Resin Art Insect Collection: tips tricks and issues to preserving your passed critters

Disclaimer : No mantises were harmed in the making of this art. A look at some of the older and brand new resin pieces I have made. Comparing color degradation and ways in which to mix and apply resin. This has been an experimental process over the last few months and I'd like to share some of the ways I've found succeed, as well as some of the failures I have had and how to approach them differently. All of these specimens passed away of natural causes and were preserved for educational purposes

[@locomocoloco246]

Gorgeous!!! The collection is so lovely!! The pitcher and feathers kept their colors so well

[@kit-is-a-cryptid]

This collection is so beautiful!

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

Thank you so much! I love working on it slowly and am glad to have enough to show off at this point and talk about the challenges I have had with it, will be doing another video for the next batch to show more about the process, hoping to have more plants to use this year so I planted a bunch of flowers that work well with resin like statice and strawflower, like I used in the lower right.

[@creaturedomes9364]

Your collection is pretty cool. I preserve my insects I collect and that pass away with resin also 🦀🦂🦟🦗🐞🐛🐜🦋🕷🦞

[@vfxsquad511]

wow your collection is awesome.....

[@Hehddbdbdhdjdicicjcdnnddn]

Just found this video because I’m really getting into this hobby ! Beautiful , ethically obtained specimens !!! Also love your budgies talking in the background !! I have birds too 🖤

[@tarantulacollective]

Whoa! This is cool!

[@rkhnd51]

Came here via The Tarantula Collectives advise. I've played a little with resin but haven't used insects yet. I read you can dry them out in alcohol then pose them on a base to dry but I found that they lose their color and darken, as you mentioned, actually while in the alcohol so I never poured any. Your collection looks great! I'm looking forward to your tutorial. Subscribed.

[@creaturedomes9364]

I have subscribed your mantis in the Dome is awesome I love the pose it’s in.

[@tarantulaark3182]

Amazing work! I need to learn to do this! Thanks for sharing.

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

Works great for larger T's shed fangs! And it is a great thank-you gift to tarantula sellers you have bought from :)

[@faroshscale]

Omg that teeny orchid mantis baby!

[@dankauffman8568]

I'd like to see you actually do one of these . (A simple one for dumb beginners like me).

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

For sure! will be doing a time lapse series on the process soon, it is very much a 'plan ahead setup and do everything quick, then wait, then repour, then wait again' sort of process so a bit hard to get the 30 hr+ process on video without forethought, but will film the next run :)

[@robertrounds5398]

Really cool hobby. Glad that "the_tarantula_collective" referred use to this video.

[@AuroraExotics]

These are SO COOL! I've been interested in entomology for years and always envisioned myself with some kind of specimen collection someday. Does the resin discolor and yellow out over time? Have you had success with any other preservation methods? I would LOVE to see a whole process video on how to do this beginning to end. I'm so glad I found you in Snake Discovery's chat. :) Huzzah networking!

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

Yeah, I love looking for new and amazing accounts in live chats :) glad to have found a kind and active channel to interact with! thanks for your compliments and questions! so far no discoloration, but i do have one on a keychain to test how it upholds, and need to put some in sunlight for a bit. I have tried preserving with salt and in the freezedryer with some success so far, as well as pinning and framing molts. will do a process video soon, it is behind the process video on leopard gecko eggs and dart frog tadpoles lol THanks again, happy keeping! Erin

[@stacywhite75]

I do the same thing to mine when they pass. But I got lazy and stopped and now I have a freezer and fridge full of mantises. So I started up the hobby again a few months ago. Instead of doing the molds, though, I tried to straight-up coat the mantis with the resin and place them in a display case. The problem is...they smell HORRIBLE!! That rotting innards smell. Whenever I open the case to show them off I want to vomit. What do I need to do to prevent this from happening?

[@almendraaliaga9175]

Hi, I wanna put a caterpillar inside resin. Have you tried anything like that? I've seen some people use silica gel to dry flowers and I wonder if I could use it for insects or parasites

[@gelphaze1229]

I've heard some ways to keep their color is to brush them with nail polish first before encasing them in resin is this true or are there other ways?

[@TestSubject-rh2yq]

They are all beautiful! I love the roaches! But I do have a question :) I found a tarantula in my backyard today, and I wanted to try my hand at preserving him. He’s been dead for awhile, his abdomen is shriveled and some of his legs have damaged, but I thought it would be a good first try before my pet tarantula passes so I can know how to preserve him. How long should I wait before I put him in resin? I was going to leave him in a container (not airtight) would that get him dry enough? Or should I still try to gut him even if his abdomen is shriveled?

[@TestSubject-rh2yq]

I was also super curious what kind of resin you use. Most people I see recommend Tiranti, and I was curious if thats what you happened to use. Sorry if you’ve already mentioned it somewhere haha

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

You could put him in salt for a week or so to be safe, and if he seems dry I wouldn't bother w gutting unless you want to stuff to make the abdomen look more natural, then you would want a relaxing chamber (moist paper towel in a sealed tupperware for a few days) to be able to work w easier without breaking

[@TestSubject-rh2yq]

Arthropod Ambassadors Super helpful, thank you!

[@jeaninequintero4088]

How do you prepare the insects for resin besides putting them in the freezer? Do you soak them in ethanol? We've had problems with the insides leaking out into the resin (hissers, tarantulas, and scorpions? How long to do you keep them in the freezer?

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

I want to experiment more with alcohol treatments, but currently I leave them in the (cycling) freezer open for around 6 months or until my partner starts reminding me that the freezer is losing food space ;) . Mostly I have found I need to clean out the insides of thicker specimens, have had the same issues you also have had. I really like using smaller bodied males of species though, can often get away with skipping that step. I have found if I air dry certain roach species that has also worked, just leave them in a dry bin with a heat mat around 90 for awhile and ignore the smell lol! I have also tried freezedrying in an actual freezedryer (oh the things I have put in that device) but the abdomen became swollen from the sublimated moisture having nowhere to escape, so next time need to puncture the abdomen.

[@paulmalady8145]

Have you ever thought about using a pressure pot it would get rid of the bubbles

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

I know that a pressure pot or vacuum chamber work well with traditional resin, but since I'm putting in the insects and repositioning them over time as they try to float and fold, I was not sure how to pull it off that way, and it ends up being a giant extra thing to store. Most resin I see done w pressure are all done and dried in one step, not the way I pour, wait, position, pour again, and then full dry.

[@paulmalady8145]

I would try to put the bottom portion in for a few minutes until it get sticky like you said pull it out put the insect on then pour the top on and put it back in until it dries try it maybe with some small or medium stuff first it should work love not done insects but I do a lot with resin and it’s always worked good for me

[@SusanLBritt]

How long in freezer to dry ??

[@caitreed01]

Hi! I had a pet hissing cockroach that just passed about an hour ago. I put hi. In my freezer but I'd like to preserve him in resin. How would I do that without him leaking or decaying? I want him to look nice and I'd like to avoid gutting him if possible

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

Hello! Sorry to hear about your loss, I love my hissers, such big personalities! From my experience if you want to avoid gutting you will need to leave him unwrapped in a cycling freezer to freeze-dry. You could also try to speed up the process by injecting rubbing alcohol and extracting the mixed contents with a syringe. But mostly letting them dry open in a freezer for quite awhile is best for big bodied insects like hissers. Up to a year or longer. You could also try a cheap food drier to try to speed dry before decay sets in, I have had them preserve well if they pass away in their bin near the heat mat, so mimicking that hot dry combo is the other way to go :) but if wet when put into resin they will expand and crack. Thanks for your question, good luck.

[@caitreed01]

@@ArthropodAmbassadors if I do the rubbing alcohol method, how many times would I have to do that until I know everything is out so I dont have to worry about him rotting? Would that be all I have to do? If I tried that then let him dry, then injected silicone in him to plump him up, could I still cast him in resin? Or would you definitely reccomend gutting him?

[@caitreed01]

@@ArthropodAmbassadors also, thank you! I loved him a lot, I was very sad to see him pass. I'd love to preserve him so I can always have him around

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

@@caitreed01 in the end with something that thick, it is either going to be a long wait or gutting. The rubbing alcohol can be done over time in addition to freeze, Their exoskeletons are tough enough I don't think silicon is needed. Prob take a look at some videos on large tarantula preserving methods for pinning, which do alcohol injection plus stuffing abdomen, but a hisser has thicker abdomen than a big T so might be easier to just pump clean w alcohol a few times. I have had dried large roaches do well in resin, but have also been impatient and lost really nice specimens to rot within the resin from encasing them too moist.

[@caitreed01]

@@ArthropodAmbassadors thank you!

[@preston2evil]

so in resin will they decompose?

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

If they are already decomposing they will continue, but others don't change at all if put in either super fresh or dry.

[@lyricsdebra]

What’s a pronotum?

[@SuperWoWen]

What type of molds do you use??

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

Random silicon ones off Amazon, lots of options there to try.

[@OregonDARRYL]

If I'm willing to eat a cow, I can kill a bug... especially wasps. I will be preserving some of them.

[@vannecaos9273]

How do you avoid bubbles? :(

[@ArthropodAmbassadors]

A butane torch and mixing very patiently

[@vannecaos9273]

@@ArthropodAmbassadors thank you!!