Quote Originally Posted by olstyn View Post
I had to have a vet euthanize a gecko once. It was actually an injection into the main body cavity (sorry, I don't recall what substance was used), and in the case of an underweight, severely sick leopard gecko, at least, it worked almost instantaneously. If there was any pain, it didn't show; there was no reaction except that he had obviously changed states from alive to dead. I was emotionally messed up about it for quite a while, but I can say with certainty that my little guy didn't suffer in that moment. In point of fact, his suffering was over; his health had been declining for some time, and the prescribed treatments weren't bringing him back to health.

IMO, long term, at least, you won't be worried about the $50; you'll feel better that you gave your scaly friend an easier end.

The market name for at least one of the veterinary solutions used is Beauthanasia-D. It's a bright pink liquid. It stops the heart and brain activity within seconds. Sadly we use it an average of three times a week on elderly or seriously ill patients. I can tell you its the most peaceful death I could ever imagine. Even when we do heart sticks on cats, they rarely fuss. Many times if we have concerns about the patient getting fidgety we'll give a dose of surgical anesthetic and let that take effect first. I doubt many vets approach it differently, even for reptiles. My preference if I had a very sick animal that for whatever reason I could not treat would definitely be euthanasia by injection. It never gets easier to see but it's the one of the most humane deaths.