Tweezers

In the chilled, stainless-steel world of a liquid nitrogen semen tank, precision is everything. The 0.25 cc (1/4 cc) and 0.50 cc (1/2 cc) tweezers are the unsung heroes of artificial insemination, designed specifically for handling the delicate straws that hold bull, stallion, or ram semen frozen at -196 °C. These slender forceps are crafted from lightweight plastic or stainless steel with fine, rounded tips that gently cradle the narrow 0.25 mL or wider 0.50 mL plastic straws without crushing them. The 1/4 cc tweezers are slimmer and more precise, ideal for the thin French mini-straws favored in dairy cattle breeding, allowing the technician to pluck a single straw from the goblet’s tightly packed canister with surgical accuracy. The broader jaws of the 1/2 cc tweezers, by contrast, securely grip the larger medium straws common in beef and equine programs, preventing the dreaded slip that could send a $500 dose of elite genetics tumbling irretrievably into the frosty abyss. Frost forms instantly on the cold metal the moment they’re lowered through the tank’s neck, and a skilled AI tech learns to work fast—lifting the canister just high enough, scanning pedigree codes through the haze of nitrogen vapor, seizing the chosen straw in one fluid motion, and withdrawing it in under ten seconds to protect the remaining inventory from even the slightest temperature rise. In that brief, foggy dance above the open tank, these humble tweezers become the critical link between decades of genetic progress and the next generation waiting in the pasture.