Jinx! 
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Must’ve not seen or forgot about that thread, thanks!
The main two ways I can think of off the top of my head is freezing the animal or hitting the animal on the head with blunt force, both of which I don’t think I could do with how freezing would be long and painful while using blunt force is something I personally don’t think I’d have the heart to do.
Culling is something that’s been on my mind for a while now, especially now that I’m 18 and getting ever so slowly closer to my dream of being able to work with reptiles and breed snakes, and I will say that the thought of culling at all ever has put me of the fence of whether I’d actually want to breed much in the future simply because I know I would probably freak out upon this situation happening.
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I know I’ll have to eventually but I still hope it never comes. I’ve only ever had to put down my own small animals twice before due to emergency situations that both happened way early in the morning. It’s not fun and hurts a lot. But at least I know I can do it. And am also a tiny bit thankful that the snakes I’m choosing to breed start off small that I can cover easily with a towel or something so I don’t have to - see- it happen until I well and know that the baby is passed.
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No one ever wants to end up in this situation, but it’s unavoidable it seems if you’re breeding long enough.
It’s not talked about a lot, and to be honest had I not come across the MorphMarket forums I don’t think I would have even considered it a possibility. I don’t think culling is something a lot of people think about when first looking into reptile breeding which can be a part of the reason why people are so caught off guard when it does happen. Like I said before, for me culling is something I have to heavily look into because I know if I don’t then I might find myself in a situation like this unprepared and very upset about. I know people who have looked into breeding before and decided against it because of the possibility of having to cull.
I hope I would be able to handle it if I chose to go down that road, but if I decide against it at least there’s plenty of other things I can do to fill my passion for reptiles.
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If it’s just hatchlings, you can use liquid nitrogen to flash freeze them, if I remember the info correctly, this is only humane for very small animals, under 40g. Depending on the species and your access to liquid nitrogen, this may be a potential option.
For brain distruction, you can use something like a towel or plastic bag to avoid having to look at anything unpleasant, if that would make it easier. Breeders have also been known to keep animals like indigo snakes, king snakes or monitors to make use of such ill-fated hatchlings, they work considerably faster than a freezer, and it’s not as, for want of a better term, ‘messy’ for you, either emotionally or literally.
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Do not ever freeze them, liquid nitrogen or not. Especially if it is a snake. They can feel more than you think, and it is not painless. Put your hand in liquid nitrogen and see how it feels. The best way if you don’t have the money for a vet each time a baby needs culled, is to destroy the brain in one blow.
Here is a video on how to euthanize your snakes.
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The liquid nitrogen is what is advised in a veterinary book, and is only suitable for very small specimens of under 40g. As you said above, using a conventional freezer, or this flash freezing on a larger animal, would cause suffering.
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I personally don’t even know where I could get liquid nitrogen, but I know things don’t instantly freeze in them from science class. It can take a moment for some things (like meat), so I personally would never want to use the method on a living animal. Liquid nitrogen can also be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. The safest and quickest method would be a quick blow to the head. Of course put the head of the animal in a sandwich bag before doing this to avoid making a possible mess.
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I’ve thought about this topic a little and wonder if a meat tenderizing tool would be quick and efficient at destroying the brain?
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The point of smashing the head is to sever the nerves from the brain. I don’t know if the tenderizing tool would hit that point to sever the nerves. I think it would work but I’m not positive.
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I’ve heard of some people using a rolling pin, though this doesn’t sound much better either. It actually sounds like it would just be brutal blunt force and not really severing of the nerves.
Additionally I’ve heard of using weighted hammers, and rumor says that works best.
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I am planning on buying a bottle of isoflourane to keep on hand in the event I have to euthanise. It will allow me to safely anesthetise them first before euthanasia, just to prevent any pain and suffering
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I’m talking about a tool with 50+ stainless steel needles. I don’t know if I could use the hammer kind… I hate to think about this at all.
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Same, it is a horrible thing to talk about without being compassionate towards the life that you chose to bring into the world and now are having to take that life away.
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I think this is a really smart idea. Is that stuff available for just a normal citizens purchase so the others could also do this?
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I believe so, I just looked it up and it seems like it’s available through a lot of animal supply companies.
It’s fairly simple to use as well, you just spritz some on a cotton ball or some paper towels, and toss in in an airtight container with the animal for about a minute and it knocks them out super well. That gives you some time to do what you have to do
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I think I’ll probably end up going this route too because I wouldn’t want to make them suffer in anyway
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I feel the same way, euthanizing is one of those things that nobody enjoys but is unfortunately a necessary task sometimes when you work with animals, so I want to try to make it as humane as possible.
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Right, it’s not like we’re a bunch of killing robots. We are still people that should feel bad when we have to euthanize a baby that we chose to produce.
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