Killing rats

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Originally Posted by Pythons Rock

Here is a very well written thread on creating a Co2 chamber http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...hlight=chamber I followed these instructions using a 10 gallon tank and 2 lbs of dry ice in a bag, with two large rabbits in the tank I opened the bag and covered the top with a piece of plywood, they slowly went to sleep and stopped breathing after about 4min. If you can't access dry ice you can create Co2 with white vinegar and baking soda, here is that page. http://www.alysion.org/euthanasia/ Co2 is very clean and they just fall asleep and don't wake up.

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good post now all you need is a food saver to vacume seal them and presto! Rodentpro quality. Good job

If you don't feed larger than a small rat (which is the largest size your ball will ever need) - live feeding is not an issue. I've fed hundreds of live mice and probaby 20 live rats since I've been keeping ball pythons - it's not been a problem for me at all.

Sorry, I don't know how to quote, but in the last post someone said that a small rat was the largest food a BP would need---I'm curious about that, as my two girls are both pretty big, and eat medium or large rats (I was following the "thickest part of your snake") rule. Are BP not supposed to be fed the medium and large sizes?

(not trying to hijack the thread, but I think it's a good related question :) )

My CO2 chamber was simple.

1. get a CO2 tank from walmart or a paintball store, as well as what is called a remote (just the tube with a turn valve also in painball section or pball store)
2. You can make a small box, or i just use the taped box they come in.
3. make a hole into the box or container to allow the CO2 in
4. when turning on the valve GO SLOW!! you can crate alot of noise and pressure possibly opening the top and the rat or mouse making a run for it.
5. You may also want to ad a small vent hole on the top so the air in the box can be forced out (Air is lighter than CO2). And it doesn't take more than about 2-3 min
6. after alot of gasing a refil is like 2-3 bucks depending on the size of the tank you have


thats just my sorta rig, it doesn't take alot of CO2 to put em down, once you replace all of the air with CO2

hope that gives some ideas!


wildlifewarrior

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Originally Posted by Dananyc

Sorry, I don't know how to quote, but in the last post someone said that a small rat was the largest food a BP would need---I'm curious about that, as my two girls are both pretty big, and eat medium or large rats (I was following the "thickest part of your snake") rule. Are BP not supposed to be fed the medium and large sizes?

(not trying to hijack the thread, but I think it's a good related question :) )

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The term small and Medium are relative what one company think is a small the others might think is a Med and so on. By following the "thickest part of the body rule" is fine thats what most of us do. It might be a good idea to weigh their food items so if you ever have to get them from somewhere else. you will have the weight to go by.
Most F/T companys give a size description but they package by what weight class the rat or mouse fall into. So a small rat might be 30 or 40 grams and your thinking a small rat is 50 - 60 grams thats a bigg differance.

Look at some of the sites and see but weight their food and see what size they are eating just to know and keep records of it.


Hope this helps :sweeet:

Here's a good discussion on appropriately sized prey for your snake.


http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...mall+small+rat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dananyc

Sorry, I don't know how to quote, but in the last post someone said that a small rat was the largest food a BP would need---I'm curious about that, as my two girls are both pretty big, and eat medium or large rats (I was following the "thickest part of your snake") rule. Are BP not supposed to be fed the medium and large sizes?

(not trying to hijack the thread, but I think it's a good related question :) )

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I feed a few hundred ball pythons every week, and even my largest girls (4+ feet and 3000+ grams) only get what I call "small small" rats. Over the last 25 years keeping ball pythons I've found that if you're going to feed weekly, ball pythons are less likely to refuse meals during the year if they are fed smaller than the "wide as the widest part of their body" rule.

Being predators of opportunity, ball pythons are capable of eating massive amounts of food in the wild and the going for long periods of time without eating ... in captive environments, where regular weekly feedings are possible, smaller amounts of feed given regularly are more than enough to provide these slow metabolism relatively inactive animals all of the nutrients they need to be healthy and content.

I know what I know through direct experience (yes I've fed mediums, largers, and even jumbos to ball pythons) and trial and error with many many snakes over many many years ... it works very well for me and my snakes. ;)

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

... and even my largest girls (4+ feet and 3000+ grams) only get what I call "small small" rats. ...
-adam

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Adam,

Great post. Thanks! For my own education - Do your big girls get a single small rat per week?

Thanks again,
Steve

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Originally Posted by hoo-t

Adam,

Great post. Thanks! For my own education - Do your big girls get a single small rat per week?

Thanks again,
Steve

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For the majority of the year, yes ... It really depends on the individual, the time of year, if she's recovering from laying eggs or not, and the texture & smell of her poop.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

For the majority of the year, yes ... It really depends on the individual, the time of year, if she's recovering from laying eggs or not, and the texture & smell of her poop.

-adam

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So thats what all the latex gloves you've got laying around are for!

And here I thought they were just for entertainment....