it until it sets up.

-Rogue

 

[Foster]

Sorry to hear about the lose - perhaps his head mounted on a plauge over the fire place?

you can probably just dipit in a bucket of laquare, and position him before it dries?