Culling mutated hatchlings:

[CoolioTiffany]

For those who smash the head of the snake, how do you even stand to do so? I know I could never do this, and since I'm going to breed, I'd rather spend money to get the snake humanely euthanized rather than witness the horror of smashing a baby snake's head. I respect and love snakes way to much to do anything horrible to them.. Like smashing the head, freezing, cutting off the head, C02, etc.

[Wretched Deviant]

For those who smash the head of the snake, how do you even stand to do so? I know I could never do this, and since I'm going to breed, I'd rather spend money to get the snake humanely euthanized rather than witness the horror of smashing a baby snake's head. I respect and love snakes way to much to do anything horrible to them.. Like smashing the head, freezing, cutting off the head, C02, etc.

But see, it's not a matter of smashing and killing but caring enough to put it out of its misery, a vet may not know how to euthanize reptiles properly and it may suffer more. I've seen breeders take videos of deformed babies where they poke and prod it as the creature writhes in pain because it's spine is deformed, I felt so sickened...I could have killed it myself just to put it out of its misery. Maybe I'd be upset and cry after doing so but I'd know that it wasn't going to live in an unfulfilled life.

And Vader6, take YOUR own advice and stop trying to win a petty argument. And then AFTER saying you're done with the thread you come BACK to show yourself as a n00b even more! n00b's are rude idiots by the way, at least you know you're one.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Of course you can discuss what is humane when it comes to slaughtering animals. Animals are not somehow so wildly different from people that their perception of the world isn't something we can fathom. The more we learn about them, the more we realize that they're a lot more like us than we were ever comfortable with.
You can humanely kill a chicken by cutting its head off, because a chicken is a warm-blooded animal, and it will feel little to no pain, and lose consciousness almost immediately.
You can't humanely kill a reptile that way, because their brain will survive for a long time once it's been separated from the body.

As for the McCurley book, as I pointed out, most keepers DID NOT KNOW. Many still don't. Until recently, veterinary texts recommended freezing for reptile euthanasia. It took further study to reveal that the animals were MOST LIKELY conscious and able to feel the pain of ice crystals forming in their body.

The fact that people want to discuss this issue means people care whether or not these animals are suffering or experiencing pain.

I don't think that the snakes with serious spinal deformities are necessarily in pain when they're being poked--any snake will move when poked, and the writhing is probably just the snake's attempt to move away when the person prods it. There's no reason to believe it is in pain, there. I don't think the person showing off the hatchling is being cruel. It's obvious that the snake would not survive, but in many cases of deformity, the snake isn't necessarily in any pain when it hatches out--it's just confused because its body won't do what its trying to make it do. The snake's inability to eat or grow or move properly means it cannot survive, so euthanasia will spare it the pain of starvation/dehydration--but it might not be suffering immediately upon hatching.