Spread the Word -- Don't Freeze Sick Snakes!

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Originally Posted by FalconPunch

I think It would be really hard not to just let it die on it's own.

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I do agree, however sometimes when snakes get sick they will not get better with any medicine. Many times they will go off food and they will slowly wither away, and I mean slowly. Some snakes can take a long time to go through their fat reserves.

At the end of the day, it matters what the sickness is and what have you done to try to fix it. The effective but oft over prescribed Baytril isn't the end all be all of medicine, and many times it take culture sensitivity tests run by your vet to figure out just what is going on .

I had to have a snake euthanized before, and I paid for the most humane possible way given the snake was young. I had them give her a shot of anesthesia to knock her out, wait till she was out, then euthanize her. It cost around $200, but the last thing I wanted was for my baby to suffer. Definitely one of the most painful things I've had to do. :(

Gas anesthesia was also an option, but the vet told me there was no guarantee it would actually knock her out because snakes can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes, give or take. So they'd have no way of knowing if it had worked completely. So the shot seemed the better route because then I knew she wouldn't feel it. Or at least I hope not. In young snakes, often the vets can't find the vein in the tail, so the only way to do it effectively is to insert the needle directly into the heart. Horrible stuff.

what is pithing?

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Originally Posted by WarriorPrincess90

I had to have a snake euthanized before, and I paid for the most humane possible way given the snake was young. I had them give her a shot of anesthesia to knock her out, wait till she was out, then euthanize her. It cost around $200, but the last thing I wanted was for my baby to suffer. Definitely one of the most painful things I've had to do. :(

Gas anesthesia was also an option, but the vet told me there was no guarantee it would actually knock her out because snakes can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes, give or take. So they'd have no way of knowing if it had worked completely. So the shot seemed the better route because then I knew she wouldn't feel it. Or at least I hope not. In young snakes, often the vets can't find the vein in the tail, so the only way to do it effectively is to insert the needle directly into the heart. Horrible stuff.

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a heart stick with large animals is one thing, but with a snake is another thing.
large animals have exterior landmarks that makes locating the heart easy,, with a snake, there are no exterior landmarks. also, the heart in a small snake is about the size of a small bean. for sodium pentobarbital to be effective, it doesent need to be injected into the blood stream, or directly in the heart, it can be put into about any organ to be effective..... all im saying is just because a vet attempts a heart stick on a snake doesent mean that it hit the heart,,, leading to a slower death.. i havent had to do any of my persional reptiles, but im confident that decapitation followed by pithing is the most quick and less painful way if euthanasia.
spooky

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Originally Posted by cmack91

what is pithing?

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more less piercing the brain
spooky

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Originally Posted by cmack91

what is pithing?

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nevermind i found it

pithing:

Verb:

1.Remove the pith from.
2.Pierce or sever the spinal cord of (an animal) so as to kill or immobilize it.


(just incase anyone else was wondering)

So unlike mammals, being frozen to death wouldn't slowly knock them out then kill them?

What are other forms of euthanasia besides decapitating/smashing the head and being given a shot?

I personally could never smash a snake's head. I don't see it as any type of humane way to euthanize a snake. I've grown much too fond of snakes to do anything like that :weirdface.

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

So unlike mammals, being frozen to death wouldn't slowly knock them out then kill them?

What are other forms of euthanasia besides decapitating/smashing the head and being given a shot?

I personally could never smash a snake's head. I don't see it as any type of humane way to euthanize a snake. I've grown much too fond of snakes to do anything like that :weirdface.

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lol,,, for mamals and reptiles alike, being frozen to death would slowly knock them out and kill them. well im not so sure about the knocking out part,, but being frozen will kill both. how fast of a death, again, im not so sure. and most people arent to fond of euthanasia,, thats why they spend 200$ to have someone else do it.
spooky

I think there are two issues, for a terminally ill animal that is loosing a battle to survive and a animal that has suffered trauma. A desperately sick animal I'd go to a vet and get it done with drugs and Anastasia. A trauma case is really the hardest one here, a animal that has suffered a horrible injury and is suffering (crushing injury of core for example) taking this case to a vet is not really humane it simply needs a swift death. In a case of something severe the swiftest death that you can manage is better than a slow agonizing one. If you simply cannot pith or smash the head freezing is still better than days of agony. I have been forced to end the suffering of an animal I cared about in that case it was a cat that had been run over and still alive with the back end crushed flat. It was suffer or kill her. I used a pocket knife to pith. I cried and vomited and scalded my hands trying to wash them in way too hot water. If I had been asked before if I could do such a thing I would have said no way but when push came to shove action was required and death could not end the pain fast enough I used what was at hand and did the best I could. Was it one of the most horrible things I have seen and done YES. Would I do it again... I think so. My point is in the case of agony going and finding things just isn't helping use what you have and get it done now not later. If the best you can do is the freezer that is the right answer. 20 mins is better than 20 hours.

I hope that you are never faced with this decision the last time this topic came up I had less experience. I hope the next time that it comes up everyone reading this one will not have any practical experience. Knowing that you did the humane thing does not make me feel any better.

This is just crazy to me, it's not ok to put them in the freezer but it is ok to chop off their heads. That's so barbaric, I could not do that. And if I'm understanding the site correctly you can freeze something under 40 grams? My next question, is it more humane to let it starve to death than freeze it? I really don't see people taking their snakes to the vet to be put to sleep, especially if an entire clutch is deformed and putting a rat to sleep at the vet costs $10. I guess people will just start using them as target practice since that will kill them in 1/10th of a second if done right.... I really don't care for that site's message.

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