Amber inclusions

TygrEyes

I'm curious as to what the biggest and/or most unusual inclusions are that you've seen in amber. Anything other than insects?
 

TygrEyes

Okay, I'm asking because I saw on Ebay some sellers w/ amber w/ a small snake inside. Some say it's resin while others say amber. Has anyone heard of REAL amber having a little snake inside it?

~ Thanks ~
 

OakDragon

TygrEyes said:
Okay, I'm asking because I saw on Ebay some sellers w/ amber w/ a small snake inside. Some say it's resin while others say amber. Has anyone heard of REAL amber having a little snake inside it?

~ Thanks ~

I don't know for sure, but I find that really hard to imagine. Amber is fossillized tree sap, isn't it? That would have to have been one sizable puddle of it, no matter what size of "snake". Could it be a small worm or larva of some sort?
 

OakDragon

TygrEyes said:
Okay, I'm asking because I saw on Ebay some sellers w/ amber w/ a small snake inside. Some say it's resin while others say amber. Has anyone heard of REAL amber having a little snake inside it?

~ Thanks ~

I think I found the one you mean... even if it is real somehow, it's only going for $1.00?!

Ummm.... beware!
 

TygrEyes

Yeah, I think the snakes are real but the "amber" is suspect. I found a pendant for much more initially & she gives the metaphysical properties of amber & says it'd also have the same properties of the snake. If it was real I'd buy it, but I don't like the idea of baby snakes being killed to enclose in fake amber & sold. I believed it until I saw the dirt cheap versions. I sent an e-mail to ask if it's a "real snake in real amber". We'll see if I get a response. Maybe she doesn't know it's fake, if it is.
 

Ruby7

How big is the piece? This really does not sound right.

Genuine pieces of amber with genuine insect inclusions are rarely found, so a snake seems quite unbelievable. Most times it is reconstructed amber with an insect planted in it.

If it is a genuine piece of amber with a genuine animal inclusion there should be an indication of a struggle as the insect was slowly trapped in the resin (amber is fossilized, hardened resin of the pine tree), this would show up as swirling around the poor creature.

I don't think this is real.

Ruby7
 

Majecot

Hmmm there seems to be quite a few of these "rare" pieces of amber with the snake.... I agreee, the amber is suspect. If it were so inexpensive, I would have some.
 

TygrEyes

Thanks for your input, everyone. There's no doubt in my mind that they're fakes now. In the pieces I've seen on Ebay the little snake in neatly coiled. You wouldn't believe the price of the original piece I saw. Most of the cheaper ones say they're from China or Tibet - yeah, factory in China where they take baby snakes & encase them in resin. Go to Ebay & search "snake amber". It's a little disturbing. Do they gas them first?
 

HudsonGray

Ick, that's disgusting!

I've seen museum photos of the real stuff--amber chunks with a bird feather in it, one with a small gecko type lizard & others with large beetles. Anything that gets stuck into the sticky sap from the resin making trees & then covered with more sap has the possibility of being in amber way down the line. Idid hear of a bat, also, but don't know for sure because I never saw the actual image.

Real amber (Dominican, Baltic, whatever) is still priced by the gram, so seeing it at too low a price is always suspect.
 

Kyrielle

I have also heard of lizards, birds, mammals being caught in amber. Possible but very rare.

If the amber is fake, maybe the snakes in it are, too. Rubber or something?

Kyrielle