Used Clove Oil For The First Time Last Night

[wendywc]

PeteMartin, sorry you had to euthanize your betta.


Well, I guess I'm gonna be the most gruesome person and advocate that the fastest way and most humane to kill a fish is chop its head off or if the fish is small enough... cut its head off with sharp scissors. All other methods take too long to happen and you would really have to whack a fish's head pretty hard to kill it... near smashing the head. Sorry for the bad visual. But if anyone fishes, you know how to kill a fish properly and that's by chopping its head off. My advice to do this method, stop thinking about your feelings and just do it. Sorry to sound like a jerk.

As for boiling...
Even most chefs (my mom included) have agreed that boiling lobster is cruel. And the most humane way to kill a lobster is to chop the head split down the middle.

 

[Synirr]

A recent study suggests lobsters are unable to suffer pain, FYI... similar studies on fish suggest that they do, however.

The clove oil was the type made for toothaches, right? There's another type made for aromatherapy that shouldn't be used for euthanasia...

 

[Captain Retardo]

A good method to euthanize fish is to hold them down, get a scissors, and you have to stab the fish in the head with the scissors, and make sure you destroy the brain, do this quickly and the fish will feel nothing.

I'm sure all of you guys supported the un-plugging of Terry Schiavo!?

 

[Sp00ky]

If i have to kill a fish, which is generally only because it cannot recover from disease, is thus.

I take the fish in the net and flip the net over the the front of the metal frame. I then flick it VERY hard on the side of the tank ( i assume) killing it instantly. BEFORE i dispose of the body, i place it in a jug of water from the tank for an hour to make sure it is dead, and this is process i have adopted and used since working in a well known LFS, and no its not P@H !

 

[lmcarlton]

Spooky.... does it kill them for sure. I was wondering if you don't bang hard enough and then put the fish in the water that they would suffer pain.

I am going to get grusome here, but when I take the back end of the knife and hit the fish it's hard enough to pretty much smash. I have small fish so it's easier to do it because they are not so tough. that way I know they are dead. Kinda gross for sure.

BTW PeteMartin, I am sorry you had to watch your fish die like that. I know I was told one to use club soda because it knocks them out then freeze the cup and fish in the club soda (I KNOW I KNOW it's horrible, I didn't know much then, I have learned from that) and to watch the fish fight to stay awake was heartbreaking.

Lea-Andra

 

[catxx]

on reading the rest of this thread, if i have to put a fish to sleep, i'm now for getting someone else to mush it's head (icky!)

i couldn't live with the mental image if i did it myself. nightmares!

 

[ringham]

Some people on here have said that putting a fish in boiling water to kill it is like boiling any other animal. Whilst I would never use that method myself I disagree (not completely but partially). On a few occasions people have their fish burning themselves on unprotected heaters and only moving away when it is a life or death situation. My pleco has severely burnt himself on a heater not long ago and if it was really hurting him he would have moved. IMO this would be the same with other fish in that by the time they died they probably won't have noticed they were burning as with the heater incident.

Personally I put a dying fish in vodca.

 

[Jules H-T]

I feel for you Pete. Sounds like you didn't do a bad job even if it wasn't quite according to plan, he was gone in seconds. Even if it wasn't totally painless, better that than still struggling now. You did the right thing.

 

[Sp00ky]

Spooky.... does it kill them for sure. I was wondering if you don't bang hard enough and then put the fish in the water that they would suffer pain.

like i said, i always place the fish in water for at least an hour to make sure it is dead. I have never had one recover because it was just stunned. I dont hit it that hard on the lid that it splats everywhere, just hard enough to kill.

 

[jkrekord]

putting the fish in vodka sounds seriously expensive waste of vodka and i would think it would take a minute or so for the fish to die imo

 

[cornishgiant]

When I've had to do it I have got some cold tap water in a jug, addedd a load of ice cubes and salt to cool the water down to a really low temp then put the fish in it.

Seemed to be fairly quick and painless.

I don't think there is a good way. Anyway is unpleasant, some worse than others.

 

[steelhealr]

I side with cornishgiant (see the other active post on this for why).

The Norwegian study, even while saying it’s unlikely that crustaceans feel pain, also cautioned that more research is needed because there is a scarcity of scientific knowledge on the subject.

....be careful about quoting studies until you read what they based their results on. SH

 

[Dorkhedeos]

isnt vodka worse than freezing it? vodka just burns it to death. if you cant bash or cut the head off of your fish, just buy a pellet gun or a bb gun and shoot it in the head. all you have to do is pull the trigger

 

[Captain Retardo]

stealhealr and cornishgiant - this book i borrowed from the library (which is very credible and good) said that it is an unnacceptable method of Euthanasia to dump the fish in iced water.

The book is called:

Tropical Fishlopaedia: A Complete Guide to Fish Care
By: Mary Bailey and Dr. Peter Burgess (PhD)
Copyright: 2000

 

[carrera]

stealhealr and cornishgiant - this book i borrowed from the library (which is very credible and good) said that it is an unnacceptable method of Euthanasia to dump the fish in iced water.

The book is called:

Tropical Fishlopaedia: A Complete Guide to Fish Care
By: Mary Bailey and Dr. Peter Burgess (PhD)
Copyright: 2000

i have a book "You & Your Aquarium" by Dick Mills, an author of many books on aquarium fish which recommends ice water for euthanasia. think that goes to show that no one really know whats the best/worse way, except the fish.

edit: i also dont understand how anyone could bash a fishes head in or cut its head off or stab it in the head like some of the methods on here, it may be instant but i wouldnt do that to a dog or a cat, so i wouldnt do it to a fish. the best way i can think of would be to take it to a vets to be put to sleep. though that would probably be costly.