Euthanasia

[sirtalis]

Hey all, the other day I found an injured spiny lizard on my property. Our cat had injured it to the point of no return, I put it down by quickly crushing it between a cinder block and a 40 lb weight. This got me thinking about putting down one of my own pets, lets say one of your reptiles was injured and you knew that no matter what it would die in the next few hours, would you take it to the vet or attempt to do it yourself. I think crushing one of my pets would be a bit gruesome so what method would be easiest, I've used CO2 on rats before but wouldn't a reptile breathe too slow for that to be effective, would the animal spend twice as long as a small mammal? Sorry this is a biy controversial but I'm just interested what ya'll would do

(This is a hypothetical question fyi)

[Minkness]

If it's only got hours I would just lwt it go naturally. No reason to stress it all out if it's just going to die anyway. If it were something more ling term but terminal all the same, I would take it to the vet. Luckily my vet is less than 15 mins away, so nothing too traumatic.

However, if I found it mauled up good, I might still try to hang onto it, take it to the vet, and see if anything could be done.

One time my cat got into one of my leo tanks and next thing I know he's going nuts in the hall way. Had my poor gecko just about skinned alive. But I cleaned her up, doctored the wound, and bo joke, used neosporun and a friggin bandaide around her neck lol. She lived though! And is still with me today! =D

[Tsubaki]

If a reptile has to be put down for obvious reasons, I will most likely do it myself. I have had the occasional deformed newborn, a sharp blade and a chopping block works swiftly. My preferred vet is a few hours away, not a good option for things like that.

[Jim Smith]

I'm with Tsubaki on this one. If any animal if injured beyond help, I will do what is necessary to end its suffering; even if it's one of my pets. I've have had to do this in the past and I try to use the fastest and most painless method possible.

[Perk]

Same here do it myself with as quickly and painless as possible!! I shoot my dogs with 45cal so I know it's a quick & effective virtually painless

[sirtalis]

Same here do it myself with as quickly and painless as possible!! I shoot my dogs with 45cal so I know it's a quick & effective virtually painless

You've got a point but I'd rather use my Remington 870

[Plaxito]

Same here do it myself with as quickly and painless as possible!! I shoot my dogs with 45cal so I know it's a quick & effective virtually painless

Uhhh.......

[dannybgoode]

Not really an option for some of us!

[Magdalen]

Yeah I don't know if I'd have the stomach to shoot an animal. But if I had to put down one of my reptiles (which I haven't so far) I'd want it to be a quick and as painless as possible.

Dogs, cats, horses, etc. I'll leave that for the vet.

[Albert Clark]

Abrupt cranial compression seems to be the consensus for a very quick, painless death. Just the way you did it sirtalis.

[macandchz]

with the pets i've lost, i took them to the vets and let them do it while i held them

[Perk]

That's sometimes the best if u wana pay $... But growing up on my family's dairy farm I've seen the animals kick & scream as I held them while the vet would inject poison into them & that sure wasn't quick or painless!!

[Minkness]

Maybe it was the vet that sucked?

I worked in a clinic and saw all mannor of animals put down from cats and dogs, rats, ferrets, birds, and one pretty massive (severely overweight) burm. None put up a fight. Everything was done calmly. I would see more reaction from a puppy getting its 1st booster shot than something being euthinized.

I will say that I am super happy no one mentioned putting their reptile in the freezer to euthinize!

[Magdalen]

That's sometimes the best if u wana pay $... But growing up on my family's dairy farm I've seen the animals kick & scream as I held them while the vet would inject poison into them & that sure wasn't quick or painless!!

yeaaah with the countless pets I've had and lost never had that reaction. They just slip away. Vet does give them a sedative before hand.

Even with the horses it's been quick and quiet.

[Perk]

Maybe it was the vet... That's my point exactly,u don't know if they will make it painless& quick til it's either too late or its done right!!!... It's always a guess!!... I know myself I will make it quick & painless for my pets!... I breed & raise my own rats for my snakes. I euthanize them with co2 then freeze them a week before I feed them...

[Minkness]

Well, asking your vet their technique and what drugs they use helps. Like if they just use 1 injection, they are probably just using the drug that stops their heart, which IS painful because it's literally inducing a heart attack. Most vets use 2 drugs. The first one is a seditive that sooths and calms the animal as well as blocks pain. The same stuff used before a surgery. They usually use a higher dose than needed for that, then introduce the drug that slows and stops the heart. This ensures that the animal doesn't wake up from the initial seditive. If a vet just sticks them and stops their heart, that is when they go through 'the death throws' (aka, kicking and screaming) and is NOT very humane =/

[Magdalen]

Yeah what Mink says. It's pretty easy to spot a vet that's not doing it right. In fact at the barn I am at we had a vet, only out once that would only stick them once. I wasn't around for that but that vet didn't last long. I've gone to several different vets and they've all used the sedative first.