When is it time to euthanize, and how?

[CTU2fan]

My gar (a Florida) has a broken back. This happened in May as I recall. For the first week or so he acted relatively normal, ate etc...but after that his appetite dwindled down to nothing and he hasn't even looked at food since June. He acts as always, except for the not eating. But I'm at the point where I figure watching him slowly starve amounts to cruelty.

Just wondering if anyone knows of a gar recovering after this long of a time period (experience, not "I heard of this guy who knew this other guy whose gar..."). And if not, should I put the gar down, and what's the best/most humane way of doing it? He's pretty big (18").

This sucks.

 

[E_americanus]

if the fish hasn't been eating for that long and it is likely tied to injury then it's definitely time to put it down.
normally i will just put the fish into a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer. this is relatively quick and not messy.--
--solomon
PS-- sorry to hear about your gar, definitely sucks. unfortunately it's a big risk with keeping these fish. i've unfortunately had to do this a fair number of times.

 

[justonemoretank]

Here's a thread on it:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243553

Sorry to hear.

 

[Angler]

The two times I euthanized fish, I used clove oil and it worked well and looked painless.

 

[Pomatomus]

freezing will probably work best.

I have kept gars for a couple of months without eating since they were wild-caught and not used to dead fish. When dealing with this I kept them at around 65-70 degrees to retard their metabolism.

As long as it isn't your water temperature causing the lack of appetite, euthanasia may be the best bet. It's a little weird, but if you want you can always save it in some formalin.

 

[CTU2fan]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

if the fish hasn't been eating for that long and it is likely tied to injury then it's definitely time to put it down.
normally i will just put the fish into a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer. this is relatively quick and not messy.--
--solomon
PS-- sorry to hear about your gar, definitely sucks. unfortunately it's a big risk with keeping these fish. i've unfortunately had to do this a fair number of times.

The break is right at the ventral fins. When it first happened the kink was very slight, more of a slight bowing than an obvious break. But I figured it was interfering with his digestion and that's why he wasn't feeding.

In the future I'll be keeping gars only with other gars, maybe polys. I see lots of pictures or gar/arowana combinations, but I won't do it again.