Beak re-hydration?

bathypol

Wonderpus
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Mar 2, 2004
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Hello again!

I have yet another question that I'm hoping someone may have an idea about. I have some beak samples that have dried out (unfortuntately). I want to do some measurements on them but since they were young individuals, the beaks weren't fully chitinized and parts have curled in. I was hoping someone may have an idea of how to re-hydrate them, if that is at all possible. Anyone?

Thank you in advance :heee:
 
just a thought- I have NO experience in this matter- but if you have one to spare for experimentation, perhaps a long soak in warm, appropriately saline water would return them to a more natural state. I do not believe tho, that you will ever fully return a natural shape/state to them, since they are of course, no longer living tissue.
 
Thanks Mr. Blobby :biggrin2: I was actually thinking of just trying some distilled water on one of the more damaged specimens and see what happens. Just wanted to make sure no one else had some unique/strange way of fixing the problem. All I'm trying to do is make them a bit less fragile so they can be manipulated.
 
Dr. O'Shea handed out some beaks at TONMOCON II, and he had a suggestion for what it should soak in (I am not 100% certain I remember correctly so don't want to guess and give out misinformation), but he said in the absence of that, vodka should do fine. I don't think he was kidding, so mine have been sitting in jars filled with Skyy vodka for the past couple of years -- seems to be working fine. Will that *re-hydrate* them? I do not know -- but maybe this info is of some help!
 

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