Is It Time To Flush Him

[BetaMom]

Well it looks as if Fishy (my 3 year old son's Betta) has cut his back. It looks as if his scales on his back are slightly shredded, like furry, I can't tell about his colour because he was naturally whitish when we bought him except his tale and fins. He's very lathargic and doesn't swim around. Do you think he's beyond help.

 

[Fishy Girl]

i hope not I don't know alot about betta's(thats why I'm on this site)
but I hope someone can help you.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I'm going to copy what I said in another thread regarding flushing...

Someone mentioned flushing... please know that this is NOT considered a humane form of euthanasia, and will create a great deal of suffering.

If the female has a large open wound, and her stomach contents are pouring out from the said wound, this is probably not an injury that will heal. Humane methods of euthanasia include destroying the brain (NOT decapitation), or submersion in a mixture of tank water and clove oil. Destroying the brain is quickest but a bit messy, and involves either crushing the entire head in one swift, killing blow, or "scrambling" the brain. I personally am not a fan of either method as it involves taking the fish out of water, not to mention how traumatic it is to the owner. But some people do not believe that clove oil is humane, even though it has proven anesthetic properties, so I presented both methods.
If you use clove oil, you should do as follows:
- Purchase a small bottle of clove oil, found in most health stores as a natural remedy for tooth aches. Note that you should NOT use clove scented oil, as this is not the same substance.
- In a small container with a lid, mix about 50% water and 50% clove oil - you can use much less, but the more clove oil, the quicker the death. DO NOT mix with Vodka as suggsted on some sites; alchohol is very painful on gills and open wounds.
- Shake the water and oil thoroughly until the water is cloudy with dispersed oil.
- Scoop the betta up into a small cup with some tank water. Gently pour her into the solution.
- The fish should go still almost instantly. Gill movement will cease shortly thereafter, followed by death. It should not cause pain; clove oil contains the same anesthetics used when operating on fish.
- When you are certain the fish is dead, you can remove and dispose of the body. Some individuals will destroy the brain or freeze to be extra sure, but once the eyes have clouded, color has faded, and slime coat is starting to shed, you can be assured that the fish is quite dead.

Please remember, freezing, boiling, flushing are all unacceptable methods of euthanasia.

Good luck, wether you chose to attempt treatment or end her pain. So sorry about this unfortunate accident.

Personally, I think you should attempt treatment first. It sounds like the fish has columnaris, or possibly a fungal infection from a wound; here is a link on treatment of columnaris. True fungus can be treated with Maroxy, a product from Mardel available at most fish stores.

Regardless of if you choose to treat or choose not to, please do NOT flush the betta; it is cruel and will be teaching your son a very bad lesson about how to treat living creatures.

 

[dwarfgourami]

RandomWiktor, re methods of euthanasia, can I just add that it is perfectly possible to destroy the brain by restraining the fish in a shallow bowl and stabbing its head lengthwise with a sharp knife. Having been brought up in a fishing environment, I used stabbing as a swift and, I believe, painless way of dealing with mackerels long before I started keeping fish tanks, but it works equally well with tropicals. The advantage being that the fish does not need to struggle outside the water- and it is quicker and easier than the blunt object.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Ah ok, thanks for the info. Might be hard to do on something as tiny as a betta, though.

 

[happyannie]

Maybe easier to do on a wild fish than your little baby you've loved and taken care of too!! I'll still go with the oil of clove to send them into the next life.

 

[ileopard]

Well it looks as if Fishy (my 3 year old son's Betta) has cut his back. It looks as if his scales on his back are slightly shredded, like furry, I can't tell about his colour because he was naturally whitish when we bought him except his tale and fins. He's very lathargic and doesn't swim around. Do you think he's beyond help.

Absolutely NOT!

Flushing a betta (or any other kind of fish for that matter) is cruel. I look at fish as a real human being, and I feel they deserve being treated like a real human being. They may be small, but that doesn't mean they should be flushed just because they are sick.

(edit: I'm sorry if that offended anyone. For some reason, cancer is the first thing that I thought of when I thought of "uncurable sickness". I reworded it.)

 

[happyannie]

I'm 100% with the previous poster. You'll teach a better lesson about respecting life if you treat the fish as if it's an important family member who deserves the very best care and then if a remedy can't be found then the very best death and little funeral service in the backyard. I knew a little boy whose mom flushed his goldfish so I had a florist make a tiny wreath which we flushed to give his fish a burial at sea after the fact. He cried. It's only us grownups who become so hardened to life and the loss of a tiny member.

 

[BetaMom]

Don't get me wrong here. Flushing is not something I would do in front of my child, and honestly I didn't know of a "humane" way of ridding of a fish. The last Betta we lost (my 11 year old's) I cried for over 2 days thinking I had let my son down. How silly is that.

Thank you RandomWitker for the reply, I will look more into that.

Ileopard, I hardly think a fish and a child with cancer can even come close to one another.

Thank you to those who responded seriously to the question however, it was much appreciated.

 

[happyannie]

you rock betamom

 

[RandomWiktor]

Glad you found the information helpful

Absolutely NOT!

That is cruel. Look at it this way. If you had a son who had cancer, would you kill him? No. Treat fish like real people, not like little animals who don't care if you cut their heads off or flush them!

While I understand your sentiments, your wording was a poor choice. Frankly, replies like that are going to offend, and no one is going to listen to someone who just offended them. The main reason many think anyone who cares about animal welfare is some kind of whackjob is due to poorly worded statements such as that. Please, think before you post; many people are simply ignorant about humane fish euthanasia.

 

[thelastbetta]

I honestly don't think there is a humane way to euthanize a fish. What I do is place it in a tissue, wrap it quickly and smash the head area with a hammer then dispose of the body.. It kills them instantly compared to other methods.

Don't flush though.. it's dangerous to the environment plus it's very painful to the fish.

 

[flying_babyb]

can I ask, If there already dead in the tank (i mean truly dead) is it ok to flush? Ive wondered if this hurts the envoroment

 

[scubadoo]

can I ask, If there already dead in the tank (i mean truly dead) is it ok to flush? Ive wondered if this hurts the envoroment

It can do.
Remember in this hobby we keep fish that do not originate from our native country/ies, so flushing a dead fish could potentially introduce new pathogens into an eco-system not developed to cope with it.

Its far safer to wrap up the dead fish and either burn, bury or add to your bin / trash (which'll end up in a land fill anyway).

 

[jollysue]

I know nothing about anything in this. Still it seems in my community, everything that goes down the drain goes through sewage treatment. That seems safer than a landfill actually. I think it might be different in different regions. Some communities are using septic tanks, etc. So like many things on this forum, it may be a regional issue.