Best way to pre-kill?

Hi all, my first post here. Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I wasn't sure if I should post it here or in the feeder section.


I have two young ball pythons, they're both just under 200 grams, and so far I've been feeding them live rat pups every 5 days. However once they get bigger and move on to bigger prey I don't think I will still be comfortable with feeding live and risking injury. I can't do frozen/thawed because my boyfriend will not allow me to use our freezer (where we keep our frozen pizzas and things lol) to store them. Even though they are in bags it's still kinda gross. I don't really want to buy a separate mini-freezer to store the frozen rats because they're so expensive and it's not really worth it if I only have two snakes. My local store only sells live but will order bulk frozen for you - thus the storage problem. It's not possible to go by once a week and pick up two frozen rats.

So I'm interested in learning the best way to pre-kill, so I can still go by the store and buy live and just kill it immediately before feeding my snakes. I just want to know the most humane way for the rat and the least traumatic way for me. Thank you!

Depending on the type of store you buy your feeder from some will pre-kill for you.

Otherwise for 2 snakes cervical dislocation is likely what I would recommend, you can also use a small CO2 gas chamber but it would need to be VERY small for just 2 rats.

Once properly learned, cervical dislocation is quick and easy. However, not for the faint of heart.;)

I agree cervical dislocation is quick and once you get used to it it won't be so bad for you. A friend of mine start breeding rats recently and I've been helping him out. I've seen him do it 2-3 times now and I am finally getting used to seeing it. Honestly the worst part about it is hearing the pop from the spine breaking and certainly better than having to step in and help your snake after the fact.

side note here: Wizard your avatar freaks me out :O

if you use gas, i would advise against the use of CO2.

its rather quick, but when mammals detect a CO2 increase in the blood stream they react with panic and a feeling of asphyxiation before they die.

i think its more humane to use a gas that prevent such a CO2 buildup.

nitrogen or helium is much slower, but since there is no CO2 buildup they fall asleep peacefully.

optimal would be nitrous oxide / laughing gas. super fast and super painless, it knocks them out within a few seconds and they feel euphoria. you can cheaply buy single-use cartridges that are usually used in whipped cream dispensers. its legal to own as long as you dont use it as a drug.

edit @ tribal: i think its the mass murderer clown from the Rob Zombie movie "house of 1000 corpses"

Thanks for all of your responses. :)


Is there a guide or a video somewhere on how to do cervical dislocation? I think I could handle it if I saw how quick and easy it is. I'm just afraid I'd do it incorrectly and not kill the rat cleanly and it would suffer. I'll also look into gas, but I'm not sure how practical it will be for only a couple of rats. Thank you again!

Look online for the AVMA guide for euthanasia and the NIH guide for cervical dislocation.

I can try and upload the files when I get home

Cervical dislocation is something you need taught to you by someone who's done it a lot, imo. Even then, you will screw up at some point. It's going to happen.

Granted, my experience is with rabbits intended for human consumption. They have very powerful back legs which can make everything more difficult. It was not something I enjoyed. I imagine rats would be considerably easier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opwXJ...has_verified=1