Prekilling question

Seems like the sock thing would work...I'd just be carefull about what's left you know? smash it too hard and you'll be fishing pieces of god knows what out of a sock...too soft and it might not kill it in one go.

Just some food for thought...

Btw : anyone ever wonder why it's called CO2 POISIONING? I always worried it might cause some kind of reaction in the mouse/rat's body and then you give it to your snake....I suppose they can handle it since a lot of people use that method, but again, just wondering if anyone's done any kind of through research on it????

Also, yall know how criminal profilers say cereal murderors kill small animals....does that ever bother any of yall? I kinda think about it every week around feeding time....

I'm not sure I would call it poisoning, because the Carbon Dioxide isn't killing you. The lack of Oxygen is. Carbon Monoxide, however, will pretend to be Oxygen and block the hemoglobin from binding with Oxygen. That to me sounds more like a poison, because the substance itself kills you, no matter how much Oxygen is present. There is no danger to the snake of the Carbon Dioxide. It itself is not poison. You could use Nitrogen or something to the same effect. What matters is the atmospheric partial pressure of the Carbon Dioxide within the gas chamber. There is so much in the air, it prevents any in the bloodstream from coming out. Like how 100% humidity will slow down the evaporation of a bowl of water.

We're not killing them for fun (I hope). I've seen some feedings that would make you think otherwise, though. This one guy grabs the rat with the hemostats, and gets the tail twice (it looped) and the thing freaked out! It was thrashing and flipping, slamming itself off the workbench/rack. The guy laughed at it.

If you're concerned about it, you probably don't need to be.

It's kind of pointless to argue over what is the least painful way to kill a rodent for snake consumption. I know it's all in the best interest of the rodent to not be cruel, but I don't see how it's more cruel to whack a snake in the head or suffocate it than it is to let a snake kill it live. You end up with the same result whether it dies 2 seconds or 2 minutes after you inflict your intentions of death upon it. No matter what, it will die. I know the point is to kill it quickly, but it would probably suffer more in the jaws of a hungry snake than it will if it's being suffocated by a human.

With that being said, why does no one mention a mouse trap? No one can deny that those are quick and definitely work. Just grab the rodent with the tongs, hold it under the trap and trigger it to snap it's neck. Quick and easy.

Why debate this? Well some of us feel very bad for the suffering we have to inflict upon these innocent animals. If the snake kills it, well that is as nature has deemed most fit and is not really for us to judge. The snake kills how it kills and has no choice in the matter. But if I kill it, I do have choices, and I want it to suffer as little as possible. And I think most people want the same. 2 minutes of suffering the intentions of death is a lot of suffering compared to 2 seconds. I think anyone who's been near death would testify to that.

I'm pretty sure the effectiveness and effeciency of mouse traps is debatable. Or, it's not guaranteed to snap the neck and kill, even if everything goes right. It sounds good, though. I'm just not sure on their track record, and I think it leans toward less effective than is ideal. Plus, some people just don't want to deal with something so grapic. Gas is easiest on the one doing the killing, but I think directly destroying the brain is the quickest and puts the animal through the least amount of suffering of all out options.

I think that's all there is to say about that. If you just don't care much, then gas is not too bad an option. If you want the most humane (i.e. quick and painless), I don't think that is it.

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Originally Posted by stevepoppers

If you just don't care much, then gas is not too bad an option. If you want the most humane (i.e. quick and painless), I don't think that is it.

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This is a little harsh. I care a lot, and i really don't want to put the feeders through un-needed suffering. Yet, I use dry ice. It's two seconds and the rat us unconcious. A little longer, and not even a breath of air.

I don't think smashing or cervical dislocation is the best way. Especially to someone who has never done it before. As, I have tried both methods, and neither killed the rat. Not even close. Of course, i only thumped it against the table, and didn't hit it with a hammer or rock. i don't think my stomach can handle that. But, I'm not going to continue to 'practice' on the poor feeders. I'm just going to keep using dry ice. At least I know it's going to work.