prekilling your snake's prey by yourself?

I think that your best bet is to buy a small (perhaps used) freezer for exclusive use as suggested by a couple of others. I personally hide my rats on the bottom of the freezer, confident that my wife won't dig that far. ;)

I have to pre-kill, two of my snakes will not take live. They had bad feeding experiences with previous owners and are deathly afraid of live mice.

It's sounds stupid but it's true.

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Originally Posted by starmom

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Oh good gods, people- what is your issue????

Thumping a rat to pre-kill??? Seriously barbaric and potentially insanely inhumane.

Why on earth do something like that when you can just give the live rodent to your snake and allow the normal process to commence???

Some people think that since we have taken the snakes out of the wild then their feeding instincts have changed? Or we try to change their feeding instincts? Oh please. And protect them from everything?? I can't even protect my own kids from everything!! No one has that amount of control; only the illusion of it.

If you fear that a larger rodent would harm the snake, feed multiples of mice. No big deal and not rocket science to figure out.

So, is it fine to thump a snake? No. Use a more compassionate method.

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damn straight.

Since this has turned into a live / ft or pk thread, I vote live for ball pythons.

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Originally Posted by truthsdeceit

I have to pre-kill, two of my snakes will not take live. They had bad feeding experiences with previous owners and are deathly afraid of live mice.

It's sounds stupid but it's true.

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Then pre-kill humanely or purchase frozen thawed.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

Since this has turned into a live / ft or pk thread, I vote live for ball pythons.

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No it hasn't. We're talking about methodologies.

Who decided that causing asphyxiation with CO2 is the most humane? For all we know it could be more painful and terrible for the mice than a quick thump on the head. How do we know they just "slowly fall asleep" from breathing CO2? I can't imagine suffocating would be any more pleasant than getting knocked instantly unconscious.

If someone wants to prekill by thumping the rodent then it's their choice. There are many animal rights activists who would say everyone on this forum treats animals inhumanely by keeping them in captivity in tiny enclosures. No matter how humane you think you are there will always be other people who think you're doing things wrong.

CO2 poisoining is exactly like falling asleep. Which is why you need an alarm in your home to detect it. It has no smell and brings about drowzyness and ultimately the eternal sleep.

It has been decided that is humane because its effects are proven in animals as well as humans. Anyone that wants to whack a rodent against a hard surface can by all means make that choice, but the fact that people don't see an issue with it is baffling.

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

CO2 poisoining is exactly like falling asleep. Which is why you need an alarm in your home to detect it. It has no smell and brings about drowzyness and ultimately the eternal sleep.

It has been decided that is humane because its effects are proven in animals as well as humans. Anyone that wants to whack a rodent against a hard surface can by all means make that choice, but the fact that people don't see an issue with it is baffling.

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Not to be a D or anything but I think what your referring to is carbon monoxide poisoning. Both CO2 and CO are colorless, tasteless, and odorless but CO (carbon monoxide) is a lot more toxic and therefore highly deadly. The chances of dying from CO2 in your home is highly unlikely because it would take a lot to deprive your brain of oxygen, and concentrations of that amount would only exist if you had say... a 30lb block of dry ice in your bedroom.

anywhere that has basements should have CO2 detectors, people do get killed by it. Furnaces are the usual cause for the creation of CO2.

On the issue of killing rodents humanely:

There are a number of methods used to kill rodents in animal experiments/testing. Despite the stigma that accompanies animal testing and experiments, these are highly controlled and regulated, and follow strict codes of ethics.

American society sees any kind of death by physical trauma as inhumane and most deaths by chemicals/gasses as more humane. This is a pretty poor way to determine the "best" way to prekill rodents for snake feeding.

Severing the spinal cord is pretty much the most popular way for killing rodents used in experiments. I've heard it rumored that the spin-and-smack is also an approved method. It may not be as pretty as CO2, but the fact of the matter is that a "pretty" death of the rodent ONLY benefits whoever has to perform the kill.

CO2 is nice because it doesn't take any skill. The physical trauma methods do. On that reason alone I vote CO2 for pre-killing feeder mice/rats.