Quote Originally Posted by Serpent_Nirvana View Post
I will admit that I haven't seen many euthanasias in reptiles, so I'm going by what's written in Mader et. al, which is considered by many herp vets to be the definitive reference on reptile medicine.

I honestly don't think it is terribly common. Usually the patients are either going to get better, or we can't keep them alive and euthanasia will be unnecessary. I know that a gecko had to be euthanized last week at the clinic because its stitches kept coming out after surgery. I'll have to ask the tech what method was used the next time I see him.

According to Mader et. al., intracardiac injection can be used for euthanasia in reptiles. So can intracranial. So can pithing. So can decapitation. In all of these methods, anaesthesia should be induced prior to euthanasia.

It may be possible to do intracardiac injection on a very very weak, basically unconscious, patient. However, intracardiac is going to be difficult on a patient in this state as the heart may be difficult to find. If the animal is active and alert, the vet is probably going to administer anaesthesia beforehand to render it unconscious.

It is possible to do IV injection of euthanasia solution, yes, and IM is possible, too, but these are going to be VERY slow deaths and probably not the method of choice.

What you do is going to vary from patient to patient. As was already mentioned by the patient with the poor, epileptic dog, euthanasia is not always quiet, painless and gentle even if you make every effort to make it that way. The goal is just to put the animal out of its misery as quickly and painlessly as possible.

I'd like to see the research that was done to conclude that freezing small reptiles is inevitably painful. Reptiles and amphibians DO feel pain, that's certain, but it seems that they may register some types of pain differently than birds and mammals. This is suggested by the fact that reptiles will sometimes incur massive burns sitting on heat mats or other heating elements without moving away from the source of the burn. I wonder if freezing SMALL babies that will be solid and dead fairly quickly is really all that inhumane. I'm not saying that it ISN'T, but I'm not totally convinced that it is. Especially when you figure that ANY method of euthanasia has the potential to be drawn-out and uncomfortable for the animal.

Also, FYI, the AVMA is not the end-all be-all of the veterinary world (even though they like to think they are). The AVMA is an industry auto-regulatory body that sets guidelines for veterinary practice. Most veterinarians are members of the AVMA, but enrollment is not mandatory.

The AVMA also does not support feline declawing or canine tail docking or ear cropping, either, but these are both done on a regular basis and are not illegal in most jurisdictions.

AFAIK animal cruelty laws vary on a state-by-state basis.
Ahhh I seee. I had been looking at the Animal Welfare Act so no wonder I couldn't find it. Sorry to hijack the thread