prekilling your snake's prey by yourself?

I just thump them on the floor. The thing is you cant hold back and be tentative, that is when you just break its leg or something. I think its a humane way to kill them, they hit the floor and are out cold. I would much rather be knocked out than killed by a constrictor.

CO2 Method:

Materials:
-Co2 tank (around 18dollars at paintball shop, depending on size, I use 16oz, about $3 to fill, you don't need to fill it often)
-Air tight container, sized to fit feeder(s)
-surgical tubing
-glass of water
-bedding/papertowels

Setup/How this works:
Run tubing from the tank to a hole near the bottom of your container, make sure it's a good seal. Run another tube from a hole in the top container out into the glass of water. Since Co2 is heavier than air it fills up from the bottom pushing air out the top tube, the glass of water make sure air can get out but not back in.

Place your feeder(s) in the container and seal it shut. Turn the gas on low, it acts as a sleeping gass so they fall asleep, when they've stoped moving turn up the gas to remove the rest of the air from the container.

Turn off the gas (or leave on low if your not sure how much you needed) and wait (I usually go 5mins to be safe). Make sure the gas is off, and try not to breath in the Co2. You can now remove your freshly killed rodents. No stress, no trama, just sleep then nothing.

The bedding/paper towels we're for the bottom of the container. Sometimes rodents defecate when they die so you'll want to put something in there to catch any possible mess.

Other Co2 methods:
The sublimation of dry ice creates Co2. Place ice in small tupperware with 'air' holes. Place tupperware in container with rodents, seal, and wait. Do NOT put dry ice in loose with rodents, it 'burns' them on contact.

Combining vinegar and baking soda also creates Co2, I've never used this method cause it's smelly. :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andwhy6

not to be inhumane but.... trust me if you hit it hard enough it only takes once... use a fred meyer bag... and it does not take seconds for an animal to die when being constricted. were talkin 20 seconds and usually the animal is still moving if not still screaming. not to mention the prey gets bit in the face to start out. so im gonna say one quick knock to the head beats gettin bit in the face and squeezed to death any day.

---

Yes, and if you don't hit hard enough? That is where the not being 100% comes in. Plus, bigger rats take more force.

Sorry, but it just is NOT humane, no matter how you wanna put a spin on it, it isn't.

Neither is stunning for that matter. The next best thing is cervical dislocation, which takes a practiced hand as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djansen

I just thump them on the floor. The thing is you cant hold back and be tentative, that is when you just break its leg or something. I think its a humane way to kill them, they hit the floor and are out cold. I would much rather be knocked out than killed by a constrictor.

---

And what if they are just knocked out? Then they come to, are in extreme amounts of pain... again, NOT humane.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by andwhy6

not to be inhumane but.... trust me if you hit it hard enough it only takes once... use a fred meyer bag... and it does not take seconds for an animal to die when being constricted. were talkin 20 seconds and usually the animal is still moving if not still screaming. not to mention the prey gets bit in the face to start out. so im gonna say one quick knock to the head beats gettin bit in the face and squeezed to death any day.

---

I actually did this for a while and yeah it works. but it's really messy. I'd rather spend a little money.

I don't miss blood and being creeped out. Cause it's just creepy when they're missing part of their head but still twitching. Not to mention I had a bag break once, major mess. yuck!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

And what if they are just knocked out? Then they come to, are in extreme amounts of pain... again, NOT humane.

---

I see your point but I have never had them come too. If you do it right a sign is a little blood of the ear. I have had my snake not kill the prey and eat it while its still alive though.

Here is the PDF on the AVMA's accepted methods of humane euthanasia. CO2 clearly being the prime choice for painless death, and it really does not cost a lot to buy a pound of dry ice (about a buck), but can potentially save a lot pain and suffering when other methods are performed improperly.

http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_we...euthanasia.pdf

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by truthsdeceit

Cause it's just creepy when they're missing part of their head but still twitching

---

:confused: WTF are you doing? I have never had them loose part of their head from thumping on the ground.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by giaach

or just let your snake do what nature intended and give it to him live. Ive done if for over a year and never had a problem rats and mice, multiple feeds and single items.

---

not sure about you but my snakes are either for sale or show pieces for my business i for one dont want the chance for my snake to get bit and leave an ugly scar i mean ive seen some rats jump so quickly that my snakes only get the tail or rear leg and the i have a bite mark that may never go away so your responce about "what nature intended" is debunked because once we brought these animals into our lives they were not "wild" animals anymoe meaning we have to protect them from anything

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by royal morphz

not sure about you but my snakes are either for sale or show pieces for my business i for one dont want the chance for my snake to get bit and leave an ugly scar i mean ive seen some rats jump so quickly that my snakes only get the tail or rear leg and the i have a bite mark that may never go away so your responce about "what nature intended" is debunked because once we brought these animals into our lives they were not "wild" animals anymoe meaning we have to protect them from anything

---

Seconded