Euthanizing pinkies?

I'm almost out of frozen pinkie mice, which I feed my baby corn snake every 5 days... one of my breeding mice is very pregnant now, so I'm planning to take at least 4-6 of them as pinkies to freeze. Do I have to bother with a CO2 chamber (which I don't have yet) and all of that, or can I just stick them in the freezer? I'm not into torturing animals of any size/age, but wonder how necessary a full euthanasia is for BRAND new babies. :weirdface Is there another way to humanely kill them?

from what i have heard, you cant kill then in a Co2 chamber. You can just stick them in the freezer, thats what ive heard most do

I think I remember being told something about the tail of a mouse not being fused to the spinal cord until a certain age. It was at a pet store though.....I am always weary of advice from a pet store.

why WOULDN'T you be able to euthanize them with CO2?

and what does the spinal cord and tail have to do with it?

i just stick the newborns in the freezer

It was something about a pinkie being able to feel more after it gets to be a certain age...maybe it wasn't the tail, maybe something else.....I have really got to get more sleep.

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Originally Posted by katia

why WOULDN'T you be able to euthanize them with CO2?

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Freezing is the recommended method for neonate rodents since they are resistant to hypoxia.

Thanks all! Looks like it's the freezer for them... :oops:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Freezing is the recommended method for neonate rodents since they are resistant to hypoxia.

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thanks! i had no idea.

Yep....that's what I was trying to get at lol. Probably would have been more clear if it weren't for sleep deprivation. I was told to make sure they were frozen before a certain point because the CO2 does not work when they freshly born.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by katia

why WOULDN'T you be able to euthanize them with CO2?

and what does the spinal cord and tail have to do with it?

i just stick the newborns in the freezer

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Deb already covered the CO2 question. The spinal cord and tail thing is a concern only when you are choosing cervical dislocation for euthanizing prey items for snakes and that method is heavily dependent on a skillful person as well as the size of the prey item.