[Nhcoll-l] Storing snake skins

[John E Simmons]

Rod,
If the snake skins are dry, I would keep them dry and store them in glass
jars with good lids (to keep pests away, and that way you can store them
with your other snake specimens).  Be sure the jar label says STORE DRY.
You can fold or loosely roll the skins up to fit them in the jar.

Snake skins are mostly keratin, and according to an accelerated aging study
done by David von Endt and colleagues, keratin is more stable dry than in
alcohol.  You can access the article here:
http://si-pddr.si.edu/jspui/handle/10088/11195

Citation:

Von Endt, D. W., E. R. Yourd and P. E. Hare.  2000.  Spirit collections:
accelerated aging studies concerning the stability of keratin in ethanol
and formalin.  *Collection Forum* 14(1-2):66-77.

--John

John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com
303-681-5708
www.museologica.com
and
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
and
Lecturer in Art
Juniata College
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania

On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Pellegrini, Rodrigo <
Rodrigo.Pellegrini at sos.state.nj.us> wrote:

> Dear colleagues,****
>
> ** **
>
> I just found a small box full of shed snake skins in our collections room.
> They’re just loose inside of it. I’m sure there must be a better way of
> storing these (I can think of one  or two, like pinning to an acid-free
> board or coiling in a glass jar), but honestly have no idea what would be
> best practices. Does your collection have dry, shed snake skins? How do you
> store them?****
>
> ** **
>
> Thanks for any info.****
>
> ** **
>
> Sincerely,****
>
> ** **
>
> Rod ****
>
> ** **
>
> Rodrigo Pellegrini, MA, MS
> Registrar, Natural History Bureau
> New Jersey State Museum
> PO Box 530
> Trenton, NJ 08625-0530
> USA
>
> Voice: (609) 292-5615 (office)
>        (609) 826-3924 (laboratory)
>        (609) 826-5449 (storage)
> Fax: (609) 292-7636
> E-mail: Rodrigo.Pellegrini at sos.state.nj.us
> www.newjerseystatemuseum.org****
>
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>
>


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