Finished the second loach. This is good, cause I'm pretty sure the cat ate the first one. :headshake2: So I put this one in my case right away. They did a better job on the head of this one, the last one had more damage.
Nice!
I took the limbs of the gecko out of the beetles earlier than the body, as they have less flesh and the beetles love to steal toes. They did get a couple toes off one foot anyway, but I can't complain overall.
Legs and tools soaking in alcohol, which sterilizes and kills any hidden larvae.
Every thing is out now except the very end of the tail. The tail is in pieces, but I don't have a hand lens to try to piece them together right now. I posed him while he was still damp with alcohol.
Side view. You can see the tail vertebrae in the back.
What's next? Well, often I do a soak in Dawn/water to degrease, but this also loosens ligaments and I don't want this guy to fall apart. So, I will skip that phase, as I doubt he is particularly greasy anyway, and do a hydrogen peroxide dip after he drys out. This will remove some of the dirt and debris, as well as whiten the bones. I won't leave him in long though, as it can also decalcify.
Nice!
I took the limbs of the gecko out of the beetles earlier than the body, as they have less flesh and the beetles love to steal toes. They did get a couple toes off one foot anyway, but I can't complain overall.
Legs and tools soaking in alcohol, which sterilizes and kills any hidden larvae.
Every thing is out now except the very end of the tail. The tail is in pieces, but I don't have a hand lens to try to piece them together right now. I posed him while he was still damp with alcohol.
Side view. You can see the tail vertebrae in the back.
What's next? Well, often I do a soak in Dawn/water to degrease, but this also loosens ligaments and I don't want this guy to fall apart. So, I will skip that phase, as I doubt he is particularly greasy anyway, and do a hydrogen peroxide dip after he drys out. This will remove some of the dirt and debris, as well as whiten the bones. I won't leave him in long though, as it can also decalcify.
