Culling mutated hatchlings:

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Why dont you just stop showing your ignorance :weirdface.You can not be in this hobby and love reptiles like we do and say over and over they would be better off dieing by being eaten by something.I think you are working for the idiots that are trying to cease our hobby and ask everyone to stop responding to your stupid comments.

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But yet you keep responding............take own advice instead of trying to win petty arguments. You'll get further in life. I know you don't see YOUR own ignorance in this whole topic but ppl as closed mind as yourself seldom do. Yet again another life lesson for you.
And I'm done with this thread and if this exiles me from the forum well ya'll are just a bunch of 2 yr old who need to get over petty stuff and do what you joined a forum like this to do........help, give advice, show some cool stuff or ask some questions.

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Originally Posted by kjinxx2

Hey guys, I really don't mean to be rude, I know we are all very passionate about this hobby - however I'd like to stick to the topic at hand without too much argument. If you could maybe finish your discussion in another topic or through private messages :)

Joepythons do you have any advice for culling a hatchling?

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Already said that 2 pages back.............

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Originally Posted by kjinxx2

Hey guys, I really don't mean to be rude, I know we are all very passionate about this hobby - however I'd like to stick to the topic at hand without too much argument. If you could maybe finish your discussion in another topic or through private messages :)

Joepythons do you have any advice for culling a hatchling?

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Yes take it to a vet and have it done ;)

I also vote on taking it to the vet to have it euthanized, but I am still researching on how to humanely cull a hatchling. I froze the one that didn't make it from last season, but he was so near death, it was more humane to put him in the freezer right then than take the time to set up an appointment at the vet and drive over there to have it done. He was just too far gone. Its good thought that you are researching this BEFORE breeding. I didn't and wasn't prepared for having to cull that little hatchling. A lot of people think breeding is "Oh look at the pretty albino that just hatched out!" but there are the dark moments when you realize you have to end a life for the good of the animal. :( Its sad but its part of breeding. Any hatchlings this season that need to be euthanized are going to the vet.

A mod needs to put this in the quarantine room ASAP

I had to cull one hatchling last season--she was born with one eye, blind in the other, and with a deformed jaw and minor ataxia. She was unable to feed on her own. All she had to look forward to was a life of assist-feeding at best, which didn't seem like any life at all for a snake. It was extremely sad, as we tried all we could to get her started in the hopes she could go to a pet home. It just wasn't to be. These things happen whenever you work with breeding animals. There will always be a few that just aren't going to make it.

This is definitely something for people to keep in mind before they breed their animals--that day is going to come, and you have to be prepared for it.

I have a flash freezer so I use that. It takes about 2 minutes for a hatchling to be frozen solid... I did test it with a still born before ever using it for such situations and through luck have only used it once since then. With that in mind and this being, the fastest way that causes the least amount of mess and has the least chance of human error in my opinion, would be the most humane. As to anything else I have had numerous snakes put down by a vet and no matter which vet I took them to, exotics vet, normal vet, or even reptile vets that I trust, There was atleast a 5-10 minute wait for the animal to die. To me that is not right. The faster the better. It may cause a little pain but not as much as I have seen from a vet or any other form of euthanization.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I also vote on taking it to the vet to have it euthanized, but I am still researching on how to humanely cull a hatchling. I froze the one that didn't make it from last season, but he was so near death, it was more humane to put him in the freezer right then than take the time to set up an appointment at the vet and drive over there to have it done. He was just too far gone. Its good thought that you are researching this BEFORE breeding. I didn't and wasn't prepared for having to cull that little hatchling. A lot of people think breeding is "Oh look at the pretty albino that just hatched out!" but there are the dark moments when you realize you have to end a life for the good of the animal. :( Its sad but its part of breeding. Any hatchlings this season that need to be euthanized are going to the vet.

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Great post! I was just thinking...oye...wow...I never thought of that and hope I never have to do that when I do get the chance to breed. I do think if it came to it.....I would take it to the vet.

Jay_Bunny, I've thought of the same thing. I think that's the only time I would put a snake in a freezer: if I believe it will experience more pain waiting for the vet appointment than it would in the freezer. Yes, it's a judgment call, but it's a good one as long as one is focusing on the well-being of the animal and not on effort, cost, and/or convenience.

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Originally Posted by tattlife2001

I have a flash freezer so I use that. It takes about 2 minutes for a hatchling to be frozen solid... I did test it with a still born before ever using it for such situations and through luck have only used it once since then. With that in mind and this being, the fastest way that causes the least amount of mess and has the least chance of human error in my opinion, would be the most humane. As to anything else I have had numerous snakes put down by a vet and no matter which vet I took them to, exotics vet, normal vet, or even reptile vets that I trust, There was atleast a 5-10 minute wait for the animal to die. To me that is not right. The faster the better. It may cause a little pain but not as much as I have seen from a vet or any other form of euthanization.

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I can't say I know what a flash freezer uses to freeze stuff, but two minutes is still plenty of time to feel pain. The AVMA doesn't even recommend liquid nitrogen (LN2) for reptiles above ~40 grams (I don't recall the exact weight), and LN2 is 40 Kelvin!

Faster is not always better. Freezing in a normal freezer may sometimes be faster than taking it to a vet, but that doesn't mean the animal feels less pain in the freezer. The point isn't necessarily speed--it's the amount of pain the animal has to feel. Since vets euthanize by injecting a sedative, the only pain the animal feels is the injection. After that, the animal goes unconscious; even if it takes 10 minutes for the animal to die, it's not feeling anything during that time.

Something else I found interesting when I first looked this stuff up several months ago: Freezing is humane if the reptile is sedated first. Food for thought.

Having worked in an abattoir there are various options available to instantly dispatch an animal of any size..it all depends on the emotions of the individual..freezing an animal seems quite slow, in saying that snakes are cold blooded, I would imagine as the body temp dropped they would simply fall asleep..decapitating any animal would be instant..not nice I agree but instant none the less