Tried To Preserve A Leopard Shell

[Levi the Leopard]

A few weeks ago, I lost one of my newest Leopard hatchlings to HFS. Near the end her shell had gone super soft and her plastron sunk in.
I was sad to loose her but I couldn't stop it from happening. I wanted to preserve her shell so her memory could live on. I could use her shell to help educate people when I teach on the hot and humid method or do turtle shows.
A lady I know has preserved CDT shells and she advised me to bury the baby and let ants clean it out since I couldn't stomach the clean out myself. Then I'd have just an empty shell. She then uses a clear ...something..on it and voila, a preserved shell.

I buried the baby after she passed and dug her up after 2 weeks. The bugs weren't done yet. :/ I gave it another week before I decided to check the shell progress again.

Well, it didn't work and I'm not sure where I went wrong. After 3 weeks in the ground when I grabbed the shell to check it, it squished in my hand like a jelly ball. All the Leopard print slid off the shell and left a white ball behind. It was weird.

Anyone else ever done this? What did I do wrong?
I'm seriously bummed it didn't work. I feel like I wasted her. I'd have preferred she lived but since she didn't, I at least wanted her shell to live on an educate people for years to come.

 

[waitmanff]

I'm sorry for your lost

 

[wellington]

OMG, that is really weird. Their shell coloring is a different layer of shell. I didn't know,this. That is very educational in itself. I have heard of others doing it within the way you did it, except, I'm not sure they buried it or just left it out for the bugs to get too it. There is another way I had read about, but I can't remember what it was. I will try to find it. I believe it had something to do with a liquid of some sort. It would be much more gruesome if I remember right. So sorry it didn't work out. It would have been a good proper for you to educate. However, there is no reason that what you have can't be used too. Not sure how many knew the coloring could come off like that. Might be interesting too see what comes of this.

 

[Moozillion]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Just because things didn't turn out the way you hoped, with both her HFS and preserving her shell, doesn't mean you did anything "wrong." The more I hang around here and the more I learn, it sure seems that we know very little about reptiles. I agree, learning that the colored part of her shell was different is new knowledge in itself.

Please give yourself a break- you're a great tort mom.
Hugs from Moo

 

[nearpass]

Actually what you have left is interesting in it own right, as it's the little guys skeleton, with the keratin of the scutes gone. I have such a tortoise skeleton of a female Egyptian I lost many years ago. If you allow it to dry and harden, you can see, and point out, the fused ribs underneath (inside).

I have done what you attempted, but not by burying. I have placed the tortoise in a cardboard box in a sheltered spot outdoors, and just left them there. It takes quite some time, but carrion beetles and bugs take care of much of the soft tissue fairly quickly, but they aren't so moist/damp as to destroy the shell. It's always tough to maintain all of the scute material as it wants to separate from the skeleton as shrinkage occurs. This is somewhat simplified, but burying is not the best idea.

Sorry of this is more than some of you may want to know, but when teaching biology, all such tools/experiences become a teaching/learning tool.

 

[T33's Torts]

It may have had to do with the illness.

 

[diamondbp]

You didn't do anything wrong. It's simply that a hatchlings shell hasn't solidified nearly as hard as an adult. I would think it would take a few years before a tortoises shell is hard enough to permanently preserve

 

[turtlesteve]

I have a yearling leopard tortoise shell from when I was in high school, from my first tortoise. At the time I didn't know cause of death (he "failed to thrive") but now believe he was chronically dehydrated. After finding this forum I realize that this is unfortunately common.

This is the only time I was able to stomach preserving a pet that died rather than giving a burial. I have a few other shells, from when I had less emotional attachment (turtles that died naturally, and an injured turtle I wasn't able to save).

If you really want to do it, here is what I did:
(WARNING, if you are squeamish, stop reading, this isn't easy or pretty)



1. If you can't handle starting immediately, stop the decay process. My method was to put the animal in rubbing alcohol in the fridge. Freezing works but will make the scutes fall off.
2. Physically remove the meat using an x-acto or other small knife. There are fewer attachments to the shell than you would expect.
3. Clean the inside of the shell with a wire brush to remove leftover meat
4. Soak the shell in rubbing alcohol for a day or two
5. Put it somewhere it can dry quickly (low humidity)

If decay has occurred, soak in weak bleach solution for an hour or so before the alcohol soak. This will cause damage if you soak for too long.

In my experience the scutes stay attached unless decay occurred (or when I tried freezing)

 

[nearpass]

That's a pretty tough process for most people. Let nature do the work in the form of all the insects meant for this job.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I wish I had done a little more research on different methods first. Turtlesteve, thanks for your info. I would try it that way next time (if there ever is a next time).

I couldn't use the remains "as is". It was sooo squishy and smelled of rotting awfulness!

I did handle the thin leopard layer for a bit. That was kinda neat and I thought about keeping that part. But it was just so delicate and kept breaking apart.

Oh well.

 

[turtlesteve]

That's a pretty tough process for most people. Let nature do the work in the form of all the insects meant for this job.

A similar approach was suggested to me at the time but I was always afraid the shell would stink afterwards. I hope I never have the opportunity to do this again.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

You may want to dry both parts further in a shoebox with either salt, or diatomaceous earth kitty litter (the 99 cents only store has it in the craft paper bag packaging). Then in a month or 2 you might be able to piece the scutes back together ever so carefully with either E6000 glue or the Lohtite glue that will work on glass. Then you will have the boney portion and the scute portion and you can display them side by side, separately.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I didn't keep the remains.

Next time... (but I really hope there isn't a next time)

 

[Jacqui]

You didn't do anything wrong. It's simply that a hatchlings shell hasn't solidified nearly as hard as an adult. I would think it would take a few years before a tortoises shell is hard enough to permanently preserve

I too, think it was because it was a hatchling. For hatchlings I placed them in a jar of fluid. I would need to check it out, but seems it was rubbing alcohol and another is in (at this point my brain froze up, but it's the stuff Drs and such would perserve parts in).

With older ones, I have tried different methods, but nothing reallt seems to work best for me.

 

[Yvonne G]

It's the moisture. If you want the keratin layer to stay on the skeleton, you have to actually clean out the shell just like cleaning fish. You have to gut it and clean it all out. If you keep it dry, it will stay together long enough for you to be able to get a coat of varnish or something on it, but the moisture either in the ground or on the roof, causes the keratin to come off (the keratin is where the leopard pattern is).

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Thanks Jacqui and Yvonne... I get it now.

 

[turtlesteve]

It's the moisture. If you want the keratin layer to stay on the skeleton, you have to actually clean out the shell just like cleaning fish. You have to gut it and clean it all out. If you keep it dry, it will stay together long enough for you to be able to get a coat of varnish or something on it, but the moisture either in the ground or on the roof, causes the keratin to come off (the keratin is where the leopard pattern is).

I agree with this. I think this is why the alcohol soak works - it draws the water out and allows the shell to dry rapidly. I never needed varnish, and the scutes are still on 10+ years later. I only had to glue scutes back on twice - once when I tried freezing, and once on a box turtle shell that was empty when I found it.