whats cull?

so i was reading the thread about the poor little leo that has his legs deformed and every one kept mentioning the fact that they might have to "cull" what does this mean, i am guessing putting the animal down but is there a certain way that you do it to call it "cull" lol sorry for bringing up something so sad but im still a noob i guess.

It's indeed putting the gecko down. Common methods are CO2 chamber and/or freezing. Some will take them to a vet to do it.

thanks mardy, as sad as that is to know i have a strong belief that some times letting a animal "pass on" (in a genlte way) is allot better then letting it live in horrible living conditions. with the freezing method with reptiles, do you think the cold hurts them or makes them fall asleep before they can get the "cold hurt?" i know cold slows them down and i was just wondering.

I think the cold would hurt them as the water and various other liquids in animal and plant cells expand when they freeze rupturing the cell wall- dont think it would be a very nice way to go.

It's hard to say if they will feel any pain doing the freeze method. The thing is we don't know if they would even know what's going on or know what that feeling is. Some suggest to put them in the fridge first to slow their body down and make them fall asleep. Then put them in the freezer.

Others suggest CO2 chamber first, then freezer. I would think the fridge > freezer would be better than CO2 chamber > freezer.

freezing causes ice crystals in the brain which is a very painful way to die,i dont know about the co2 chamber so the way to do it with the least suffering is by taking them to a vet.

Cull means to euthanize. Co2 chamber is also not a good way to cull since leos can slow down their breathing to like 1 breath a minute and still survive so the act of suffocating them is a very long drawn out sometimes unaffective methodwith a goods chance your leo dissent difficult our comes back after their supposed to be deceased. I was in this debate before on another forum. The most humane way to euth a lizard is cervical dislocation our a crushing blow. Most purple fine have the heart for either of those methods so they usually opt for the less humane methods such as freezing our Co2 chambers.

either way it all sounds horribly sad it seems to me that anything small is hard to put down softly, i remember taking my pet rat into the vet to have put down because she had a huge tumor that had ruptured and she was suffering. he stabbed a huge needle right into her stomach because he could find a vain on such a tiny animal. its hard to kill anything, especially if you love it.

It's horrible, unfortunately it's something all breeders have to be able to do. I'm hoping I won't have to do it being a small scale breeder, less hatchlings, selective breeding, and careful incubation techniques hopefully equals to less chance of getting deformities. But I know I have the responsibility to do it when the time comes.

I read the same thread where Kel was discussing different culling techniques. Interesting debate, I have no idea what method I would choose yet. Only one I wouldn't do for sure is feeding them to a larger lizard.

lol thats aweful >.< its like "sorry timmy your derpy so you get to be dinner" how sad... with the cervical dislocation or a crushing blow i am always to worried i would do it wrong or miss and they would be in bad pain

the simple fact is this, no matter the methods you decide to use...if you are going to breed, even if it is one male, and one female....be prepared to do so. things go wrong, and you must be ready. i have had to do this before, and honestly, it never gets easier for me...but it is something i have to do. the joy of the healthy babies you produce, and get to watch grow far outweighs the saddness of having to cull...it does suck, but you have to do it if you are going to breed. the quickest and least painful way without a doubt is the method kel mentioned. a good pair of the blunt tipped surgical scissors, and a quick snip right behind the head, to sever the spine is the quickest, most pain free method there is in my opinion. which ever way you chose, the fact is the same...you must take the life of a helpless animal, to make sure the animal does not suffer anymore...it sucks, but it is the way it is if you breed. i hate it every time, and deal with a bout of depression every time....but it is a cold hard fact of breeding. this is just one more of those things that most people dont realize, or take into consideration when they decide to breed....but it gets really real, really fast. but i can tell you from experience, the joys of bringing life to such beautiful and precious lizards, makes all else worth it! there are not many things in life, that are more special than breeding leopards; getting eggs, incubating them untill they hatch, and caring for the tiny little hatchlings....watching them grow and become thier own little lizard selfs...it is a really rewarding experience.

rickmoss95 wrote:the simple fact is this, no matter the methods you decide to use...if you are going to breed, even if it is one male, and one female....be prepared to do so. things go wrong, and you must be ready.

Sad but true, it's something many don't think about before breeding. If you have no stomach to cull, then you shouldn't be breeding. It's a breeder's responsibility.

Just to pop in, cull doesnt ALWAYS mean to kill or put down. It just literally means to remove from the breeding pool, whatever you choose to do between keeping as pet animal or putting down is up to the person.

Verb:Select from a large quantity; obtain from a variety of sources.

Noun:A selective slaughter of wild animals.

Synonyms:pick - select - choose - pick out - elect - pluck

No cull doesn't always mean to euth but in breeders circles out generally does and honestly any breeder that doesn't have the heart to cull deformed animals and decides to place that defective animal with someone else isn't an ethical breeder. like rick said it isn't easy but you have to think of the overall big picture., we breed to IMPROVE the breed not to pass along genetically defective animals that will likely not live a quality life. When needing out is always quality of life over quantity of life... Or profit. This is the primary reason I won't breed leos. At least breeding rabbits there are cull buyers at shows, friends with big snakes, or the ability to use a gun to end things quick and painlessly. I would rather be the hand that end their lives, out of love and respect for my animals.