euthanizing a betta?

[EdgeFx1]

this seem sultra terrible... but,..... whynot boil water and just thorw the fish in? it would techinally instanly kill it from the shock... wouldn tit?

[ShieldWolf]

this seem sultra terrible... but,..... whynot boil water and just thorw the fish in? it would techinally instanly kill it from the shock... wouldn tit?

I have actually heard that suggested as a method before. I havent bettas in a while but I used the other time honored "shocking" method of a quick severe blow to the head.

[Byron]

The boiling water method is suggested in "Aquarium Fishes of the World", by Axelrod, et al, as being the most humane due to the speed at which the fish passes.  I believe they also suggest the brain destruction method or decapitation as well.  
The larger the fish, the bigger the problem.  Larger fish take longer to die with either of these methods, so both boiling and freezing, and using chemicals are out for big fish,  as far as I know.  A knife or a hammer should be   better than anything.

What methods do those of you who go fishing use?

I'm sorry for your loss.

~B

[ShieldWolf]

Great info Byron.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses the blunt trauma method. Last time I posted that (like 4 years ago), people got in my face about it.

I say ... bring it on! Well not here but in the Fishkeeping Debates Board.

[wendyjo]

I do think that the knife or hammer method is probably quickest and most human, the problem is that I just can't bring myself to do it.  I do understand that it's "my problem" and my issues are over riding what's best for the fish.  But I still can't do it.

I've used clove oil once, which made my fish thrash about   And I've used the freezer method a few times.  I really don't know how "humane" the freezer method is - you hear different things about it.  I've read that since the fish is cold blooded that it simply slows them down and they go unconscious before passing on, and I've read that it's gotta be horribly painful for them because their blood turns to ice crystals.  I don't know which, if any, of these statements are true.  My experience has been that long before the water freezes the fish is either dead, unconscious or immobile.  Within minutes of being put in the freezer they are unmoving.  I try to convince myself that they are unconscious or dead and not immobile but in extreme pain.

[sophistic_chick]

In one of my veterinary text books says sodium bicarbonate can be used.

[roseduke]

 I asked the fish doctor at Aquarium Depot, Maryland's biggest fish store about euthanizing.
 He said if it was a fish not his, that he had to dissect to find out the health issue- it was a quick blow to the head or decapitation.
 If it's a pet fish of his, that he's invested time & care over, he can't do that. He said he uses the freezer method.

[BettaBelle]

I use euthanse, which is microparticlized clove oil which disburses in the water far better than clove oil itself.
The microparticlization makes the clove oil water soluble, as water soluble as an oil can be, that is.
Yes, there is thrashing, but far less, and the fish succumbs far faster than with regular clove oil.
Also, I have noted that while the fish do thrash, it doesn't seem to thrash as in a pain response, more as in an automatic reflex to shake off the anesthesia, which is actually what clove oil is to fish, and people. I believe this, because the thrashing stops when the fish moves to water that hasn't been infused with the clove yet.
Were it a pain response, the fish would continue to thrash, even when out of clove imbued water.
Many vets who operate on fish (koi for example) use clove oil as an initial anesthesia, and I am sure that if the thrashing was what they believe was a pain response, they would have mentioned it, and not recommend it.
How it works is it puts the fish to sleep... They stay asleep, and it shuts their breathing down, as any over dose of anesthesia does.

[RATTIE]

I use decapitation.

[Kaylithin]

my poor Bealzibubbles almost certainly has dropsy. T___T If his condition doesn't improve soon, and that is unlikely, I'll have to euthenize him....I don't know how, though. I can't bring myself to decapitate him or anything like that. One of my friends has recommended clove oil. He said that you put a small amout in first and they don't thrash, put them into a stupor, and THEN put more in. I don't know the truth of this as, as I've said, I've never done it before. But now I better start thinking about it.