Culling mutated hatchlings:

[dr del]

Hi,

Pithing.

I have to say, having watched a ball python sit with its head underwater for over 25 minutes, I'm not overly convinced by the "Inhalant agents" method either.

Where did you get that from by the way?

The british small animal vetinary association manual of reptiles has this as its entry;

....................

Intravenous barbiturates are the method of choice. This technique is quick, resulting in death within a couple of minutes..................

Intraperitoneal or intramuscular injection of barbiturate is effective but very slow - several hours ( Lawton, unpublished data ). Intraperitoneal injection should not be used if a post mortem examination is planned. Intracardial injection can be used in squamata but the lizard or snake should ideally be sedated or even anaesthetised prior to this technique.

Inhalation of volatile agents within an anaesthetic chamber is useful for terrestrial species and, especially, for poisonous snakes. The concentration of volatile agent must be high enough and the exposure to the agent long enough to ensure the death of the reptile. Care must also be taken to avoid contct of the reptile with the volatile fluid. Euthanasia of aquatic species should never be attempted this way, as they are able to revert to anaerobic respiration, the length of time needed to achieve euthenasia makes this method impracticable.

Injection of volatile agent directly into the lung space has been used as a method of euthanasia, although this should only be done in anaesthatised reptiles (Cooper et al, 1989 ).

...............

In an emergency the head of the reptile can be struck with such force as to destroy the brain (Cooper et al, 1989 ).

Decapitation should not be used as the sole method of euthanasia, unless the brain is destroyed by pithing immediately afterwards (Cooper et al , 1989 ). The assumption that decapitation results in unconciousness followed by rapid deterioration of the nervous system is disputed: the brain remains viable for up to an hour after decapitation (Cooper et al, 1984 ).

Hypothermia has been claimed as both a suitable and humane method for euthenasia of small reptiles (Frye, 1984a ), although this is strongly contested. Whilst hypothermia makes reptiles torpid and may facilitate handling, freezing is considered painful due to the formation of ice crystals on the skin and in the tissues (Cooper et al, 1989 ). The exception to this is dropping small reptiles directly into liquid nitrogen; this is considered to cause instantaneous death (Hillman, 1978 ).

I skipped the non relevant parts but that still made my fingers twinge.

It's also probably out of date but it's the only one I have handy right now.


dr del