Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what is the best way to prekill one mouse at a time to feed to a ball python. This weekend I hit the mouse's head on a brick like read but it took 2 hits and I dont want it to have to suffer anymore than it has too. I only have 2 snakes so I only kill 2 a week.

Brandon

I have found, through trial and error, that blunt force is the best way to kill mice fast, unless you want to build a CO2 chamber. Here is a way that works well, and gets them dead fast.

1. get a plastic back like the ones that groceries come in, and target gives you, and the like.

2. drop in 1 to as many mice as you want to kill, numbers dont really have an effect on this method.

3. Hold bag by the handles securely. Spin bag around to build up inertia and get centripital force to pull the mouse to the farthest point from your hand.

4. Follow the spin and as the bag comes down in the rotation, swing your arm down, so that you slam the bag off of the ground. The inertia produced from spinning allows there to be enough force to kill a mouse. 1 hit, mouse doesnt know what happens, just knows hes dead. works wonderfully.

The bag keeps in all(if any) blood splatter that may occur. You might want to tie the bag before spinning. i did a 5 mouse bag one time and when i hit the bag off of the ground, the force made one mouse fly out of the top of the bag, and down the hall. Dead, but wasn't what I had in mind for him.

Try it, it works very well.

Truth

deffinitely don't try the above suggestion near stairs.

>>deffinitely don't try the above suggestion near stairs.

And double bag! When I've used this method, I put the mice into the ziplock-type bag I'm going to freeze it off in, and THEN put it into the plastic bag. I've never had to swing twice, but I have had both kinds of bags open up, resulting in the stunned (or worse, live) mice hurling through the air. Yikes!

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Rebecca
TSBabe66@hotmail.com
Honored to moderate at Snakefeeders, a great place to buy/sell/trade feeder animals. Come check us out! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/snakefeeders/

I just tryed that bag, but the bag had a lot of air I could not get out and the mice would only die one at a time. I was thinking what if I used an old sock would that work?

Brandon

>>I just tryed that bag, but the bag had a lot of air I could not get out and the mice would only die one at a time. I was thinking what if I used an old sock would that work?
>>

Yes, too much air in the bag definitely makes things difficult.

I actually have used old socks, not for mice but for when I've had to euthanize smaller rats and did not have CO2. You just *really* need to get that windmill motion going, and be sure you're aiming toward something hard.

The disadvantage to this method (over CO2, cervical dislocation, and the other methods mentioned in this thread) is that you're extremely likely to get a very messy (ie bloody) mouse/rat when you're done. Sometimes it's more than you bargained for.....
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Rebecca
TSBabe66@hotmail.com
Honored to moderate at Snakefeeders, a great place to buy/sell/trade feeder animals. Come check us out! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/snakefeeders/

I urge you not to use the sock. First, getting the little guy in there (all the way to the toe) can be a chore, their little claws seem to grab or snag most of the way down. Second, this method does tend to get "messy", so there is a really good chance that the sock will be "gross" while you are trying to get the mouse out. Third, getting the mouse out lends itself to the same problem as getting it in (i.e. Claws snagging).

I use an old pillow case for both rats and mice. BE SURE TO TIE THE END TO AVOID THE SEEMS FROM SPLITTING. The knot in the end will also give you some added weight to get the speed up in the "whack". To make sure you get a quick kill, I always use concrete to hit them on, garage, street, carport, etc. I agree with Crotus. I have tried using the sock method at first, and it is too hard to get them all the way down into the bottom. The wide opening in the pillow case helps with this, although getting them in there by yourself is not always fun, especially with a large rat.

I just grab my rats by the tail and hit them with a screw driver right at the base of the neck and head. The only time I ever had to do it twice is when it started to spin, while trying to bite me!

the method i use is to pin the head down just behind the neck and then to yank on the tail. never fails and no mess and no pain

I just had to do this for the first time. I used a screwdriver, held it backwards and just bopped them on the head. I practiced on my hand first to get the feel of how hard I needed to do it. It worked perfectly, they passed very quickly.