Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Gosh, by now you're probably all tired of my newbie questions that I'm sure you've all heard 1000 times before

For those that buy live food and feed prekilld, how do you euthanize the mice/rats?

I've heard of suffocation, freezing, breaking their necks, thumping them and a CO2 chamber. Most of them sound too inhumane for me to do them. And I'm not too keen on keeping frozen mice in our freezer. So, I was hoping someone could tell me their method of doing this? Thanks!
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0.1 Ball Python (Cambria)
1.0 Honduran Red Tail Boa (Mitch)
0.0.1 Rosy Boa (Thorn)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Lucky)

C02 chanber is probably the easiest way to do it without using your hands. but the simplest way..put it in a brown paper lunch bag and slm it into a wall. happens so quick the mouse doesnt feel a thing. once you do it the firs ttime youll realize how easy it is...

That's how I do it. But I might recommend using something other than a paper/plastic bag. From my experience, they tear easy and you may have a rat flying across the room... I use an old pillow case.

the mice/rats./think while they are flying towards the wall/floor.....in a brown bag.....screeeeeeeeeeeeaming like noone knows.......then as the bag hits the wall....they get a half a concusion........and fly out of the bag and across the room.....sliding along the floor till they hit the wall....where they sprain both their ankles.......then try to run away from all that while being dizzy and all.....as something AGAIN grabs their tail and tries it again.......

........just like an amuesement park and a hospital visit combined........

.......ever hear their thoughts?.........

..........you wouldn't like it........

.......

...probably goes something like...

WTF....Holy S....Ouch.....Dagnamit!

That's why I use a cloth bag. It is quick and I'd say a realistic number is 97% instant kill rate after one whack. I've tried cervical dislocation on rats....BAD IDEA! I have pulled the skin off the tail of damn near every rat I tried....works great for mice though. If I were breeding rats, I would use some form of CO2...either canisters or dry ice....that seems to be the most humane and pratical method for many rats.

.........I whack them with a finger pling......(other wording?)

.....also...the metal pole in cellar....oil tank.....cage 2 x 4's.....melamine cage....corner of other racks....anything that doesn't move.......(jumbo and collosal rats ....use the floor and alot of energy......)....

.......I can see these people using a bag....whacking a rat softly against the floor.....in fear of actually having it hurt the rat....then opening the bag and reaching in to a really mad and attacking rat.......ouch..LOL...then rat runs across floor...never to be seen again....just the damage it does..LOL

anyways.......

A good friend of mine actually designed a device to electrocute rats. It killed them immediately. I'm not recommending it, but you may add another one to your list!

>>Gosh, by now you're probably all tired of my newbie questions that I'm sure you've all heard 1000 times before
>>
>>For those that buy live food and feed prekilld, how do you euthanize the mice/rats?
>>
>>I've heard of suffocation, freezing, breaking their necks, thumping them and a CO2 chamber. Most of them sound too inhumane for me to do them. And I'm not too keen on keeping frozen mice in our freezer. So, I was hoping someone could tell me their method of doing this? Thanks!

well, you have pretty much named all the ways of killing rodents. Killing is killing. I break their necks. They die fast, I can do several dozen or 2 at a time and I don't need special anything. It is humane and less expensive and time consuming than CO2. You either are gonna suck it up and learn some way of killing them or find someone to do it for you. Sorry, that may sound harsh, but I used to tell people (when I worked in a pet store) if you can't kill a mouse or you are weirded out by it...don't get a snake.
If you can find someone to show you how to do it that may help you get more comfortable about it.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

with mice, i snap their necks. it is easy and quick. The really good thing about that is if you have a shy eater, they will be attracted to the post mortomtwitching without the mouse running all over the snake. With rats, though, i use the pillow case method. I accidentally pulled the tail off one, and that was the worst thing ever. I have pet rats, and i felt HORRIBLE.

This isn't meant to flame you or spark a big debate, but how to deal with having pet rats and feeding live/pre-killed ones? I used to have pet rats long before I had snakes and it took me a while to reconcile feeding my "pets" to snakes, part of the food chain, etc. I am considering getting another pet rat but I think I would find it difficult to look at my pet and then the feeders in my freezer. How do you cope with that?

Might help me out a bit in my decision..

inhumane.......wow...I didn't think I could even spell that word......

what is really IN-humane?.........

.....feed live........if snake is too squeemish....you need an iguana.......

anyways..........

This past week I have been feeding live with no problems. However, the more I feed live, the more chances I have of the rat/mouse biting or scratching my snake. And that could turn into a horrible mess. So I was asking of ways to kill the rodents easiest and quickest.
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0.1 Ball Python (Cambria)
1.0 Honduran Red Tail Boa (Mitch)
0.0.1 Rosy Boa (Thorn)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Lucky)

Buy frozen ones and put them in your freezer. having rats in the freezer isnt a big deal as you might think. youll feel better about it in the long run also. also cheaper.

Rob Woods

I normaly just wack them against the wall if I need them dead do it head first so the poor little mousie does not suffer I am sorry but I have pity if I have to kill it.