very sorry to hear about your gar, it is definitely an impressive specimen. unfortunately most gars don't heal from broken backs, and those that do are usually of the genus Atractosteus. this may have morphological implications as they are of much stouter stature. unfortunately the other genus, Lepisosteus generally doesn't heal (chances are low for the whole family) as often, and i have never seen a shortnose or longnose heal up from this sort of injury (both of those species seem most prone to the injury as well).
furthermore, the clove oil you can buy at the store is usually not high enough concentration to kill a gar (i've dealt with this), so you may have to get specifically pure clove oil from your pharmacy...if they have it.
the simplest thing to go is get a bucket of ice water and put the gar into that...leave it for about an hour or so and then put it in a bag in your freezer to complete the process. putting down a gar is never fun or easy, especially when it's a treasured pet; but it is the most humane thing to do. i would go with putting it on ice (if you have a big enough freezer you can just skip the ice water step and place the fish into a plastic bag and put it in the freezer).
again, very sorry for your loss--
--solomon
furthermore, the clove oil you can buy at the store is usually not high enough concentration to kill a gar (i've dealt with this), so you may have to get specifically pure clove oil from your pharmacy...if they have it.
the simplest thing to go is get a bucket of ice water and put the gar into that...leave it for about an hour or so and then put it in a bag in your freezer to complete the process. putting down a gar is never fun or easy, especially when it's a treasured pet; but it is the most humane thing to do. i would go with putting it on ice (if you have a big enough freezer you can just skip the ice water step and place the fish into a plastic bag and put it in the freezer).
again, very sorry for your loss--
--solomon
