Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well my friend has a pair of rats whom keep non stop breeding and i figured i would take them off her hands. but i only feed frozen so i figure i would take the rats freeze them and offer hen needed etc. my question is now whats a good way to kill rats for freezing? im not gon stick them in the freezer alive and they are to small for the good ol smack on counter lol. any tips and ideas?

I putlive mouse hoppers in the freezer but they probably ran out of air before they froze. Any thing from a rat pup on up I would throw on the ground to kill it before freezing it. If your rats could choose they would probably pick a quik smack on the ground over being bitten and squeezed and and maybe eaten alive by a snake.

I agree. It may not be something you want your neighbors to see you do, but imo, throwing them against the concrete/pavement is more humane than suffocating or freezing them. Wham, and it's over in a fraction of a second. I used to use that method for killing rats for my boa.

>>I putlive mouse hoppers in the freezer but they probably ran out of air before they froze. Any thing from a rat pup on up I would throw on the ground to kill it before freezing it. If your rats could choose they would probably pick a quik smack on the ground over being bitten and squeezed and and maybe eaten alive by a snake.

im more than use to rats in a bag and smack on counter lol my worry was just that witht he smaller ones they might explode lol

I was wondering what you meant when you said they were "too small" to be smacked against the counter! You must really wind up when you whack them!

>>im more than use to rats in a bag and smack on counter lol my worry was just that witht he smaller ones they might explode lol

lol well i put them in a pillow case and just the snap of the wrist and its a pretty darn hard smack

I just hold them by the tail and smack the back of the head where the spine meets the skull..breaks their spinal cord...they die pretty quickly. No mess either.

One of these days i do intend to build a CO2 chamber...
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PHLdyPayne

If you are not willing to freeze or whack then you only have on option- C02. I have never used it- supposed to be the most humane way but is pricey. You have to set up a whole system.
I just freeze mine (babies.)I figure a slow sleepy death beats one of terror, teeth, and bone breaking squeezing.

Well, as one who dispatches dozens of rats every week, I might be able to help. As you may know I raise my own feeders so everything I feed is F/K with me doing the "K" part. For the larger rodante smacking on cement is surely an option but can get a bit messy. There is a fine line between hard enough to kill and so hard you cause hemoraging....bleeding out the nose. What I do with mine is to whack the spinal column right behind the head. Incapacitates them in a hurry. Simply swing by tail and aim to hit back of neck on hard sharp object, I aim for the edge of the bucket I transport them in. Properly placed blow and they just twitch for a minute with no bleeding whatsoever.

Yes it's gory
yes it's gruesome
yes it's a necessary evil
no, it's not fun

Like already said only other option is CO2 chamber but there is expense there. And I find for myself since I don't freeze, whacking one by one allows me to feed my snakes one by one and not waste any, if one does not eat, I give it to another.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

once again lol i have no problem witht he whack and smack lol for bigger ones but something anywhere from rat pink to jusst past eyes open and crawlin around etc i think a whack and smack might be a lil overkill

Thought you were getting retired breeders, babies like that, just pop em in the freezer for the chillin nap!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

i may have mis worded soem things i have been a lil ticked lately once again net is acting up and if i actually get on my dsl is running slower than dial up grrr. anywhos yeah my friend has pet rats she loves and they decided to start breeding lol so i offered to take any unwanted babies from newborn up but once they are wean size she doesnt want them around no more lol

The approved "humane" laboratory method for dispatching rodents is a similar blow or application of force to the back of the skull. Swinging the rodent sounds a bit too imprecise to me...

The method I was taught in a biology lab was to hold the rodent by the tail or hind legs (rabbits, guinea pigs, etc) head down on a sloped smooth surface.
Run your thumb (or a stiff wooden stick) up the vertibral column until it just touches the back of the skull, then push down with a bit of force. This dislodges the spinal column from the skull at the first vertibrae severing the spinal cord.

Gruesome to be sure, but as Dave stated it is VERY quick.

This is why I always feed thawed... these were not the happiest memories from working in the Lab...
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Later,
Paul E. Turley

Yeah, I understand what you mean but I do it dozens of times a week, very quick and I'm a very good "swinger" LOL The advantage for me is it's very quick, pull one out of the bucket by the tail, quick flip/swing and smack the back of it's neck on bucket rim (5 gal - solid bucket). Almost always still twitchin but no threat to the snake.

I'll have to try your dowel trick....
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

SWINGER!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO Dave has the MOJO!!!!!

Dave is a P-I-M-P

ive tried that behind the neck thing, it doesn't seem to work, if they are small enough (pinks to weaned) i floor thump them, vacuum seal and freeze, anything bigger, i whack on a brick, some turn out *&^% bloody so i will keep trying the neck thing i guess.
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1.4 various boas(Flicka,Felony,Nova,Alias,Alibi)
0.1 BRB Abalone; ABBI
1.0 Rott X (OSO)
2.0 cats (Simba, Morris)
fish & feeders
~:~~~~~~~ ~:~~~~~~~~

Once you clear a rack of a 50 specimen toxicity screening, you get good at it pretty quick!

"Beg' pardon miss... can we have your liver?"

With mice, the index and middle finger on either side of the spine worked best. Stretch them out a bit, then push. The lab supervisor used to use her thumb.
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Later,
Paul E. Turley

2You guys are too humane, why dont you feed live, but hold the mouses tail or something so it cant hurt the snake. Id feed live but cant find anywhere that sells rat pinks. I called a petstore that breeds mice and asked them. They asjed me what im gunna use them for and i said "i like watching my snake kill things" and the guy said i was inhumane and woulnt gimme any
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As soon as your born you start dying...
So you might as well have a good time!!!

... And if you die in an elevator remember to push the up button

...And death is lifes way of telling you your fired

...And theres a good reason why the road less traveled is less traveled

...Dreams are like rainbows, only idiots chase them(unless its a boa)

0.1 Tangerine albino leopard gecko typhon
0.0.1 Green tree python
0.1 Brazilian rainbow boa
0.1 evil sibling

Yeah.Try holding holding a 9" long live rat by the tail when a 7 foot snake hits it. You wouldn't try that a second time!LOL

I can't even hang onto a dead adult rat when my 6' BRB hits it...sometimes I have to fight to get the tongs back too LOL
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PHLdyPayne

I know what you mean. Once or twice I had to wait until a snake was done eating before I could get my tongs back. Some times they just wont let go!LOL

It's not the tail you have to worry about, rodents have very sharp teeth and very strong jaws. IF the snake grabs it wrong, the rodent can twist it's head and bite. I've seen it MANY times where the mouth of a twitching rat is more or less open and around or near a part of the snake. Not doing anything because it's incapacitated. Were that rodant still fully alive, it'd be biting hard and fighting for it's life. Yes the snake would wrap more and/or differently to restrain the rodent, but maybe not before sustaining a nasty bite!! Hmmmmm, my pet vs vermin that needs to die anyways!! No brainer, don't let the rodent get in ANY bites and the snakes have NO wounds!!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
24.36 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

IMO, the more appropriate question is why NOT feed dead? Why would you want to risk injuring/killing your pet snake over a food item??
And how would holding the mouse/rat's tail completely prevent the mouse/rat from biting the snake?

>>2You guys are too humane, why dont you feed live, but hold the mouses tail or something so it cant hurt the snake. Id feed live but cant find anywhere that sells rat pinks. I called a petstore that breeds mice and asked them. They asjed me what im gunna use them for and i said "i like watching my snake kill things" and the guy said i was inhumane and woulnt gimme any
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>

You can always make a variation of the link here at the bottom

There's some debate on which methods are more humane than others but really any method that's quick is all good. Plus less mess generally with the chamber and you can do as many as you can fit in there at a time in about a minute.
http://www.happyhillbilly.com/co2/

Rubber bands. A strong (ie. thick) rubberband provides the force necessary to snap the spine of a mouse or a small rat. You can create the same amount of force that a mouse trap uses with a nice thick rubberband, and it is much cheaper than making your own CO2 chamber.