My betta looks like he is going to die, is it really humane to put him in the freezer?

Question

For the last couple of days he has been acting like he is broken. He trys to swim but he just can't go any where. I changed his water and put him in a smaller tank hoping he would rest. I don't know what to do!!!! I read that if you put them in the freezer he will just go to sleep, is this true?? I don't think I can murder him, any other suggestions???

Answer 1

Have you tried medicating the fish? If you describe the problem to a professional at your local pet food store, they may be able to help.

My betta was doing something similar, moving his front fins constantly but seeming lethargic. He rarely truly moved, his coloring faded, and the area around his gills appeared dark and swollen. We used BettaFix for 2 weeks and he's fine now. Maybe it's not too late for your fishy.

Answer 2

A tough question with lots of opinions. I have 6 tanks with about 170 fish in all and breed Angelfish as a hobby so I'm faced with this once in a while. I'll try to help a sick fish as much as I can and will medicate in a hospital tank if I think it will help but when the fish appears beyond hope and cannot control itself it's time to do something. I think flushing is the worst option because the fish is poisoned by all the chemicals it hits. I've heard people who say shocking them with cold water is painless and quick but I'm not sure about that. Personally I like to put the sick fish in a dish large enough to allow it to rest in the water normally and then I put that container in the freezer. I believe the fish slowly "goes to sleep" without trauma and the reason I say that is because distressed fish who die are usually curled up on their side in a contorted way. Fish I have put in the freezer are always lying flat on their sides and do not appear to have been distressed. Having to kill a fish is not fun but sometimes it's better than letting it suffer or contaminating the rest of your tank with some disease. Hope this helps, Peter

Answer 3

HELL NO!!! Imagine yourself in a freezer. You'll feel all the liquids in your body start to solidify and the remaining drops of blood within you which can still flow will chill your spines directly. Well, at least that's what I think... If we can get hypothermia, what makes you think a fish won't feel anything in a freezer?!

If you're COMPLETELY sure that there's no way your betta is going to survive, the most humane form of euthanasia is putting a knife into its spine just before the head, IN ONE MOVEMENT ONLY!!! Seriously, it'll die instantly but don't do it if you're not confident of doing it. Maybe you should just let it die peacefully.

Answer 4

First, let me say that I do not advocate the purposeful killing of an animal. There are times when it is apropriate, but I will not make that judgement call when I do not have enough information.

If you truly believe that your fish is going to die, then yes freezing is the most humane thing to do. What will happen is that the animals metabolism will slow down dramatically and just stop (the fact that their metabolism slows down is the reason you do not feed koi in the winter time). If it gets flushed down the toilet, the toxins in the sewer system will kill it just as well, but many people, myself included, believe that the animal will suffer more.

As far as keeping it from suffocating, put about 25 percent water and 75 percent air in the bag, making sure that the bag is conpletely full with air and water like you would get it from a store, and this will allow for gas exchange and keep the water oxygenated. When fish are shipped, they actually have very little water and lots of air for this very purpose.

Answer 5

Flushing, freezing and many other ways that people kill their fish are very inhumane. Here is a link to a site that explains the most humane way to euthanize a fish, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-most-humane-way-to-euthanize-a-fish.htm At the bottom of the page it list the inhumane ways and freezing is the first one.

Before you decide to euthanize him try seeing if he can be treated. Having problems swimming can be something like swim bladder disorder and can most of the time be very easy to fix. Or maybe the water is too cold and he has become lethargic.

Answer 6

Ahem.

The most INHUMANE thing to do is flush a living fish down the toilet. Jeeze did you even think about this?

Many fish, many many fish have crippled ecosystems from this behavior, living fish do not get thrown into your drainage systems to be dealt with. For people who have difficulty reading things you'll be suprized to know that things like Betta Splenden live in ditches and drainage ducts. Amusingly enough this is their natural habbitat. Same thing with cichlids like Jack Dempseys.

If you introduce a foreign species of any animal into a stable ecosystem you are running a serious risk of doing a load of damage no matter how unoticable it is. African land snails are outlawed in many countries for these exact reasons. You can even see mobs of biologists with clubs walking through forests of montanna in the moist mornings smashing as many of them as they can.

More than the simple ecological disasters an amateur practicing flushing live fish, a humanitarian would question if the temperature change from 76-80 degrees into 60 degree water would be cozy on the fish? No... it will suffer greatly flushing a fish.

If you truely believe that your fish is past the point of return, bagging it and tossing it in the freezer is 100% humane. The only alternative I could suggest over this is euthanasia by mixing a solution of clove oil in a bucket of tank water that already has your fish in it. 4 drops will knock it out and place it upside down, 4 more will end its life. This can be usually obtained from a veteranarian.

When you freeze a fish, the slow decline in temperature will stimulate hypothermia. If you want to go poke into this feel free. When something dies of hypothermia it does not suffer. People for example will grow tired, then fall asleep.

For a fish, it will be long dead before the water turns to ice, and it will not feel a thing.

Consider the above before you flush your fishy.

Answer 7

if he hasn't eaten in that long, it is safe to assume he has accepted his passing, and you should help him along. i'm sorry to hear about your betta, mine passed the same way. he will stay in that corner until his last struggled gurgle.. put him in a small container or bag and put him in the freezer... it will be the most painless death he could hope for. sorry again hun.

Answer 8

just because he can't swim right doesn't mean he's suffering. do not kill him. he might just have swim bladder disorder, try not feeding him for a day except for a tiny bit of the inside of a thawed frozen pea. then the next day start feeding him again, but less than you usually do. it might be something else, Ican't tell because you didn't go into details, but try looking at http://bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm
look for any symptoms your fish has then match them up to see if he's sick, then follow the instructions to treat him. much more humane then killing him. good luck!

Answer 9

is the fish in pain now you don't know that for shore I say just let him be putting him in the freezer will kill him faster but it really does not mater any way if it were up to me I would just keep taking car of it until it dies.

Answer 10

Im going through that with one of my mollies. I think she broke her back because the only way she moves is by moving her fins. Its horrible because the male nips at her and the algae eater sucks on her. Shes still hanging on though I just cant do it (kill her) so I let nature take its course.