My heat mat had a roblem and got up to about 94F...

[knox]

I just shot a temp gun at my palm. 95.4 degrees.

I hold my snakes all the time, and they don't get burned. 90 degree heat mats are fine, AS LONG as the air in the enclosure doesn't heat above 85 and they can retreat to a cool spot.

 

[murder4me]

Coffee is warmer than °90.

 

[Chip]

Knox's hand is warmer than 90! Accoring to my IR, my coffee comes out of the coffee maker around twice that temp (183).

 

[Chip]

Interestingly, he makes it a point to talk about all the burned reptiles he's seen over the years, so I have asked if any of them were a corn snake or other colubrid. I'm betting not, but I will let you all know what he says.

Is it?? I think that's a vet association recommendation.

Just got an email back from that vet practice.

Thank you for writing to us. Dr. Klingenberg is very busy at the moment, but asked me to send you a response so you aren’t waiting for too long. He said that he would recommend sedation with Telazol (usually takes a couple of hours to take effect) and then putting them in the freezer. He feel (sic) that this is the most efficient and humane way to euthanize. he is a little concerned though because he has never advocated head trauma as a way of euthanizing and we are wondering if you could send us a link to the article that you found so we could investigate where that information came from. He said he can not specifically recall treating a burned corn snake. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Now I feel like a jerk for assuming he had made the suggestion to bash heads, I got my links confused. I'm sure Telazol is a controlled substance which vets wouldn't prescribe just to keep on hand, so it will still mean a vet trip, which I'm okay with. Of course, that is assuming your vet will agree with his protocol.

 

[Nanci]

So- let's take my recent case for example. I found a cornsnake in the road, hit by a car, paralyzed, with exposed bones and organs, with several open fractures- but still awake and aware. What would you do? That animal obviously needs to be put out of its misery immediately.

 

[Chip]

Agreed 100%. I would never euthanize a dog by gunshot, but in that exact same scenario, I would shoot my dog before driving it to the vet for an injection. That is simply ending suffering for an animal that can't be saved.

 

[smigon]

It is interesting that the vet recommended Telazol if it takes a few hours to take effect to just sedate them. Does it provide a pain killer like morphine so the animal isn't in pain during that time? I would think there are better sedation choices than that.

I ran over a garter snake with the lawn mower once, I was horrified that he was still alive but mangled. I had no other choice (and was too paralyzed to think) but to drop the mower on him again. It did the trick, but I am still sickened to this day when I think of it.

My parents live in very rural NC and their dog jumped in front of my dad's car when he was driving on the dirt road. She was still alive but with no chance of making it to the vet (45 minutes away, and it was Sunday) so I think (my mom didn't say, but told me please don't ask Dad about it, he was so sick about it) he did shoot her in the head to put her out of her misery. I wasn't sure he even owned a gun, but they live in a huge valley surrounded by woods and see bears all the time, so I wouldn't doubt he has one for safety, plus there is a pack of stray dogs that took down one of their older horses one night.

Sometimes I think we have to do what is the quickest way to put them out of their misery, even if it is horrifying to think of.

 

[crzymom2grl2by]

Years ago my russian tortoise was out in the backyard grazing and I had let my rottweiler out to the bathroom, I had to run inside real quick and forgot about the RT and when I got back I saw Rocky sniffing around where the RT had been, I knew immediately something was terribly wrong. The RT had holes in the shell and you could see inside. I started screaming and crying. It was a Sunday, no vet open, but I called my vet anyway and paid the extra fee for after hours to have the poor RT euthanized. I was mortified when people actually told me I was crazy and should've just knocked him in the head with a rock. People are so cruel when they're not animal lovers like myself.

It was such a horrifying experience, I thought she was dead and then her poor head poked out of her shell and that's when I began to freak out, I couldn't believe she was alive. I felt so bad, it was my fault. Since then I've built a huge outdoor enclosure for warm weather for my new RT and box turtle. No more letting them roam freely.

 

[smigon]

I was mortified when people actually told me I was crazy and should've just knocked him in the head with a rock. People are so cruel when they're not animal lovers like myself.

I am so sorry about your RT. And I think that anyone who thinks animals should be beat on the head with a rock needs to take a dose of their own medicine.

My parents (out in the boonies) had a neighbor over for dinner soon after they moved in, I was in college but my little sister was there, and he said how his cat had kittens and he put them in a bag with a rock and tossed it in the river. My sister stood up (16 years old) and told him he was the most vile, disgusting human she has ever met, went up to her room and slammed the door.

He left soon after that and never was invited for dinner again. There is a special place in hell for people like that.

 

[crzymom2grl2by]

Oh yes, I've heard of people doing that with puppies and kittens. And you're right, there's a special place in hell for them.

 

[Obby_snake]

I am so sorry about your RT. And I think that anyone who thinks animals should be beat on the head with a rock needs to take a dose of their own medicine.

My parents (out in the boonies) had a neighbor over for dinner soon after they moved in, I was in college but my little sister was there, and he said how his cat had kittens and he put them in a bag with a rock and tossed it in the river. My sister stood up (16 years old) and told him he was the most vile, disgusting human she has ever met, went up to her room and slammed the door.

He left soon after that and never was invited for dinner again. There is a special place in hell for people like that.

So he just casually said "hey, I dumped cats into rivers"!?
I'd gave kicked him in the shin!

 

[Jupiter]

Yea, me and my brother where driving home from somewhere a few years ago and a dog had been hit by a car and we saw it next to the road. I'll leave the details, but just say that not only was it not going to live, but I was completely shocked as to how it was still alive/able to make noises and move. We went and got a gun and put it down on the spot, it was out in the middle of no where, no collar, probably a stray. Either way it wasn't making the 1 hour+ trip to the vet. Growing up hunting, and being responsible for well over half the meat I eat (killing/cleaning it) I've got no problem with situations like that, taking the animals life was actually the best part of an absolutely terrible situation, putting him out of his misery, I immediately felt a sense of relief.

And to the thought of a snake burning itself, I was talking to Don from SMR and he doesn't use a thermostat on ANY of his corns, he just adjusts the thickness of the bedding to make the inside of the warm hide the appropriate temp. he says a corn snake will never go down to the glass and stay there long enough to get burned. BP's on the other hand, WILL set on hot glass until they die (apparently). With that being said, I use a thermostat on my corn, just in case [emoji106]. All of the above about thermostats and heat IS coming from someone (me) who has only had his CS for about 3 months. So yeaaaa. My two-sense.

 

[smigon]

So he just casually said "hey, I dumped cats into rivers"!?
I'd gave kicked him in the shin!

Oh, I would have aimed about two feet higher!

I don't know the circumstances of how the subject came up, but since they had just moved in and there was a stray cat on the property that had just had kittens in the barn and my parents took them to a no-kill shelter, that is probably how the conversation came up.

And then he so kindly offered an alternative solution. :fullauto:

A good ending was that one tiny, long-haired solid black baby with the biggest yellow eyes adopted me, and my parents agreed to keep Chelsea while I left for college. Even though she only knew me a few weeks before I left, when I came home on breaks she followed me everywhere, and really was one of the best kitties I have ever had. Or rather, best kitties who had me!

 

[smigon]

Yea, me and my brother where driving home from somewhere a few years ago and a dog had been hit by a car and we saw it next to the road. I'll leave the details, but just say that not only was it not going to live, but I was completely shocked as to how it was still alive/able to make noises and move. We went and got a gun and put it down on the spot, it was out in the middle of no where, no collar, probably a stray. Either way it wasn't making the 1 hour+ trip to the vet. Growing up hunting, and being responsible for well over half the meat I eat (killing/cleaning it) I've got no problem with situations like that, taking the animals life was actually the best part of an absolutely terrible situation, putting him out of his misery, I immediately felt a sense of relief.

I don't know if I could physically do that, never having even held a gun in my life, but I would be SO torn, knowing the suffering of the animal, that would probably be the hardest but rightest thing I ever had to do.

 

[smigon]

Here is a (sort of) funny story, my dad loaded about 20 2x4s on top of the truck and was driving home with them when he saw a box turtle on the road. It was slightly raining, but my dad, being the amazing person and animal lover he is, decided to stop and get the turtle off the road. It being slick from the rain and the close distance to the turtle, he stopped quickly. The lumber did not. Several pieces started shooting off the top of the car, the first one nailing the poor turtle, smashing him to smithereens instantly. But the lumber didn't stop. One after another, with the wood being wet and slippery, kept sliding off the roof, hitting the one in front of it on the road and sending that one another 10 feet down the hill and into the woods.

It took him about an hour to get all the wood back on the roof and secure and on his way home. Bless his heart for trying, he really has a heart of gold, but we still laugh at that one (not the turtle's demise, but the way it happened). No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Obby_snake]

Oh, I would have aimed about two feet higher!

I don't know the circumstances of how the subject came up, but since they had just moved in and there was a stray cat on the property that had just had kittens in the barn and my parents took them to a no-kill shelter, that is probably how the conversation came up.

And then he so kindly offered an alternative solution. :fullauto:

A good ending was that one tiny, long-haired solid black baby with the biggest yellow eyes adopted me, and my parents agreed to keep Chelsea while I left for college. Even though she only knew me a few weeks before I left, when I came home on breaks she followed me everywhere, and really was one of the best kitties I have ever had. Or rather, best kitties who had me!

We've got a tabby cat, who cries for my mum to literally hold her like a baby! Lol