What to do with rat?

[Kordie]

Hey, I feed my ball on fridays. I just started feeding him small rats a couple of weeks ago. I went friday and got a small rat from the pet store. he wont eat anything but live. When I got the rat home I weighed it. It came in at 147 grams. my snake is only 648 grams. So i decided not to feed him that rat. I called the pet store where I got it and they wont take it back because I had it over 24 hrs. I was thinking about keeping it untill bubbles (my snake) gets bigger, but wont the rat grow faster then the snake? any suggestions on what I should do with the rat? Thanks

[The Serpent Merchant]

The rat will grow much faster than the snake.

You have 3 options:

1. keep it as a new pet

2. sell it

3. kill it

Just whatever you do don't release it into the "wild"

[Kordie]

I was thinking about killing it. and putting it in the freezer but i was not sure how to go about it. I dont want to make it suffer. any suggestions

[The Serpent Merchant]

CO2 gas chamber, you can do it with dry ice, or get a compressed cylinder of it.

Here are some plans. easy t do and relatively cheap.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Y-CO2-chamber)

http://www.rodentracks.com/DIY_Co2_Chamber.html

When using CO2 make sure that you start off with a slow flow. this puts the animal to sleep. then you increase the flow to finish the job. Starting with the valve completely open will cause the rodent pain.

[Rob]

Or hit it over the head. Seems harsh but its quick and painless.
Keep the negative comments to yourself. You know it's a part of our hobby.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Or hit it over the head. Seems harsh but its quick and painless.
Keep the negative comments to yourself. You know it's a part of our hobby.

But it doesn't HAVE to be, there are simple and cheap alternatives.

[Rob]

But it doesn't HAVE to be, there are simple and cheap alternatives.

No it doesn't your right, just throwing the option out there. I know this topic has been covered a million times, but the level of humanity in each way to kill a rodent is a lot of opinion. Some people may want to step into a gas chamber and die, some may want to get thumped over the head. I don't think either one is cruel, considering the other alternative is getting squeezed to death.

[BFE Pets]

Just whatever you do don't release it into the "wild"

AMEN!

[reptiguy]

Id sell it and use the cash to buy a good size rat

[decensored]

I put them up on the classifieds for free.