Preserved Reptiles as Art

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chris_mcmartin
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Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by chris_mcmartin »

A friend sent me this link he found:

http://www.pheromonedesign.com/product- ... /serpents/

If you poke around this site you can also see preserved chameleons. I have no idea on pricing.

What say y'all? It's interesting, but is it beautiful art you'd hang in your home, or a macabre reminder of deceased pets, or something else?
yank gooner
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by yank gooner »

Wow this is quite strange and very fascinating...I really don't know where I would stand on this, but I'm very curious to hear others input!
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gbin
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by gbin »

It's art, all right, and rather different art at that - but it definitely doesn't fall within my personal tastes. (A nice corn snakeskin hatband made from a deceased pet or DOR found in good condition, on the other hand... ;) ) I've long thought that zoos/aquariums/museums should make way more use of preserved herp specimens in their displays than they do. Nowadays the best preservation techniques can produce very lifelike results (and despite what that fellow suggests, such techniques are fairly widely known and hardly proprietary), and in many displays the public would never know that a snake was preserved rather than live if they weren't told so. And of course, preserved animals require only a modicum of care to maintain, don't eat, produce waste or get sick, can't escape, never bite...

Gerry
yank gooner
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by yank gooner »

Out of curiosity mostly, I inquired on some pricing. Not surprisingly, being art, it isn't cheap. The Russell's Viper for instance is priced at a grand.
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gbin
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by gbin »

Actually, that pricing quite surprises me! :shock: I'm used to seeing art that, while expensive, could nonetheless be considered a pretty good deal due to all of the time and effort that must have gone into creating it, whereas I can't imagine anything more than a modest amount of time and effort went into preserving and staging those specimens. The animals themselves did all the real work of coming up with their beautiful patterns and colors, after all. Oh well, I reckon that art is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. I wish the fellow luck - and suspect that he'll need it to find buyers.

Gerry
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by chris_mcmartin »

I wonder how much the artist pays his snake suppliers and therefore what the markup is on a given piece.
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gbin
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by gbin »

He doesn't pay his snake suppliers much if anything, I'll bet. There isn't all that much call for snake carcasses out there. Probably he pays more for bird, butterfly and maybe other animal artifacts he uses.

Gerry
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Kerby Ross
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Those appear to be ......

Post by Kerby Ross »

Those appear to be freeze dried taxidermy. I do skin mounts and reproduction reptile taxidermy, as well as all phases of taxidermy.

http://www.lonesomevalleytaxidermy.com/ ... allery.htm

:)

Kerby...
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gbin
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by gbin »

Yeah, I suspected they were freeze-dried, as have been the most lifelike preserved snakes I've seen to date. Kerby, if you don't mind my asking, why do you still do skin mounts rather than freeze-drying, yourself? If I'm under some misconception - and I can readily believe I am, as I'm just an interested layperson who doesn't really know much ;) - then please don't hesitate to correct me, but I thought freeze-drying became cutting edge for reptile taxidermy several years ago (even if it still hasn't been widely adopted).

Gerry
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Kerby Ross
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Gerry, .....

Post by Kerby Ross »

Freeze dry taxidermy started in the early 1970's and they still haven't fixed the shrinkage problem. I have never seen a good freeze dry reptile mount. I compete with my reptile taxidermy and freeze dry has too many issure and is sub par.

Kerby...
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gbin
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by gbin »

Huh, shows how much I know about the subject! :? Maybe I've just never seen a good skin mount of a snake, as the freeze-dried specimens I've seen have definitely been better. In fact, I can think of at least a couple of the latter that I've seen over the years that I thought looked good enough to put on exhibit in a zoo in lieu of a living specimen - no fooling. Mind you, not knowing how large the specimens were originally I couldn't speak to how much they might have shrunk.

I sure hope to get to see some of your work in person some day, Kerby!

Gerry
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Very interesting. I wonder if they do art-on-demand ... I know someone with a 13-foot king cobra in a tub full of formaldehyde and no idea what to do with it :-)
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gbin
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by gbin »

Unfortunately, Hans, I think formaldehyde preservation really damages the display potential of a specimen. As I understand it, freezing is the way to go (though I imagine a 13ft king cobra would take up a lot of freezer space ;) .

Gerry
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Preserved Reptiles as Art

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Crap. There goes the centerpiece I had envisioned for my 20th wedding anniversary.
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