# Euthanizing a frog?



## SkyeSpider (Sep 14, 2007)

I have a dart frog that hasn't eaten for over a week. He's extremely thin and won't move. I'm honestly shocked to see him alive every morning. I have no hope of recovery at this point.

Is there any way to humanely euthanize him? I can't stand to see him suffer anymore.


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## ScorpDemon (Sep 14, 2007)

The freezer I would think would be just about as humane as anything else.


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## SkyeSpider (Sep 14, 2007)

ScorpDemon said:


> The freezer I would think would be just about as humane as anything else.


I know that works for inverts, I'd just never heard of it for a frog.


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## GailC (Sep 14, 2007)

freezing is extremly cruel to a frog. Get a tube of orajel, the teeth numbing stuff. Put a big blob of it in a deli cup or other small container, put frog on top of blob. Frog will absorbe medicine and die fairly fast.


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## Crotalus (Sep 14, 2007)

Put it in a bag and smack it on the floor


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## Aztek (Sep 14, 2007)

Drop a brick on it.
Fast.
Might look nasty, but fast...


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## craig84 (Sep 14, 2007)

waldo said:


> Get a tube of orajel, the teeth numbing stuff. Put a big blob of it in a deli cup or other small container, put frog on top of blob. Frog will absorbe medicine and die fairly fast.


Wouldn't that burn its sensative skin?


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## SkyeSpider (Sep 14, 2007)

Wow. Some of you guys are really cruel. This was a pet that I loved dearly.

I called a local vet that works with exotics. He said the best way to do it is freezing.

I already miss my frog


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## Nick12007 (Sep 14, 2007)

My friend has kept dart frogs for ten years and he uses either orajel or alcohol, never freezing.  But, its your choice, unless you've already done it.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Sep 14, 2007)

I think dropping a brick on something would be less cruel than freezing. I know the reasoning behind freezing is the idea that the creature goes into a torpor and more or less dies in it's sleep, but until it goes into the torpor, it seems to me that it will experience at least a few minutes of discomfort. Freezing is not a particularly quick death.

On the other hand, a sudden traumatic impact done properly is instantaneous, the creature should not know what hit it.
Shoot, I'd think dropping a frog into boiling water might be a little more humane than freezing.

Having said all that, I understand and sympathize with your reluctance to use a more "hands on" approach on a pet you were attached to. Sorry that you had to make any kind of choice at all.


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## craig84 (Sep 14, 2007)

Very beautiful frog! Sorry to hear its struggle


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## Nick12007 (Sep 15, 2007)

Actually you're right, I forgot about that, my friend has always said that the sudden blunt trauma to the head method is of course the least painful, but most people are too attached to do that, so it's understandable that that's not a very popular method.


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## RoachGirlRen (Sep 15, 2007)

I am shocked that a vet would give out that advice. The AVMA no longer approves freezing; it is very inhumane. CO2, Cervical Dislocation, and Destruction of the Brain via blunt force or pithing are the only acceptable "DIY" methods. Overdose of a veterinary anesthetic is preferred.


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## pinktoe23 (Sep 15, 2007)

hi! I'll admit I don't know much about dart frogs but is it that bad for a frog to stop eating for a week? :? I would assume in the wild there are times were food is very scarce and they still survive. or perhaps dart frogs have a hibernating period? I really have no clue, just trying to point out I'd definetely would want to wait a lot more than a week and would try other foods to see if any is more appealing to him. 

not sure, but the best advice I'd give you is not to jump on that wagon yet until you've tried everything, especially if you're so fond of it. I've seen dart frogs before and yours doesn't appear that overly skinny to me. just a thought, I don't think there's any reason to kill any animal unless you do see it suffering and there's no way out for it. 

again, I know very little about dart frogs but would do some research first to find out how long can they be without food and if this is something fairly normal. hope its nothing to be alarmed with and its not too late to save your frog from death. wishing you the best of luck


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## dtknow (Sep 15, 2007)

I agree with Waldo. Oragel is probably the most humane way to do it. Just an overdose and it is used in labs.

Pinktoe: It is hard to say without seeing the frog. Really thin frogs can bounce back but the odds are really against them.


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## Ted (Sep 16, 2007)

freezing works great.


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## Vfox (Sep 16, 2007)

If you don't want it to suffer, don't want to smash it, or freeze it, then you will just have to place it in the fridge, which should put it into a sort of hibernation, then use one of the above methods, it will not know what's going on because its body will be so out of wack. Personally though, blunt trauma is always the most painless....at least for them. Either way, I wish you and it luck.


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## Arachnotized (Sep 16, 2007)

I would wait a little longer..he might bounce back..:?


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## thedude (Sep 16, 2007)

it would have sucked if he was just in some kind of hibernation and still went through with it, i feel sorry for him and his frog i went thrugh some thing like this with my bearded dragon except the vet put him down for me...


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## bugmankeith (Sep 16, 2007)

How on earth would a tropical frog be able to hibernate? Too cold and I think it would just die from shock, even in the fridge.


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## GailC (Sep 16, 2007)

Dart frogs don't hibernate and if its stopped eating long enought to get skinny (doesn't take long) then its not going to bounce back.


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## Louise E. Rothstein (Sep 24, 2007)

Dear Eternal:

"Mercy" killings are "merciful..." -To whom?
An unconscious animal may not be "suffering..." but YOU are.

-Don't know whether the animal IS unconscious...?

-Or would desire death.
We really do not know.

What we DO know is that proceeding to kill a weaker creature can give
a man a sense of "control" over death.

More control than he has.

Death is absolute. 

And beyond his control.

That may be why it is so hard to face death.
Even the death of a very small frog.

However,its body may have information.
"What happened here..."
"Something that I CAN stop...?"

Very truthfully yours,

Louise Esther Rothstein.


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## Mushroom Spore (Sep 24, 2007)

Uhh...nice haiku there. :?

EDIT: Anyway, I probably wouldn't have frozen the frog, since they seem to have so much water in their bodies and it might hurt them more than anything else. But OP, you probably did the right thing in ending it, one way or another.


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## ZooRex (Sep 24, 2007)

Yeah, um not exactly sure what Louise E. Rothstein is trying to say, or if it really makes pertains to this matter. 

Anyway I just thought I'd share my story with a sick frog.
Last year I got a Large White Lipped Tree Frog (WLTF) from the Reptile Depot at the NARBC in Tinley Park. He was perfect in everyway, except for some slight sore on his nose. Over the next week, he started to get black spots, soon afterwards, white boils would apear where ever a black spot had been previously. I did reasearch, and found that he had a bacterial infection spreading through his blood stream, most likely originating form the sore on his nose. I began to administer Neosporin to all black spots with no visible effect. By the next morning, he was covered with black spots, I knew that something must be done or he would be coverd in white boils, so I put him in the freezer and he died rather quickly. Now that I think about it, freezing probably isn't the best method for amphibians cause they are composed of so much water it would be painful. Yet I'm still firm with my decision of ending my tree frogs life and spareing him an even slower and agonizing death. ~ Rex


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## OTwolfe (Sep 26, 2007)

Perhaps a nearby vet would be willing to use an overdose of anesthetizing gas...I've seen vets put snakes and turtles under (for procedures) using a clear sealed box and gas, possibly it could work for a frog. It would probably be ideal- it would just go to sleep. I wish you and your frog the best.


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## dairy (Sep 26, 2007)

Sick frog? As far as frogs go, all I can tell you is they're Ambi-Fibby-Ins or some such like that. Cool little critters.

Sick critter with no chance at recovery? That I think I do know something about. 

I'd say if you're sure it's not going to get better, then waiting is only going to make you feel worse about it. To put it out of its misery, I suggest crushing its skull. Sounds brutal, but its fast and its simple and you don't need to buy any drugs/pay a vet. Oh, and while I'm not a doctor or anything, but if the frog does actually feel anything the feeling will last less time than it takes to pop a ballon.

If it's your pet, its your responsibility to take care of ALL of its needs. If it needs to be put down...

FTR: It's not uncommon for recently deceased critters to twitch/thrash. As I understand it, it's soley a reflexive action and (at least in the case of fish and various barnyard animals) further trauma will not end the reflexes.


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## fyrefly (Sep 26, 2007)

Sorry, I would have trouble crushing the skull of a pet that I became attached to. Possibly the most humane, peaceful way would be to use carbon dioxide. 

Refill cannisters for paintball guns have C02.


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## Vfox (Sep 27, 2007)

fyrefly said:


> Sorry, I would have trouble crushing the skull of a pet that I became attached to. Possibly the most humane, peaceful way would be to use carbon dioxide.
> 
> Refill cannisters for paintball guns have C02.


Whipits? Lol, what a way to kills something. Carbon Monoxide would kill it in a much more peaceful manner, sleep, paralysis, and then death, no pain involved. But considering how old this thread is, I'm curious, is the frog dead, or alive?


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## ShawnH (Sep 27, 2007)

After only a week or so of a frog not eating I wouldn't consider killing it.  It would be much wiser to look at the enclosures temperatures, lighting and humidity because that is most likely where the problem is if the frog is not eating.  Also I am not familiar with force feeding a frog but I have done it with snakes before and have been successful.  I would not be against trying it with a frog.  Also offering a huger variety of prey items in an attempt to get the frog to feed would be a good idea. But anyways seeing the age of the thread the frog is likely no longer among the living.  Sorry for your loss if this is the case.


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## dtknow (Sep 30, 2007)

fyrefly said:


> Sorry, I would have trouble crushing the skull of a pet that I became attached to. Possibly the most humane, peaceful way would be to use carbon dioxide.
> 
> Refill cannisters for paintball guns have C02.


Frogs can last for a long time without O2. Co2 poisoning causes them to spasm so I don't think it is very humane.

Again, vets/labs use the Oragel method.


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