pre killing

how would i pre kill a rat for my snakes?

Pic it up by the tail and slam its head on something hard!!

what would i slam his head on like a table or what? would any blood come out?

It can be tough to kill a rat by the whack method.. and yes, blood can come out and splatter on your wall!

That's why I built a Co2 chamber. I got a carbon dioxide bottle (used for paintball) a remote line (also paintball) and ran the remote from the bottle into a container with a tight fitting lid. Pop in the rats, close the lid, turn on the gas (you have to run an exhaust line out of the top of the container as well) and voila.. painlessly dead rats!

Why not buy frozen? Just my opinion...

Cheaper, easier, less killing involved..actually none

i dont think my mom would let me keep rats in our freezer.

You'll get the hang of it after awhile! Little to No blood..

You can alos buy a vaccuum sealer. They're used to vaccuum seal bags and keep food fresh. Well, put the rat in a bag, and use the vaccuum sealer... it sucks all the air out and the rat dies quickly and painlessly. And your mom can use it to keep food from getting freezer-burned :)

take em by the tail and give them a solid wack hitting them about mid back on your arm or leg little to no blood and a dead rat.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

You can alos buy a vaccuum sealer. They're used to vaccuum seal bags and keep food fresh. Well, put the rat in a bag, and use the vaccuum sealer... it sucks all the air out and the rat dies quickly and painlessly. And your mom can use it to keep food from getting freezer-burned :)

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If you call suffocation painless. CO2 at least provides an anesthetic effect rendering the rat unconscious while suffocation takes place. Sealing in a vaccum sealer is just cruel. Better to whack them on a table quickly.

i heard of this method where you hold down there head with a forcep or pen and give them a quick, hard tug on there tail to break there neck. would that work?

That's called cervical dislocation. Yes it works, I use it. However, it can be a bit difficult to get it right at first.

Here's a more detailed method of how to perform it properly.
http://labanimals.stanford.edu/Guidelines/Cerv_Dis.html

It works if you do it correctly. If you dont, it causes pain and suffering. Don't you have a local store that will either prekill for you properly or sell you frozen?

so how exactly would i do that? the guy at the pet just gave me a quick description on how to do it. i dont wanna heart the rat.

Whacking is most likely the fastest ,cheapest and easiest way to pre kill your rodents.

Its not hard, if its a mouse or small rat just put it in a plastic bag and give it a good hard whack on something hard and flat.If its a big rat just throw it in a pillow case and whack it in there.

I used to be scared of pre killing rats becuase they are so big.....but i bought a couple large medium rats for Rebel a couple weeks ago and it wasnt very hard, i was actually very surprised how easily i killed it, so now two of my snakes feed exclusivly on p/k its so easy, i love it !

my female eats hoppers and my male its medium rats. would a plastic bag be ok to put them in?

Once again, I hate to harp on this but why wouldnt you just buy frozen? You can get them at Petco. Not only are frozen cheaper than live but freezing tends to kill off the bulk of the parasites that are most likely alive inside a feeder animal. Am I the only one feeding frozen these days?

where would i keep the frozen though?

and another thing... not to hijack my own thread or anything but why am i still a new member. i saw this guy that joined like a day ago and hes a right away registered user

The freezer? Or get them as you need them. Go out once a week and buy 2 frozens just like you buy 2 live.

my mom wont let me keep rats in the freezer and at the store i go too the frozen ones cost more

[QUOTE=jglass38]freezing tends to kill off the bulk of the parasites that are most likely alive inside a feeder animal.QUOTE]

Do I have to harp on THIS again? Freezing doesn't kill off most parasite ova, only puts them in a dormant state. It doesn't really matter if the rodent has parasites or not, snakes just don't contract parasites from them. For one thing, the parasites aren't even in the right stage of development to infect anything, and second, there is the whole "species-specific" thing. Parasites from a warm-blooded mammal such as the rodent, cannot survive in the 80-degree body temperature of the reptile. Also, snakes' digestive systems are designed to consume whole prey, so their gastric juices are much stronger in relation to a rodent's. When the rodent is consumed, along with its parasites, it will all get digested and passed as normal.

Snakes get parasites from being housed with other snakes, from being housed in dirty conditions(feces, dirty water source), and they can also be born with them(placental infection).

My snake has eaten live, pre-killed and frozen prey. The pre-killed prey I knew had pinworms(and god knows what else). After a few weeks, I did a fecal on her, and darnit... It was clean. :)

The only bad thing about rodents with parasites is that they are generally unhealthy. Parasitized rodents usually can't absorb all of the nutrients from what they eat, and regardless of how much they consume, can't gain weight. Parasites like pinworms pose no threat, but whipworms, hookworms and tapeworms can all be a serious problem if they are not treated. Why feed an unhealthy rodent to your snake, when in turn, your snake will just get unhealthier as time goes on.

Ok :) *steps off soapbox* I'm done with my little spiel.

i think ive decided to stick to live, but does anyone know why im not a registered user?

Ya know what, I don't think i'll take my chances if I don't have to. I feed live until they will take FT and thats it. Go to your local petco or feeder store and take a look at the conditions the feeders are kept in. Why risk it?

i know at the store i go to the feeders are healthy

There is no convincing you, so I think you should definitely do what works best for you. Keep an eye on the snake when feeding live until the mouse/rat is dead. It only takes a second for the prey to turn on your snake and cause injury or death.

I use the whack method. I put them in a doubled plastic bag (like a plastic grocery bag), smoosh most of the air out of the bag (so you arent whacking a giant bubble), and then whack it on a table edge, or a step edge. This way, if there is any blood (there usually isn't), it's in the bag. Just make sure you give it a good whack.

I'll just say I find it quite a bit cheaper to raise my own rats! Even buying from rodent pro is pricey compared to growing my own rats.

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Originally Posted by mr~python

but does anyone know why im not a registered user?

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Because you have not been a member long enough to be considered a Registered User yet.. I think it is something like 30 days of membership before you see it saying Registered User.

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Originally Posted by Jeanne

Because you have not been a member long enough to be considered a Registered User yet.. I think it is something like 30 days of membership before you see it saying Registered User.

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Hmmmm, shows how observant I am! LOL I never paid much attention to whether I was registered or not! LOL

u could whack it inside a sock against a cement ground, i hit mines against my dumbells. i sometimes shoot them with an air rifle and it always goes through. its the easiest and most painless way to kill them,but the bad thing is u get brains and blood on ya.

edit: i shoot the rats, not the mice.

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Originally Posted by mr~python

i dont think my mom would let me keep rats in our freezer.

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My wife wouldn't either so I bought a mini freezer. They run from 40 - 100 bux. You can find them online. I got lucky and got one from craigslist for 20 bux.