Freezing a Tarantula to end it's pain - is that a good idea?

Kathy

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Is this really the best thing to do and why? I was just reading in the fish thread how inhumane it is to freeze a fish, yet I am always reading about putting a tarantula in the freezer to end its suffering. Could someone please explain the rationale behind this? I hope I never have to do anything like this, but would like to be prepared should I ever find one of my t's suffering and not going to make it.
 

Fran

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Well, if you think about it...What other method you sugest?
Is the best and easiest you can come up with. No one has on hand some kind of gas that will make them lethargic to a sweet and peacefull dead...
Among what "we" have, is the best one.
 

Scorpendra

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I'm always hearing about bleach and ammonia mixing to create Chlorine gas. Though I guess it'd be impractical to use something you need special containers and safety precautions for.
 

Edd Eskimo

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I don't know whether freezing is more humane.. But what I had to do yesterday was squish my 4in Female P.Regalis..I felt really horrible but I found it a lot better than freezing it to death.. and it died instantly and quickly..

The reason was I found one of my larger males in the colony I had munching on her fangs and upper portion of her body and she was still alive when he dropped her.. To me, I believed there was NO! way she would have lived and she started moving less after a few minuets she was dropped.. Please don't get me wrong or anything.. I would rather die quickly than freeze to death...
 

JC

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well, if you think about it...what other method you sugest?
Is the best and easiest you can come up with. No one has on hand some kind of gas that will make them lethargic to a sweet and peacefull dead...
Among what "we" have, is the best one.

+1..............
 

Nomadinexile

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I would smash it. I would rather have a 400 lb hammer come down on my head than freeze to death.
 

satanslilhelper

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How on earth does anyone think freezing something to death(not instantaneous) is more humane than stepping on them? I hate the thought of having to do it, but it sure seems more logical.

I've been lucky though and haven't ever had a situation arise that came to this end result.

How about lighting them on fire? I'm just sayin'!! If your willing to freeze your T's to death you might as well go to the other extreme and let 'em go out in a blaze of glory. I personally wouldn't want to die either of these two ways. I'll take a bullet to the head any day.(foot stomp for T's)
 

micheldied

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im guessing its because freezing slows them down,then something...and they die a less "painful" death.
maybe.
i would crush them though...
 

Edd Eskimo

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Wow..Thanks a lot LOl..I though I would have gotten a WAY WAY different response from people..But, I believe it is way more humane than freezing..less than 1 second of pain..or 20-30 min. of freezing tormenting cold.. and gas? Please..LOl..I don't want to die in a gas chamber..(I almost gagged to death in a CS gas chamber..would rather get shot than choke to death LOl)
 

Kathy

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Interesting....thanks guys. I wondered if freezing numbed them quickly or something but I'm not really seeing any logical reason to freeze them as it would just prolong their death. Thanks for the input.
 

Fran

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There we are making the mistake comparing them with us.

Its irrational to say "I would rather". You are a human being with an inteligence. A lot of things go thru your mind if you were freezing to death, way more than if you just suddenly die. But in terms of spiders...Cold temps slow them down, we dont know if they even suffer at all with that method and just simply get lethargic and die in a "sleeping way alike situation.

Squeezing them might be not painfull for them too (we dont know either) but for god sakes is way more disgusting and painfull to look at.
It just doesnt seem too civilized, if you ask me.
 

micheldied

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There we are making the mistake comparing them with us.

Its irrational to say "I would rather". You are a human being with an inteligence. A lot of things go thru your mind if you were freeing to death, way more than if you just suddenly die. But in terms of spiders...Cold temps slow them down, we dont know if they even suffer at all with that method and just simply get lethargic and die in a "sleeping way alike situation.

Squeezing them might be not painfull for them too (we dont know either) but for god sakes is way more disgusting and painfull to look at.
It just doesnt seem to civilized, if you ask me.
thats what i was thinking...
 

joshuai

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There we are making the mistake comparing them with us.

Its irrational to say "I would rather". You are a human being with an inteligence. A lot of things go thru your mind if you were freezing to death, way more than if you just suddenly die. But in terms of spiders...Cold temps slow them down, we dont know if they even suffer at all with that method and just simply get lethargic and die in a "sleeping way alike situation.

Squeezing them might be not painfull for them too (we dont know either) but for god sakes is way more disgusting and painfull to look at.
It just doesnt seem too civilized, if you ask me.
I agree. i have been in a bad spot here before and had become very close to freezing, i know they are not like humans but i would rather get lethargic and fall asleep and die in my sleep than get whacked with a hammer! ouch!
 

Mack&Cass

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Adding to what Fran said, a lot of people are forgetting that Ts don't generate their own body heat - whereas we do, so of course us freezing to death would be absolutely terrible, but you can't say the same for Ts.

We've only put one T in the freezer - a nematode infested P. ornata sling. It sucked having to do it, but it was either that or let the nematodes kill it slowly. I don't think either of us are capable of smushing, or stepping on, a T.

Cass
 

Kathy

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Well, at least no one has mentioned a can of Raid yet (thank goodness).......but now that I think of it, as the previous poster said they can't regulate their body heat so freezing would probably be very quick. Interesting.
 

Derek P

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Freezing animals is not a painless, nice way to go. Blood and hemolymph will both freeze prior to the loss of concenous and is painful and it is painful prior to the slipping away. Smashing a T is similar to the captive bolt or gun shot that is approved by the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) as a humain, instaneous, humane form of euthanasia. The other option is to cough up a little bit of money and take them to your local exotic's veterinarian for humane euthanasia with anasthetic gas and IV (and in inverts intracoelemic) euthanasia. Would you kill you kitten in the freezer or a hammer to the head?
 

Nomadinexile

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I agree. i have been in a bad spot here before and had become very close to freezing, i know they are not like humans but i would rather get lethargic and fall asleep and die in my sleep than get whacked with a hammer! ouch!
Well, my plan if I ever am terminally ill and in pain, is to jump out of a plane without a parachute. But if that's not an option, then I want the hammer. Big one though. :)
 

ZergFront

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Probably someone who thought of them more as "specimens" would be inclined to freezing so they won't have a preserved, squashed spider.

So far, I haven't really been in a situation where I pronounced an ill tarantula dead anyway. I always tried to give it my best shot but sometimes that wasn't enough. :(
 

Kathy

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Derek, would it be different between warm and cold blooded animals/reptiles, etc. though? I would never freeze a warm blooded animal. I wonder why on other tarantula boards everyone recommends freezing the t. to end it's suffering. I really thought that was the "approved" method. I'm glad I asked, it has me thinking. Bottom line, do you what you can to save them and let them die peacefully on their own. That is going to be my option when/if I am ever faced with that decision.
 
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