Whacking rats...

Hey all, I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!


Until my bp decides that she'll take interest in f/t rats, I'll have to feed p/k. Last time I bashed the rat, I used the same method that I did with the mice; which entails hold them by the tail and just whipping them on a countertop. Very quick, very effective with the mice. When I tried it with the small rat...the first whack didn't do it all the way and I had to do it again. At that point, it's cruel IMO and I really didn't feel too good about it.

Is there another, faster way to do it that is easier on the feeder animal? I've seen people talk about the pillowcase method on here, but it seems like the same concept as the method I use. Help??!!

i never had to do it, but try using CO2 in an air tight container.

Yeah but honestly I'm not trying to spend 100+ dollars on a gas chamber for just one rat a week. I saw that write up in the feeder forum; I'd do it if I had multiple rats to deal with.

Oftentimes rats' tails will actually separate the skin and/or you won't have the momemtum needed to kill them that way. A pillowcase can work out well, because you can get a little more momentum and it doesn't much matter if the rat shifts position a little. You might want to switch to a brick wall, tree, floor, or some surface other than a countertop, though, as sometimes the pillowcase seam will split.

I read something somewhere about putting them in a ziplock baggy and throwing them really hard against an asphalt driveway o_O

i only had to wack a rodent once and I put it in a plastic bag from the store and got the rodent down in the corner of the bag and twisted the rest tight down to the rodent and just swung it around like pitchin a softball against the corner of the countertop and that did the trick.

I also read somewhere that you can use dry ice to create the co2 needed to 'put them to sleep'. We have a grocery store down here that sells dry ice. I think you put it in a bowl and add water....place that in an air tight container (like a cooler) and place the rodent in as well. Close it for a few minutes and that should do the trick.....I've never done this however. Actually, we may have to try it for Smitty b/c he simply refuses f/t.

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Originally Posted by Marla

Oftentimes rats' tails will actually separate the skin

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LAWS YES - how many times have I been doing the Zombie Rat Jig and had the end of the tail pop off like the cap off a cheap pen, then PLOP goes the rat. Gotta love THAT.

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and had the end of the tail pop off like the cap off a cheap pen, then PLOP goes the rat. Gotta love THAT.

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Ugh, O_O Now I think I'm feeling slightly sick.

ive had it happen to me too smulk. nasty stuff. in fact theres a pic of smoke eating a half-tailed rat around here somewhere...

the pillowcase method, as marla stated, works wonders for me. just be careful or you'll have a pillowcase full of um... nasties.

hmm...i dont suppose a plastic kitchen bag would work just as well? Or maybe line the pillowcase with a kitchen bag......

i used plastic bag and it worked fine

I've always used a plastic grocery bag, doubled or tripled when the rat was big. You have to find that good balance between killing and an exploding rat :shock:

Get a towel(prevents scratchs and bites)
Grab feeder by tail with weak hand
Have towel covering palm of strong hand
Lay feeder in towel covered palm
Close hand around feeder with thumb and index finger above feeders shoulder,behind the head.
Move your tail grip further up (thickest part of the tail and dont let go)
Make sure your grip is secure behind the head(Dont SKAA`WOOOSSH IT !) just firm will do.
Now make one quick pull of the tail(Dont YANK IT) just like using a pull chain for a ceiling fan and you`ll feel(less then the feeder) a crunchy between your fingers on the head end.
DONT FREAK OUT AND DROP IT !!
Just a few seconds of squirming and its DINNER TIME !!

So you are basically severing its spinal cord?

I put my rats in a ziploc freezer bag and bang it against the counter. It doesnt take too much to kill them. But I want to try the CO2. When I get a house i want to raise rats for feeders and will euthenize them like that.

I wonder if you could just use CO2 and from a canister that you'd get for a paintball gun, like place them in a freezer bag and fill it with the gas? Would they just go to sleep painlessly like that, or would they actually suffocate while they were still concious? Even if it was just enough to knock them out w/o totally killing them, it'd still be better than being constricted alive or being smashed against the floor...

Is this just going too far or would that be a humane, workable idea?

I think the only problem with the CO2/ziplock combo would be if the rodent's claws punctured the bag in any way, allowing the gas to escape. It's very easy to make a CO2 chamber with paintball supplies, a rubber stopper from Home Depot & a small, airtight container.

K

Check this out:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/PNphpBB2...t-Chamber.html

Far better then re`enacting an 100 mph head on crash with a counter top or door jam IMO
They feel nothing,cant say the same for the blunt trauma method

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

So you are basically severing its spinal cord?

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