# Ball Pythons > BP Husbandry >  how do you kill your rats when feeding pre-killed?

## adam_degel

just wanna get an idea on any methods you guys use cause i'd rather feed live then frozen but i dont want to deal with the risk of a bite!

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## HypoPita

I tend to go the bow-and-arrow route, but it's not for everyone..

Why do you prefer to feed live? and what risk of a bite?

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## adam_degel

is that a joke? lol.. i dunno its just easier.. i understand the rats i feed now are young and cant do much damage but as they get older i dont want them taking chunks of snake out..

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## Denial

dry ice

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## HypoPita

nah man, I legit bust out my bow in the alley, let one go, and get some target practice  :ROFL:   :Wag of the finger:   jk I feed f/t. ....that does sound like something I would actually do though... I've fed f/t and live, and honestly, f/t is so much easier man. If you have live, and they don't eat, you have to deal with bedding, water, food, all that junk adding to an already more expensive feeder to begin with. That way you have no risk of biting  :Good Job: 

but hey, different strokes for different folks. I highly suggest f/t though, honestly. IF you do go the pk route, most people co2 gas them.

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## Stewart_Reptiles

I rarely do (as I prefer to feed live) however if I retire a breeder rat, or if I euthanize rats because I produce too many I use this

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## adam_degel

really..lol.. thats intense.. i wonder if i could just suffocate them in a bag?

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> i wonder if i could just suffocate them in a bag?


Rats have teeth and claws so you can imagine what will happen to your bag.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Darkice

A quick whack on the back of the head with a spoon will stunn them long enough for a feeding.

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_adam_degel_ (10-25-2009)

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## BPelizabeth

> A quick whack on the back of the head with a spoon will stunn them long enough for a feeding.



ditto!

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## 98bcobra

Check out the DIY section has a nice Cooler/Dry Ice method that works great  :Good Job: .  I feed live though,  I did the frozen thing and found out that my snakes feed better on live.  I never feed anything over a Small Rat because teeth are for the most part are small and usually never do a lot of damage if they do bite.

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_adam_degel_ (10-26-2009)

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## rabernet

> is that a joke? lol.. i dunno its just easier.. i understand the rats i feed now are young and cant do much damage but as they get older i dont want them taking chunks of snake out..


I feed live to almost 50 ball pythons from pinky rats up to small medium rats. i've never had a chunk taken out of any of my snakes. The most "damage" if you can even call it that, has been an insignificant scratch that's happened about 5 times in over 5000 live feedings. 

If I were to pre-kill, a CO2 chamber is the only humane (and respectful) method.

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_771subliminal_ (10-25-2009),_adam_degel_ (10-26-2009)

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## aSnakeLovinBabe

I find the gas chamber to be worse than a quick blow to the head. I mean, I personally rather be whacked than suddenly stuffed into a chamber, and consciously deprived of air until I blacked out. I have watched a rat suffocate before it's not really very humane IMO. It's fine for the people who don't have the guts to whack them... but I will stick to whacking if I find myself having to feed live (i dont normally feed live.) There is a certain way to do it so that you kill them on the first blow.

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## 771subliminal

> I find the gas chamber to be worse than a quick blow to the head. I mean, I personally rather be whacked than suddenly stuffed into a chamber, and consciously deprived of air until I blacked out. I have watched a rat suffocate before it's not really very humane IMO. It's fine for the people who don't have the guts to whack them... but I will stick to whacking if I find myself having to feed live (i dont normally feed live.) There is a certain way to do it so that you kill them on the first blow.


ive thought about that too, a good hit on the head and they never knew it was comming, co2 is kinda slow its gotta be like having a severe asthma attack

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## BAD Morphs

I have fed both live and f/t. I breed my own rats and live is way more efficient and less of a PITA IMO. I whack the rats on the head. I seem to waste too many f/t because some will sometimes eat them and sometimes they won't and I don't like to re freeze more than once. I have wasted as many as 8 rats in a feeding with f/t. I don't whack them all the time some will only take them alive and moving so if they don't get eaten they live another week till next feeding day. Not saying my way is right or wrong it'sjust the way I do it.

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## rabernet

> but I will stick to whacking if I find myself having to feed live (i dont normally feed live.) There is a certain way to do it so that you kill them on the first blow.


Ummm, if you whack, then you aren't feeding live.  :Confused:

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## pavlovk1025

I tell them a funny joke and it kills.

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## BAD Morphs

> Ummm, if you whack, then you aren't feeding live.


Umm I think I said I don't whack them all the time cause some of them won't take it if it ain't moving about.

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> I find the gas chamber to be worse than a quick blow to the head. I mean, I personally rather be whacked than suddenly stuffed into a chamber, and consciously deprived of air until I blacked out. I have watched a rat suffocate before it's not really very humane IMO. It's fine for the people who don't have the guts to whack them... but I will stick to whacking if I find myself having to feed live (i dont normally feed live.) There is a certain way to do it so that you kill them on the first blow.


Both methods are listed as human way to euthanize rodents (CO2 chambers and cervical dislocation) the problem with cervical dislocation is that the majority of people are not efficient at it leaving the rodent alive but paralyzed (not what I call human).

With CO2 chamber there is also a notion of number I could not see myself doing cervical dislocation on a hundred of feeders at the time so CO2 chamber is the fastest and most efficient way to do so as well as human.

Bottom line its whatever works for the owner and whatever is human to the prey................personally I still prefer to feed live.  :Wink:

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## rabernet

> Umm I think I said I don't whack them all the time cause some of them won't take it if it ain't moving about.


I don't believe I quoted you. My response was to who I quoted.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## snakesRkewl

I feed live mostly, but I do gas large rats partially to wobble them, it gives the snake a shot at killing it live but groggy.
I hate whacking rats, but to each his/her own.

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## missturpak

I can't say this for everywhere, but around here a lot of our locally-owned pet shops will kill them for you, if you ask. That's the route I took when I had a red-tail boa, BIG live rodents and killing things are not my cup of tea.

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## psycho

YouTube - pre kill mouse, feed corn snake

i do this with my mice...

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## seeya205

You can just put it in a pillow case and whack on the ground!  That will kill it with one shot instantly!

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## PiebaldFan

awesome techniques everyone , i usually feed live adult mice ot my new 2009 mojave but this week he ate  like 3 mice a week he's a crazy eater, but backt ot he subject  now that he is eating bigger adult mice i  have these piercing pliers i use that has two round circle to  gript he rat with by the head and once the snake has struck and bit down i squeeze the pliers making a nice and fast skull crushing kill and safe  :Taz:  oh yea baby :Dancin' Banana: 

tall paul

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