How do you preserve and take care of dinosaur egg fossils

[RamenHero]

Just would to learn more from collectors, how do you preserve/take care of dinosaur egg fossils to prevent deterioration? 

[Fossildude19]

Moved to Fossil Preparation.

[LordTrilobite]

It really depends on the location and preservation of the specimen. But generally moisture and sun are bad for fossils. Most fossils will have been consolidated with a type of glue to make them stable.

 

Some fossils are stable and just need a bit of consolidation to make them less fragile when handling them.

But other fossils like those from the North Sea are full of salt and will expand, crack and fall apart if they aren't treated by desalinating them and/or consolidating them with glue.

 

A commonly used glue for consolidation is paraloid B-72. It's dissolved in acetone and also reversible in case mistakes are made.

[snolly50]

My experience is with material from China. Regarding preservation, I have not seen the need for any coating or penetrative stabilization. A prepped egg seems stable. Common sense dictates the avoidance of a lot of "handling", e.g. passing around an elementary school classroom. For personal display, a nice spot in a cabinet to avoid frequent dusting seems ideal. Beyond that, the basic (and overall good practice) consideration of avoiding direct exposure to harsh sunlight seems pragmatic.

 

In prep of this material, I have found the matrix to be extremely hydrophylic. The impulse to give an egg a "good soak" to get the surface nice and dust free could lead to a sink full of mud and shell fragments. Obviously, for preservation avoid over wetting the egg in the pursuit of cleanliness.

 

Good luck, have fun. Your mileage may vary.