euthanize pinks/fuzzies

[Wicked Constrictors]

Got 6 eggs 11 days ago and im getting ready to get some rats in the freezer for them. I wanted to know how you all euthanize your baby rats. I CO2 my bigger ones and once i put down some pinks but it took so long and i used a lot of CO2, is there a faster way to put them down in a humane?

[Mike41793]

Cervical dislocation. Or just bop them on the head very gently. Their skulls at that age are like paper thin so it would require like the same amount of force as squishing a bug, maybe less.

I would go the cervical dislocation route. You would barely have to tug. Watch some videos on it to make sure you do it right though otherwise it wont be humane like you want.

EDIT: what was the pairing you got eggs from?

[Anatopism]

With pinks and small fuzzies, I support their body in my hand and hold their necks/heads between two fingers with the back of their skulls facing towards me. I then give them a very sharp flick to the back of the head with my other hand several times very quickly. They muscle spasm and die instantly.

[satomi325]

At that age, you cannot use cervical dislocation on a pink. Cervical dislocation may only be used in adult rodents, as it can be difficult to perform in neonates and thus is not appropriate for use in animals prior to weaning. There is nothing to 'grab'. On an older rat, you can yank the tail, but pinks are already fragile and you'd probably pull the tail off.

People use CO2, but it's not really recommended for pinks due to their resistance to hypoxia. Because of this resistance, they don't need much oxygen, which allows them to endure their nursing life under mom. So it takes forever for them to be put down.

This is cruel to any other animal and older rats, but the only acceptable humane method(by IACUC) to put down pinks is to freeze them.
But like Mike, you can probably flick their heads and they'll die.

On fuzzies, you can probably just use CO2, or flicking.

[Wicked Constrictors]

EDIT: what was the pairing you got eggs from?

Its my first time breeding so its nothing new, pairing normal to mojo

[meowmeowkazoo]

I would definitely recommend flicking the heads. I had some pinks in the freezer for a good three hours, then took them out and put in hot water to warm them up (they were partially frozen). They CAME BACK TO LIFE in the hot water and started gasping for air. It was incredibly traumatic. I felt like the worst person in the world.