[Nhcoll-l] [EXT] Sea turtle restoration

Tue Dec 6 09:37:44 EST 2022

Polyurethane varnish will yellow and fall off fairly quickly, I think, as the scutes are chitin. If you are displaying the shell, it might be better to dress the scutes with something like glycerol or mineral oil once you have glued them back. Wipe or brush it on, wait a few days, then polish the surface. That will also keep the scutes flexible, prevent cracking and show their color well. You'll have to renew it every few years, but that's easy.

Elmer's glue (PVA) is not a good idea; it gives off acetic acid when fresh, and won't grip chitin for long. Though one might hesitate to recommend it, hot glue (from a glue gun) sticks well, has considerable bridging and filling qualities and is less chemically disruptive because its tackiness is the result of heat, not solvents.

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates

Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
prc44 at drexel.edu Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170

-----Original Message-----
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Valerie Tomlinson
Sent: Tuesday, December 6, 2022 9:25 AM
To: Art Van Arsdale <vanarsdale2640 at hotmail.com>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXT] Sea turtle restoration

External.

Hi Art,
First question is: are there any future scientific analyses that you don't want your treatment to interfere with?
Second question: what is the intended use of the specimen in question?
Once you've answered that question, then you can look at what treatments are possible within those bounds.
It might be a case of packing things carefully so that the pieces don't get disassociated. If there is no intent to display, then it doesn't have to look pretty. It just has to be use-able for research, and/or stable in storage until it is needed.
If it does need to look like an assembled and complete shell, and you don't have to worry about interference with analyses, then I would probably start my adhesive search with Paraloid B72. You could also use that as your topcoat if you wanted. It's more reversible and less prone to yellowing than polyurethane.

Valerie Tomlinson

-----Original Message-----
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Art Van Arsdale
Sent: Monday, December 5, 2022 8:16 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [EXT][Nhcoll-l] Sea turtle restoration

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Hello everyone. I work at a nature center in South Florida. We have an old green turtle shell that has fallen into disrepair. The scutes are coming off. I believe I can remove them all one at a time but I am not sure what adhesive to use to reattach. Web searches suggest Superglue or Elmers glue but I'm not sure that would be a permanent solution. Also, I am planning to topcoat with a water based polyurethane.
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