a humane way to euthanize feeders+ sad news for me+some questions about snake racks.

[Josh Emmons]

It has been over a year since I have been on this forum. But things have happened since last year. My latest bit of news was horrible news... My spider ball Apollo a few months ago had a spot on his underside that appeared to be a burn. I treated it with a little triple antibiotic ointment (make sure no infection would occur.) A month later all seemed fine, the "burn" had shrunk. I went off on a trip about 3 weeks ago, and got a care taker for my snakes. I got back 2 days ago, and checked back on my snakes, and I was totally stunned what I found on my spider. On his stomach I saw giant slightly blackish red spots, and they covered 1/3rd of his underside. I suspected scale rot, so I put some betadyne on his stomach, and again applied my antibiotic ointment, and left him in his cage for the night. The next morning I checked up on him, I knew something wasn't right when I saw him laying belly up. I opened the cage and picked him up, and he was limp... Apollo died in the night, I never said good bye.... I suspect he died of scale rot, but it was a fast onset. My cage conditions are clean, and I inspect my pythons regularly. I want to know how he got this... But something obviously went to hell. Why? Because on one of my normals, she has those weird "burn" spots. I frankly am scared for the safety of my collection, so I am quarantining them off from each other. In fear of if it is a contagious disease, I am twice daily going to clean them with my antibiotics and change there bedding. I hope this doesn't hurt any more of them. Also, this is my first time dealing with a snakes death. Honestly, this death is a hard thing to deal with...

On a brighter note... I have been working to find how to cheaply, and humanely euthanize large quantities of feeders. I feel I have found an amazingly cheep and fast way of killing them. Take a small tupperware tub with matching lid, then cut a hole in the top of the lid. Now comes the interesting part... I have found that gassing rodents has consistently been the most humane way to go. But getting bottled co2 or dry ice can be expensive and more time consuming to find. My goal was to find a way at home to produce gas fast. This is my finding: Compressed air (computed duster). It is cheep, accessible, and last a long time for multiple uses. God knows what is in this gas, but it certainly isn't air. Anyway, take the compressed "air" and blow it through that opening in the lid. It takes literally 30 seconds or less till the rat/mouse is dead. Its fast, cheep, effective, and most importantly: humane.

As far as housing for my snakes go, I have been using 20 gal. glass aquariums for each snake. In each cage, I have sticks, and 2 hides, a rock (not a hot rock,a real one), water, harlan tedlad sani-chip bedding, and an external underside heat pad. I find that upkeep is laborious and difficult for the aquariums. I am transferring to a rack system. I want the easiest to maintain system as possible. Efficiency+Ease of manageability=Healthy snakes, and a happy owner! But I have a few questions... First, do I need a hide in the cage? The shelves themselves are going to be mostly dark/dimly lit inside by my snake room. Secondly, what is the best arrangement for the heat pad?

[mattchibi]

Do you have a thermostat for your heat pads ? Sounds like burns to me. Also, I'm not sure if you're supposed to use antibiotics on snakes? Shouldve brought him to the vet when you got back from your trip when you saw the slightly blackish red spots.

[Josh Emmons]

Do you have a thermostat for your heat pads ? Sounds like burns to me. Also, I'm not sure if you're supposed to use antibiotics on snakes? Shouldve brought him to the vet when you got back from your trip when you saw the slightly blackish red spots.

About the antibiotic thing, yes you can use certain kinds of antibiotic. I am using ointments, It isnt ingested at all.

[LadyOhh]

Sounds like burns as well.

Did you use antibiotic ointment without painkillers? The additional chemicals in the numbing portion of the ointment would be a problem as well.

Get a thermostat to plug in with your heat pad, make sure it is not above 90F, and make sure that your husbandry is on the up and up.

[Redneck_Crow]

I'm so sorry that you lost your guy. I hated when I lost one of mine, and then had (non-snake) people look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them how much I missed him.

About your rack and hides--it all depends. I have mine in a Boaphile rack and some of them won't use a hide anymore. The tubs are enclosed on 3 sides, so they might figure that they're already hidden enough if they hang out in the back corner.

In a rack system the heating is usually built in or you add flexwatt, not a pad. You absolutely must have a thermostat to use a rack system because those little drawers can heat up enough to kill your snakes without control. I think you'll like using a rack. It's so much easier to clean and the snakes shed great in them because they keep the humidity higher.

[Pickenprod]

I have no idea what the spots could be, but if you suspect it to be an infectious disease, I would recommend moving the snakes into tubs straight away - or else, removing all non-essential items (like the branches and rocks) from their tanks, sterilizing everything else, and changing the substrate to newsprint or paper towels for ease of cleaning. Good luck & I hope you have no more problems from this.

[Homegrownscales]

The triple antibiotic can help Prevent infection. But if one has already set in it doesn't cure it. Personally I use betadyne to Prevent infections if any bite, or scraps occur. After that if I suspect infection I use prescribed abos. It sounds like a possible burn and then bc it was essentially left untreated it turned into sepsis. Also for burns I woulnt use triple abo I would use the burn cream. Jeeze I can't think of the name at the moment. Silver something.
Guys help me out here.....

Scale rot is a fungus and usually gets really nasty before becoming a fatal issue.
Burns and sepsis sound more The culprit.
I am so sorry for your loss.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

[heathers*bps]

Are you using a thermostat on your heat pads?

[Rhasputin]

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but killing animals with compressed air isn't necessarily humane. You need to find out what type of gas you are using, because since you knwo nothing about the contents, you could be causing your animals a lot of pain, without knowing.


The reason CO2 is used normally, is that it doesn't suffocate an animal like a lot of people thing it does. Its like getting gassed at the doctor. You feel a little off, then you black out and don't know when/for how long. But in the case of the mice, they black out, then die in their sleep.


You need to find out what type of gas you are killing your rodents with, for more reasons than just the humane factor. It could be harmful to your reptiles as well.

[mr.spooky]

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but killing animals with compressed air isn't necessarily humane. You need to find out what type of gas you are using, because since you knwo nothing about the contents, you could be causing your animals a lot of pain, without knowing.


The reason CO2 is used normally, is that it doesn't suffocate an animal like a lot of people thing it does. Its like getting gassed at the doctor. You feel a little off, then you black out and don't know when/for how long. But in the case of the mice, they black out, then die in their sleep.


You need to find out what type of gas you are killing your rodents with, for more reasons than just the humane factor. It could be harmful to your reptiles as well.

iv gased ALOT (thousands) of rats, and mice in a C02 chaimber, and it looks like (to me) that they are suffocating. they just dont lay down and go to sleep. they run around, piss them selfs and gasp for air until they die.
if only doing a small amount of mice, cervical dislocation is the fastest way to do it. NOTE this will not work for rats.....
but your right,, you DO need to find out what type of gas you are killing your rodents with, for more reasons than just the humane factor. It could be harmful to your reptiles as well.
spooky