The Official Birth Defect Documentary *Graphic picture warning*

[satomi325]

I kind of have to disagree with pithing as a good method for euthanizing a defective BP at home because after being in a physiology class where we had use this technique to cull specimens, it largely seemed ineffective because the vast majority of my peers were either unable to do it, or worse, did it incorrectly and ended up putting the frogs through so much more pain than was unnecessary. Like, I hope this doesn't seem out of line because I'm sure that there are other people who have actually had to put down BPs in this manner and have much more experience with breed snakes than I but after participating in that class, I have to assert that most people do not have the finesse or gut to properly pith a living animal. Not to say, freezing isn't a delightful manner in which to die either but there's much less room for mistake there and it doesn't require as active a role as pithing. I may be wrong but I think the dry ice and cooler method in DIY forum would probably much more effective and arguably more humane to cull a BP.

While CO2 and cervical dislocation works great for rodents, it doesn't for reptiles.

Co2 is not a good way to euthanize reptiles. Since they have a slow respiratory rate and metabolism, it would take a very long long time for them to die. Quite agonizing really. Some may not even die because the person doesn't leave them in the Co2 chamber long enough. It takes a mouse roughly 2 minutes to die in a Co2 chamber. I can guarantee it won't take 2 minutes for a snake to die. Overall, not a very effective or efficient method.

Cutting off the head is inhumane because the head is still alive and can feel pain.

Freezing is one of the most inhumane methods to euthanize a snake or any thing for the matter. Freezing is highly painful. It can take hours for a snake to freeze to death. Because they are cold blooded, reptiles do not loose consciousness like mammals do when freezing. Its said they can feel their cells freeze and burst. Putting a hand in ice water for 30 seconds hurts us already. I can't imagine doing that for hours.....

Pithing takes a little more skill, so it can be done incorrectly like you said. But I don't suppose most people are using that specific technique anyway.
The only humane method for snakes you can do at home is instantaneous brain destruction(Crushing or destroying brain tissue ).
And while it is not pretty, smashing, crushing, or chopping the head itself is the most effective way to euthanize a snake yourself.

If you take a snake to the vet, they will euthanize it with either an overdose of anesthesia or a cardiac puncture to the heart if a vein cannot be located in smaller animals. Don't worry about pain. The snakes are put under anesthesia during the heart puncture procedure. It's illegal to not do so.


And in regards to not having enough guts. I can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you how I feel about it.
If there was ever a situation where an animal had to be down on the spot, I wouldn't even hesitate. As a keeper, it is my responsibility to take care of my animals to the best of my ability and make sure they're not suffering. It would be unfair to them if they couldn't live a quality life just because I wanted them to live longer. Sometimes there are situations where you have to euthanize on the spot. Sometimes a suffering animal cannot wait 20+ minutes to drive to the vet to be put down. While it's not a great feeling or experience to euthanize animals, I would suck it up to help my animals.