To Euthanize or Not?

[kjnorman]

Always a tricky question.

I had one deformed baby in my last batch of 20 hatchlings, who I decided to euthanize after three days because its deformities got more pronounced and more hindering as it started to grow - it only had one eye and it's tail bent sideways towards the eye-less side, causing it to swim in spirals all the time.

It's been a bit over a week now, and while most are doing well, there is one that doesn't seem to have grown at all. After feeding, it has no bright red belly, or only the slightest red spot inside, as if it managed one or two brine shrimp but no more.

I have tried feeding it specifically by introducing brine shrimp larvae right in front of it, but it just swims away if any of the larvae touch it. It seems more afraid of the food than willing to eat.

For comparison, the fiestiest of the bunch are now more than twice its size.

I feel like this one won't make it, but I'm not sure if I should wait and see, or end its slow starvation now.

Any input is appreciated.

 

[auntiejude]

I had one like that, a couple that were obviously struggling, a few that were deformed. I had to euthanise.

Ask yourself this:
Is the axie suffering?
Is it probably going to die anyway?
Will it mean I have less time to look after the others if I have to take special care of this one?

If the answer is yes to any one of the questions it's probably best to euthanise.

(and I have come to hate the smell of clove oil )

 

[Smoxolotl]

Have you isolated it? Not having to be around the much bigger, stronger, and scarier siblings may help. And lots of hiding places, of course.

 

[kjnorman]

I am getting to the point where I will separate each of them out into their own tub, so perhaps I'll see if a couple days of isolation help.

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions.

 

[deliriah]

I had a similar situation with my P. waltl larvae. I isolated him in a much smaller container and he is doing so much better. It may be worth the time and effort to try, But I agree with Auntie Jude, if it takes away from caring for the others it may not be the best option.

 

[Boomsloth]

Its interesting that many species that have a low survival rate for offspring counter it by producing large numbers of offspring at a time. There is always the chance that some will just not be genetically fit enough to survive but we tend to be able to keep them alive much longer then they would have in the wild. For yours it sounds like it might be born with a slower metabolism. Some of mine are slow growers and not as aggressive eaters as well. I'm no expert on this so don't take this as fact. There's not really much you can do to prove it will survive besides caring for it as you've done. If it reaches adulthood with no obvious deformities then obviously then its fine. Might even live a very long life if its metabolism stays slower. Definitely keep us updated as this stuff is always interesting.

 

[EmbryH]

Several months ago, I saw someone on here comment about how they would "cull the little ones" and focus on the larger, healthy babies. At the time I wondered how someone could be so heartless... and then I was faced with raising 100+ babies of my own.

It may not seem kind in the short run, but when the babies are going to be either deformed, or dramatically stunted for the rest of their lives and the additional effort needed to care for them takes away from the care of the others, it really is kinder to let them go gently and peacefully early on.

I still had a little more than 80 a few weeks ago, and then the tub of my smallest guys got stricken by some mysterious injury. I had to quarantine them all from themselves, lost 4 almost immediately, and have lost a few more in the days after. Luckily the biggest of that lot have recovered, but what I've noticed is that the ones who were always smaller not only weren't able to recover despite quick action and careful attention, but the other smallest ones became sick even after the first scare and the others had already mostly recovered. I gave them daily care, but it didn't seem to matter for the smaller ones.

So, if you're faced with a small baby who is struggling with basic survival, it really might be best for you to euthanize it now before something worse happens to him :/