no matter what I do...

[Halley]

I only read the original post, but I’ve had a few geckos end up going this route. What normally has mine gain weight when the fecal sample is clear is crickets…

 

[OSUgecko]

The way I read the report, cooling before freezing does nothing to reduce the pain of ice crystals in the bloodstream. The only method of freezing/cooling euthanasia considered humane is "quick freezing of a deeply anesthetized animal" (see original post for full excerpt).

Marcia, from your description, it sounds like you utilize CO2 euthanasia, followed by freezing. Placing the reptile in a sealed Ziploc bag prior to placing it in the refrigerator probably serves as a mini CO2 chamber. As long as you left the reptile in the Ziploc long enough, and there were no leaks in the bag, the CO2 concentration would eventually get high enough in the enclosed space to render the reptile unconscious/suffocate it. In other words, the reptile is already dead by the time you put it in the freezer, so there is no chance of it feeling pain. It's not the cold temperatures that kill it.

The only part of your method that wouldn't technically be considered humane by the AVMA is the fact that you cooled the reptile while euthanizing with CO2. As CO2 is a painless way to go, as long as the reptile died from that quickly, I don't think your method is inhumane; however, I don't have enough training on this subject to know all the ins and outs of whether cooling in this instance would be humane or not.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Alicia, yes, my vet did tell me that putting a reptile directly in the freezer is excruciatingly painful when the blood begins to freeze. By putting them in the refrigerator first will induce a deep themperature-induced coma similar to when reptiles that are shipped in 36 degree weather arrive appearing dead. That combined with little/no oxygen in the zip-lock bag does indeed create a CO2 environment whereby the animal will die from lack of oxygen while already unconcious.

Back on the OP topic, I would suggest asking your vet to try 10-14 days of Baytril along with slurry-feeding before making any decisions about putting the gecko down.

 

[Jayyoung]

I would suggest asking your vet to try 10-14 days of Baytril

Antibiotics sound like a good plan, even if you don't know exactly what it is, just as prophylaxis.
Marcia, is Baytril the best broad spectrum for treating crypto? (asking because I don't know)

 

[OSUgecko]

Cryptosporidium is a parasite, not a bacteria, and there are currently no approved treatments on the market for crypto.

Baytril (enrofloxacin) is an antibiotic that kills a wide variety of gram positive and negative bacteria. It won't treat all bacterial infections, but it's one of the newer and more powerful "antimicrobial guns" we have out there right now.

 

[paintedlizards]

just an update- the little guy is on day three of the Baytril. My vet opted to not see him again and just give me the meds ... I go back in on Tuesday. . . At which point we will either rejoice in a bit of weight gain ( or at least no more weightloss) and or put the poor guy ddown.

 

[Dani51707]

I'm confused how any human, vet or not can tell us what is painful to an animal. and leos aren't like dogs they dont make sounds in pain. take it as if it were your self how does it feel when you cant breathe let alone in a zip lock bag in a fridge or freezer...thats just mean and unethical to me IMO. but to everyone their own. ill go rob a bank if i got to make sure i can go to the vet and make sure my suffering animal gets an injection to put it down quickly.

 

[OSUgecko]

The gecko can still breathe in a closed container (CO2 chamber euthanasia). As the gecko breathes, the concentration of carbon dioxide will rise rapidly in the bag, inducing painless sleep from low oxygen (i.e. the gecko will quietly pass out). This is not an unethical method of euthanasia. It causes death in a similar fashion as carbon monoxide poisoning, which many humans have had near-death experiences with; it is odorless, non-irritating, etc.

There are many different methods of figuring out what is painful to animals. A ton of research has gone into the AVMA's humane euthanasia recommendations.

 

[lizardlove]

There are many different methods of figuring out what is painful to animals. A ton of research has gone into the AVMA's humane euthanasia recommendations.

I agree. For a good scientist, it is not entirely difficult to figure out what will be painful to an animal and what will not be - it's a lot of common sense. I can tell you from having had surgery before, CO2 is totally painless, the painful part is when they don't give you enough and try to get near you with a really big needle... Painful for them.

It's important to remember that for those who don't have a reptile vet near them knowledge of how to humanely euthanize a suffering gecko is important. It's far more cruel to let it die slowly of a degenerative disease like crypto - in my opinion, the cruel owners are the ones that keep a suffering gecko alive WAY too long because they want to keep their pet. It seems selfish.

 

[2bacop]

I'm confused how any human, vet or not can tell us what is painful to an animal. and leos aren't like dogs they dont make sounds in pain. take it as if it were your self how does it feel when you cant breathe let alone in a zip lock bag in a fridge or freezer...thats just mean and unethical to me IMO. but to everyone their own. ill go rob a bank if i got to make sure i can go to the vet and make sure my suffering animal gets an injection to put it down quickly.

I have heard a gecko make sounds of pain before, its like a screetch

 

[geckogramma]

how about an update?

 

[MojaveGirl]

I had the same problem with my female that just passed away. It most likely is the big C. Mine lasted months and was much worse than this, literally skin and bones by the time she died. I wanted to put her down but my dad wanted to keep trying. We force-fed her and she kept it down, but we had to push it gently into her throat or it would just sit there. Sorry, but it doesn't look like there's any hope for this guy.

By the way, what is that red/brown drop in the pic?

Edit: Just read the post about the vet and worms. XD Nvm then.

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Okay, thought I would put in my two cents. I respect other peoples decisions and am not saying anyone is a bad person for how they deal with sick animals at all.

I, myself, would not in any way be able to freeze an animal or decapitate them to "put them out of their misery". I have had to deal with a sick animal, and while I would do everything in my power to make it better, those are simply not options for me. It killed me to see Kiya hurting, but the thought of even doing such a thing made me sick to my stomach. I was there for her during her last moments, supporting her and telling her how loved she was. In the end, at least I can say I was there for her and loved her with everything I had. I did not give up on her.

If the option to euthinize her at a vet was there at the time, I would have done that, and I would have still been by her side.

 

[Lady_Kiya]

I have somewhat heard a sound that sounded as if Kiya was in pain. She looked like she was suffocating or choking and was making a hacking sound.