Visible Elastomer Tags (VIE) for Research Big Kits

This product is sold by BIOWEB in America countries, but if you are in United States or Canada please contact the vendor Northwest Marine Technology directly.

Don't cut more phalanx, fins neither ears.
Now you may use advanced tags.

NOTE: If you need less colors check the smallest kit of 6 ml. Also is available the trial pack for starter projects.

Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) is a two-part silicone based material that is mixed immediately before use. VIE tags are injected as a liquid that soon cures into a pliable, biocompatible solid. The tags are implanted beneath transparent or translucent tissue and remain externally visible. In many amphibians, VIE tags are even visible through darkly pigmented skin. VIE tags are widely used for marking an ever-broadening range of finfish, crustaceans, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals. Check some papers below. Extensive information about using VIE is available in the Visible Implant Elastomer Tag Project Manual (English PDF 294KB;  Spanish PDF 217KB).

VIE is available in six fluorescent and four non-fluorescent colors. The fluorescent colors are highly visible under ambient light and provide the option of greatly enhanced tag detection when fluoresced with the VI Light.

Proper color selection is a vital part of good experimental design. Your choice depends on how much contrast you need with the background pigmentation, how many different colors you require, and the type of light you will use to fluoresce the tags.

VIE is a medical-grade, two-part silicone based material that is mixed immediately before use and then injected as a liquid that cures into a pliable, biocompatible solid. Immediately after mixing, the user will have between 45 to 60 minutes (in warm environments) and 2 hours (in cold environments) of working time during which the tags can be injected.

The time that the prepared elastomer can be used (the "working time") depends on the temperature of the place. At normal room temperature (20°C), it usually lasts 45-60 minutes before it is too thick to push through the syringe. It lasts longer when it's colder and less when it's hotter. Working time can be greatly extended by keeping the unused prepared elastomer on ice as much as possible.

For unmixed elastomer, you can store it for one year from the date of purchase in a cupboard, away from sunlight or heat. The unmixed elastomer should never be stored in the freezer.

Generate a Coding Scheme

While VIE is primarily used for batch identification, you can generate a VIE coding scheme by combining multiple tags, tag locations, and colors. For example, researchers tracking seahorses used this method to distinguish more than 500 individual seahorses at one time.

Six fluorescent colors (red, yellow, blue, orange, green, and pink) and four non-fluorescent colors (black, brown, white, and purple) constitute the only intrinsic VIE codes. If you use just one tag per fish, the number of unique codes is simply the product of the numbers of colors used and the number of tag locations.

However, if you inject two or more tags in each animal, in combination with several different locations and colors, you can generate an extensive VIE coding scheme. In any tagging program, it is important that all of the study animals have the same number of tags. That way, there can be no confusion between animals which lost tags and those which began with fewer tags.

¿How Many Codes?

Calculate the number of unique codes you could create using the formula:

[L!/(L-N)!N!] CN

Where: C= Number of colors used, L= Number of body locations and N = Number of tags per animal.

For example, three body locations used with four colors (C = 4, L = 3, N = 3) would provide: (3!/0!3!) 43 = 64 unique codes. Recall that 0!=1.

You can download two softwares to do this automatic calculation. NMT Calculator or Salamarker. Both based in windows. Not available for iOS.

• Specifications
• In the Box
• Required Items
• Optional Items
• Manuals
• Papers

• 1 ml Kit
  The Trial Pack is ideal for small tagging projects or for pilot studies evaluating the tags for larger projects. It has material for approximately 200 tags.
  
  6 ml Kit
  The VIE 6ML Kit is designed for projects where one or two colors are needed for either a single batch tag, or for multiple batches where several tag locations are used. It has enough material for approximately 1,200 tags.
  
  24 ml Kit
  The VIE 24ML Kit is ideal for projects requiring a variety of colors. It has enough material for approximately 5,000 tags.
  
  60 ml Kit
  The VIE 60ML Kit is the largest of the manual kits. It has enough material for approximately 12,000 tags. If you will be tagging many thousands of animals, please consider using the VIE Air Driven Elastomer Injection System.
• 1 ml Kit
  - 1 ml of elastomer (customer chooses one color)
  - Mixing supplies
  - Injection syringes (3)
  
  6 ml Kit
  - 6 ml of elastomer (customer selects up to two colors)
  - Mixing supplies
  - Injection syringes (20)
  - Written and video instructions
  - Manual Elastomer Injector
  - Flashlight VI Light
  - VIE Color Standard
  - Field carrying case
  
  24 ml Kit
  - 24 ml of elastomer (customer selects up to eight colors)
  - Mixing supplies
  - Injection syringes (60)
  - Written and video instructions
  - Manual Elastomer Injector
  - Flashlight VI Light
  - VIE Color Standard
  - Field carrying case
  
  60 ml Kit
  - 60 ml of elastomer (customer selects up to ten colors)
  - Mixing supplies
  - Injection syringes (200)
  - Written and video instructions
  - Manual Elastomer Injector (2)
  - Flashlight VI Light
  - VIE Color Standard
  - Field carrying case
• 1 ml Kit
  - Flashlight VI Light by NMT (if fluorescent color is selected).
  - Manual Elastomer Injector.
• When the supplies in your kit have been exhausted, you may want to the refill kits 6 ml containing elastomer, mixing and injecting supplies.
  
  - Refill Kit for VIE Tags, 6 ml 
• • Instructions for Visible Implant Elastomer
  • Material Safety Data Sheet
  • Instrucciones de Uso para Etiquetas Tipo Elastómero

• - Davy, Christina M.;, Suzanne M. Coombes; Amelia K. Whitear & Alistair S. MacKenzie. 2010. Visible Implant Elastomer: A simple, non-harmful method for marking hatchlings turtles. Herpetological Review. 41(4), 442-445.

  - Waudby, Helen P.; & Sophie Petit. 2011. Comments on the efficacy and use of Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) for marking lizards. The South Australian Naturalist 85(1): 7–13.

  - Daniel, Jeremy A.; Kevin A. Baker & Kevin R. Bonine. 2006. Retention Rates of Surface and Implantable Marking Methods in the Mediterranean House Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus), with Notes on Capture Methods and Rates of Skin Shedding. Herpetological Review, 37(3), 319–321.

  - Penney, Kistren M.; Kristie D. Gianopulos & Henry R. Mushinsky. 2001. The Visible Implant Elastomer marking technique in use for small reptiles. Herpetological Review, 32(4), 236-241.

  - Hutchens, Tan J.; Christopher S. Deperno; Charlotte E. Matthews; Kenneth H. Pollock & David K. Woodward. 2008. Visible Implant Fluorescent Elastomer: A reliable marking alternative for snakes. Herpetological Review, 39(3), 301–303.

  - Kondo, Junko & Sharon J. Downes. Using Visible Implant Elastomer to Individually Mark Geckos. School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University.

Etiqueta Tipo Implante Visible Elastómer (VIE), Tipo de etiqueta elastômero de implante visível