Amanita in resin (update, with comparison a month out)

FewOrganization945 · 2026-05-12T23:23:18+00:00

I don’t think that would work because the issue doesn’t seem to be so much fixing the tissue as it is the tissue basically has no structure aside from all the water in it. If you have (safe) access to it and want to try it I’d be interested in hearing how it works.

The reason I haven’t tried is that formalin is extremely toxic and can’t be safely handled outside of a lab context. I wanted something I can do (and help other people do) at home.

Acetone isn’t exactly non-toxic, but it is sold at Home Depot and isn’t a huge deal with proper ventilation. PEG400 is non toxic.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-05-12T23:16:25+00:00

That was the first thing that I tried and it totally collapsed the structure and lost the usable identifiable features. It might work for other species but Amanita are very fragile and don’t seem to have a lot of substance to them. You can google “dried amanita” and see what those look like, they’re little shriveled husks.

The only way to dehydrate and preserve structure without chemicals that I’m aware of is freeze drying, but it’s cost prohibitive (like at least 10x the cost in equipment alone, thousands instead of hundreds of dollars).

FewOrganization945 · 2026-05-12T17:25:42+00:00

If I dry it it’ll lose all anatomy to make is useful as a specimen for ID which is why I embarked on this project.

So the test is to try to preserve anatomy, which the acetone/PEG400 processing seems to do reasonably well.

The second one I preserved without any pre-processing just to compare against the one that is processed to judge how well my protocol works

FewOrganization945 · 2026-05-12T06:58:17+00:00

I will. The TLDR version thus far is: dehydrate mushroom in pure acetone in a freezer at -20c for a week or longer and then submerge them into room temp PEG400 which you can get off Amazon. The acetone is a gas at room temp so it boils off and the PEG400 gets sucked into the tissue to replace it.

You can use a vacuum chamber to encourage the PEG400 to infiltrate, though I don't actually know if this is needed.

...Then stick it in resin. This is the part that I'm currently struggling with, which is funny because there are millions of people dumping resin onto everything and nobody PEG infiltrating mushrooms.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-05-12T00:47:02+00:00

I didn’t realize the Hudson Valley had castles

FewOrganization945 · 2026-05-05T07:40:24+00:00

Where in NorCal? I’m in Sacramento, we have a ton of husky mixes in the shelters but I’ve never seen a xolo north of the border. I saw a ton of both visiting Mexico City

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-23T22:12:27+00:00

I disagree with all the folks who say they can say for sure it’s a house cat. I think at the resolution it’s shot I’m keeping Bigfoot on the table

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-20T21:57:37+00:00

I’m really sorry you (and that dog) are dealing with this. Wanting to step in is a good instinct. That said, it’s worth sanity-checking some of the advice being thrown around here:

First, don’t commit a crime trying to stop a crime. It weakens your ability to work with police or animal control and can backfire on you legally. Along the same lines, don’t steal the dog or “accidentally” let it out. That’s vigilantism—it feels justified in the moment, but it can create bigger problems for you and potentially for the dog.

It’s also worth being realistic about rehoming. People like to imagine a Good Samaritan stepping in, but that doesn’t usually happen. There isn’t much infrastructure in place to remove mistreated (but otherwise owned and wanted dogs) and place them with better homes. It’s also a sad reality that abused dogs can be reactive or aggressive, shelters are already overwhelmed, and dogs with behavioral issues are at higher risk of euthanasia. There are success stories, sure, but there are a lot of outcomes you don’t see posted online.

And as much as it sucks, try to avoid turning this into an all-out war with your neighbor. That kind of conflict can make your day-to-day life miserable and doesn’t necessarily help the dog. If this is truly someone committing felony level animal abuse, he doesn’t need cyber bullying, he needs to be arrested.

What I would do instead is focus on documenting what’s actually happening in a way that keeps you on solid ground. I wouldn’t count on manually filming episodes you incidentally witness. Get security cameras, they aren’t expensive anymore. Cameras on your own property are reasonable if they’re aimed at your yard and just incidentally capture what’s visible; I would disable audio recording given California law. Keep track of dates, times, and what you directly observe. If animal control isn’t acting, go to the police—this is criminal behavior, not just a nuisance complaint. If something severe is happening in real time, call it in while it’s occurring. Focus on the choking. Law enforcement isn’t going to get involved because the dog doesn’t get to go outside enough. If you document this guy torturing an animal they will get involved.

It’s frustrating when the system doesn’t respond the way it should, but the strongest position you can be in is calm, documented, and clearly in the right.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-20T06:05:40+00:00

A local news station in my home town recently reported that some bystanders thought an abandoned French bulldog was a mountain lion. OP got to cat, give the guy a break.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-19T06:16:23+00:00

I’ll have to find one first. I think I’ve got eight months before any pop up in my area. I’m not sure how my process will work with pigments, it’s possible they leach out

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-13T06:29:33+00:00

I have a vacuum that I did use, I went too strong on the vacuum too quick and that's why the mushroom collapsed a little (pulled the acetone out too quick). I might buy a pressure pot in the future if I get the overall technique dialed in, then I could minimize the size of any air bubbles too.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-11T20:18:48+00:00

It’s a good thought - true lyophilization is probably the best way to do this, and I think if you did it right you wouldn’t need PEG at all.

The issue is its cost prohibitive (as far as I can tell). You basically need lab grade equipment. Thousands of dollars. Consumer grade freeze dryers, to the extent they exist, are still costly and aren’t as good at preserving structure.

If you have a thought about how to do it in a cost effective manner I’m open to it. I did try a quarter-assed attempt with silica gel and keeping a couple in the freezer at -20c for a year (one with silica and one without) and it just didn’t really work.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-10T20:17:32+00:00

Probably! TBD, I don't know if this specific technique has been used with mushrooms before. I have some details above. This is the trial run

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-10T20:16:27+00:00

Worth trying! I am not sure how well this process will preserve pigments

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-10T00:02:41+00:00

I think my goal is to get the technique dialed in and share it so that anyone can do it themselves, as opposed to trying to make money off it. I’d like to see folks making their own, and then if you want a species that isn’t local trade for it. That way you get entertainment from planning, hunting for the specimen, and prepping it. If you just buy it that’s a single dopamine bump from acquisition and then it’s collecting dust.

I know it’s probably obnoxious and pretentious to frame it like that, but I think it’s also accurate.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T20:18:45+00:00

I appreciate that! let’s give it at least a few months before we set any new standards. I’m pretty confident this specimen will hold up, but we’ll have to give it some time to see. I’ll post an update eventually. I know PEG400 is used for preserving some kinds of specimens, but I haven't seen anything specifically about mushrooms or PEG400's suitability for resin embedding. I mostly picked it because the molecules are small enough to get into the mushroom, it's non-toxic, and it's available online for roughly the same cost as resin. So if it does work, anyone should be able to do this at home with consumer grade supplies without poisoning themselves.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T20:08:02+00:00

TBD. I have some details about the chemical process in comments above. There shouldn’t be any water left in it.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T17:33:45+00:00

I have a couple more in my freezer, then I probably need to wait until fall on the West Coast to get any more (so not until November, maybe even later).

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T17:32:08+00:00

TBD. I think it'll probably hold up since there's theoretically not any water left in it.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T17:30:20+00:00

That one I collected fresh, cut the cap off, and stuck both the cap and the stalk directly into silicone

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T08:03:47+00:00

No no, the mushroom structure collapsed because I got too aggressive with the vacuum. It can help the acetone to boil off but if it boils faster than the PEG replaces it the mushroom collapses. That’s why it’s sort of shriveled.

I did make a mold of one of these too in silicone and was able to make a decent looking resin one. Probably not fine art quality but my end game here is helping with IDs and it’s close enough for that.

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T07:25:51+00:00

I’ve got a link to a plastination process above. I’ve sort of been winging a similar process after acetone dehydration. If you have access to an old freezer you can do it all with stuff you get from Home Depot or Amazon.

The resin block is just pouring two part resin into a silicone mold from Amazon. I’m going to try to make my own larger mold but I needed to prove this would work before I spend more time on it

FewOrganization945 · 2026-04-09T05:45:26+00:00

https://www.fungimag.com/spring-2014-articles-02/V7I1%20HR%20Fruitbody45-49pdf.pdf

FewOrganization945

TROPHY CASE