blendergal Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 I'm getting ready to order a dogfish shark to dissect at the end of our summer shark study. I was planning to order it from Home Science Tools, but then I noticed some reviewers said the sharks they received weren't in great shape. So now I'm looking at Fisher Science Education instead. Does anyone have experience ordering dissection specimens from these companies? I've also seen Carolina Biological mentioned, but they won't ship a shark to a residential address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 I've always done fine ordering from Home Science Tools. My friend that taught a lot of dissection classes managed to order from Carolina Biological, but she had to jump through some hoops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 Yeah, I don't know what the deal with Carolina not delivering things to residential addresses. It was a big hassle for me, too. Maybe of your spouse works in an office you can have it delivered there? (Wasn't an option for me at the time, so I haven't tried it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blendergal Posted June 17, 2017 Author Share Posted June 17, 2017 Carolina said the shark was restricted to commercial delivery because it was treated with formaldehyde. The other companies I mentioned use some sort of low-fume alternative preservative, which sounds better to me anyway. I just don't want to get a tough, shriveled up shark. My boys are really looking forward to this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 I've never gotten a shark, but we've done several of the more common dissections and the specimens from Home Science Tools have always been fine. IIRC, one of our grasshoppers was messed up, but not in a terrible way. And all our larger stuff was fine. The smell is better than when I was a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprilleigh Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I can understand why they wouldn't want to ship formaldehyde to a residence. I've had problems with some of the alternative preservation methods in the past, however, so I'd want to make sure the specimen was in good condition even if a formaldehyde-preserved specimen was my only option. I might have options not available to others because I'm a biology professor and have numerous contacts that might be able to help with both ordering and appropriate disposal. It's probably worth asking at a local college if they would be willing to help, but my guess is if they don't know you that's probably not likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blendergal Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Home Science Tools sold out of dogfish sharks while I was debating, so I ordered from Fisher Science Education instead. We're supposed to have a shark on our doorstep tomorrow! Fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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