How do i stun a rat?

my bp is eating rats, but she wont take f/t. how can i stun the rat?:confused:

Whack it (not a fan).

will it live?

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

will it live?

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If you have to whack it, don't just knock it out, break it's spine with one blow to ensure a quick and PAINLESS death. I do use this method but I've done it about 102912309 times... for the rat's sake, I do not recommend it.

ive heard you can flick a smaller rat in the back of the head to knock it out

Just...don't.

I know some time back there was some useful information posted up which noted that a lot of the rats suffer unnecessarily because the person doing it gets scared/nervous and doesn't do it right... a rat in a world of hurt prior to getting squeezed to death is a bit unethical in my opinion.

I just drop the live rat in with the snake. Snakes are born killers...let them do their thing :gj:

I'm not a fan of "stunning" feeders, I aim to kill them. I hold them by the tail and slam them against the edge of the counter, but I rarely prekill, I just feed live if they won't take F/T. Since you're new at it you can put it in a pillow case and smack it against a solid surface as hard as you can. But like others have said you could chicken out and not do it right and wind up making the rat suffer more than they would if the snake had killed them.

If you don't want to feed live and your snake will only eat freshly killed rodents I'd check out the stickies in the DIY section on making a CO2 chamber. At least then they'd die painlessly.

You don't need to stun it, just feed it to your snake.

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Originally Posted by panthercz

You don't need to stun it, just feed it to your snake.

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Exactly. It's not humane to stun a rat. Pre kill it humanely or just feed it live.

You can hit it with something hard like a rock,stick,bat,ect....is ther a man ther that can maybe help you with this? why dont you feed it live?if it dose not like F/T then what it dose like is what you need to give it...

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Originally Posted by TankMasterOG

You can hit it with something hard like a rock,stick,bat,ect....is ther a man ther that can maybe help you with this? why dont you feed it live?if it dose not like F/T then what it dose like is what you need to give it...

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Or just get a woman to do it. We don't need tools or help when it comes to dispatching rodents :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Nate

Just...don't.

I know some time back there was some useful information posted up which noted that a lot of the rats suffer unnecessarily because the person doing it gets scared/nervous and doesn't do it right... a rat in a world of hurt prior to getting squeezed to death is a bit unethical in my opinion.

I just drop the live rat in with the snake. Snakes are born killers...let them do their thing :gj:

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I agree. Most of the time the constriction is the best and fastest way to go. Unless your really fearful of a rodent bite. Even with FT, which i know most of the big pet stores only recomend is kind a contradictory. Co2ed rats sometimes take a couple of minutes to go and it's a struggle.
But in the long run i feed what my snakes will eat and FT means i don't have to keep extra pets.

I personally do not advocate whacking rats as a method of pre-killing.

I feed live to all of mine, never stunned, never pre-killed. Ball pythons are amazingly efficient hunters, and are quite able to take care of the killing themselves with extremely low risk of injury.

I have ~ 40 ball pythons. Let's just say conservatively that I feed 1 rat a week to every one of them (some eat more than one). I've probably fed over 8300 live prey items to my snakes in the time I've kept them. In all those feedings, I've had probably 5 minor scratches. That makes my personal risk of injury .060%. For me, a .060% likelyhood of injury is very low risk and is not compelling enough of a reason for me to feel the need to stun my prey before it's offered to my snakes.

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Originally Posted by HerpKeeperVA

Or just get a woman to do it. We don't need tools or help when it comes to dispatching rodents :rofl:

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ya or just find a woman to do it for you...

I use my trusty plastic spoon...:D

Don't stun it, or injure it. Just toss it in the enclosure with your snake and he/she will do what they're meant to do. If you don't like watching live feedings, then try to switch it to pre killed, like someone else said.

if you have to kill it, you can hold the back of its neck down with a screwdriver then tug the tail hard killing it by separating the spine form the skull, you can wrap it in a towl and then wack it as hard as you can against a hard surface, you can hit it on the head, or you can just let the snake do the dirty work. Your choice (i hate pre killing)

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Originally Posted by HerpKeeperVA

Or just get a woman to do it. We don't need tools or help when it comes to dispatching rodents :rofl:

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I consider whacking it repeatedly with a broom "using a tool"... :rofl:

1. Get a glove, so you don't get bit by the rat, which is the most disgusting thing that can happen to anyone, ever.

2. Grab the rat by the tail and hit it against something hard. The floor works wonderfully.

3. Profit.

*disclaimer*

The rat will have a crappy time while you are doing this.

If you are :gj: with that (like I am), there you go. If you are not o.k. with this, there are other methods in which the rat may or may not have a slightly better day (conjecture imo, but I don't talk to rats so I can't argue one way or the other)....right up until the point it gets constricted and swallowed by the snake, which will occur about 30 seconds after whichever method you do choose.

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Originally Posted by Kom@tose

1. Get a glove, so you don't get bit by the rat, which is the most disgusting thing that can happen to anyone, ever.

2. Grab the rat by the tail and hit it against something hard. The floor works wonderfully.

3. Profit.

*disclaimer*

The rat will have a crappy time while you are doing this.

If you are :gj: with that (like I am), there you go. If you are not o.k. with this, there are other methods in which the rat may or may not have a slightly better day (conjecture imo, but I don't talk to rats so I can't argue one way or the other)....right up until the point it gets constricted and swallowed by the snake, which will occur about 30 seconds after whichever method you do choose.

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Threads like these and posts like these annoy the crap out of me and sadden me at the same time. Have a little respect for the rat. If you don't understand why you should, then I can't help you.

Cheapest way to have pre killed rats is dry ice. I get 1 lbs blocks for 99 cents a pound. I then put the rats or mice in a tub with the dry ice in warm water. If fogs the tub up and they pass out then die withing 2-3 mins. Bigger rats will take longer.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

Cheapest way to have pre killed rats is dry ice. I get 1 lbs blocks for 99 cents a pound. I then put the rats or mice in a tub with the dry ice in warm water. If fogs the tub up and they pass out then die withing 2-3 mins. Bigger rats will take longer.

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Forget cheapest, it's the most humane of most anything discussed here. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

I consider whacking it repeatedly with a broom "using a tool"... :rofl:

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That should have read," You don't consider whacking it repeatedly with a broom "using a tool?"... :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

That should have read," You don't consider whacking it repeatedly with a broom "using a tool?"... :rofl:

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LoL, not all women are like that ;) The only "creepy crawly" that I'm afraid of is bees, no idea why. I can do spiders, reptiles, etc, but bees scare me.

When I first started dating my BF he was scared of EVERYTHING. Snakes, mice... lizards, lmao. I remember one time a blue tailed skink got into his bedroom and he was freaking out. I'm glad he doesn't post here, he'd be so embarassed that I even mentioned it. :rofl:

its really that humane? but wont the chemicals hurt the snake? if not where can i get me some dry ice? (i live in brooklyn NY) because i haven seen any

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Originally Posted by tiexecutioner

its really that humane? but wont the chemicals hurt the snake? if not where can i get me some dry ice? (i live in brooklyn NY) because i haven seen any

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Yes...CO2 is one of only a few methods of euthanization recognized as humane by the AVMA. No, the chemicals won't hurt the snake.

http://www.dryicedirectory.com/

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Originally Posted by tiexecutioner

its really that humane? but wont the chemicals hurt the snake? if not where can i get me some dry ice? (i live in brooklyn NY) because i haven seen any

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Its just CO2. You exhale that. It isn't toxic but in high doses will cause an animal (or you) to fall asleep and then basically suffocate. But they are asleep when they suffocate so there is no pain.

i dont want to feed live because i dont want to damage my snakes... like this........................http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...ive_prey_1.jpg

....thanks...

If you don't leave your snake alone with the rat then it will be fine. If you stun it, you are more likely to see that image as a result.

Kill it. Blunt trauma to the head, or Cervical Dislocation is the way to go.

this picture brings chills to mee :(

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

i dont want to feed live because i dont want to damage my snakes... like this........................http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...ive_prey_1.jpg

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my god dude dont ever post that picture direct please just link it

Not that picture again. That picture is NOT a result of feeding live. It is a result of a irresponsible owner leaving a live rat or mouse in with the snake for LONG period of time.

if i feed live, and the rat starts biting, how do i get it to stop?:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

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Originally Posted by josh emmons

if i feed live, and the rat starts biting, how do i get it to stop?:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

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smack it off.

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

if i feed live, and the rat starts biting, how do i get it to stop?:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

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tongs.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

Not that picture again. That picture is NOT a result of feeding live. It is a result of a irresponsible owner leaving a live rat or mouse in with the snake for LONG period of time.

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+1

Sorry, but thousands of ball pythons are fed live rats and mice every single week by breeders around the country and I can assure you, their snakes don't end up looking like that.
There is *NO* need to "stun" a rat, drop it in the tub and let a species that's been killing rodents for millions of years now, do it's job.

If you are that freaked about it, then switch your snake over to f/t and call it a day.

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

if i feed live, and the rat starts biting, how do i get it to stop?:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

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You pull it out. If the snake strikes the rat, then it will die within a minute. If the rat bites the snake while it is constricting, it is not that big of a deal, just a spot of blood. The snake will be fine.

Just don't throw a rat in the snakes tank and leave it in there and leave for the whole day. Just be there when the rat is with the snake and everything will be fine.

i prefer feeding live. but the reason i asked is so the snake wouldn't get hurt. but if you all suggest i feed live, and supervise, i will do so.

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

i prefer feeding live. but the reason i asked is so the snake wouldn't get hurt. but if you all suggest i feed live, and supervise, i will do so.

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What size snake do you have and what size prey item do you feed?

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

i dont want to feed live because i dont want to damage my snakes... like this

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When posting a picture as dramatic as this one, it's best to also share the back ground of the photo. That photo has nothing to do with feeding live. What owner here, monitoring a live feed, would actually allow that much damage to happen to their snake before intervening?

The history behind that photo, that everyone uses to promote not feeding live, is that the rodent was left, with the snake, for DAYS, without any food left in for it. The only thing left for the rodent to eat, was the snake. It wasn't a defensive attack where the rodent went mad.

As I said, I've fed well over 8000 live prey items, with about 5 minor scratches in all that time (so minor, that I didn't even put anything on them).

That photo has ZERO to do with live feeding.

With that said, feed what works best for you and your snake. Live works best for me and mine with almost no risk (.06% chance of injury from my personal data).

I feed all mine live with NO problems at all. If it makes your feel more secure you can keep a pen or some other object handy just incase the rats head is left exposed to try to bite the snake, you can stick the pen/object in the rats mouth to bite that instead of your snake while hes constricting.

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Originally Posted by Josh Emmons

i prefer feeding live. but the reason i asked is so the snake wouldn't get hurt. but if you all suggest i feed live, and supervise, i will do so.

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Feed what way you feel comfortable. Get some tongs, so that you can restrict the prey when it is being constricted, and you will not have to worry as much.

I feed live, and F/T and prekilled. When i feed live, i use tongs, and hold the prey so the snake can bite and constrict without the prey running freely all over it. This helps me have better control of the strike, and the prey.

"How do i stun a rat?"


Tell it the Saints are going to win the Superbowl this season. That should do it. :D