Im a ratty gramps!

Due to high gas prices and the distance that I have to drive to get my rats, I decided to breed my own...at least for a little while and see how it works out.

This picture was taken in the a.m. today. Soon to be mom Flower... but wasnt sure when she would have them.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...rouphug031.jpg

Well, I had been gone most of the day and when I got home this is what I found! 15 lil pinkies, 13 live, 2 deceased.
Don't have any pics of the proud daddy Powder who is a Albino.
Since we all love and gotta have pics....I introduce to you the Flower Powder Bunch!

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...slitter002.jpg

Ohhhh look at those milkbands!!! Flower's got some nursing going on there! Nice first litter! My best breeding female is a beige hooded like Flower.

Nice :)

:aww: How very cute.

;) Nice

congrats! i hope to be sharing pics of my first two breeding attempts very soon!

Rock on! Awesome stuff!

So when they all get fed off are you still a grandpa or not? LOL They are so cute. I miss seing live pinky mice. Speaking of live pinks, I gotta go get some for the frog. lol Congrats and hope you get many more litters to come

Well...I have bad news. I went out to check on the little guys and gals and take a pic of them because they have grown almost double and all of them show black hooded markings.
Flower was dead, still with several little guys still conected to her teats. A great mother to the end.
Now I have to figure out the quickest way to euthinize them. Any one have any suggestions? Gasing them is out since I have nothing...

aww I wonder why she died?


Im not to sure how to "end" the little ones but when you find out pm me. I think my rat TJ is about to give us some babies and I have no Idea how to "end" em for future feeding use.

Just simply put them in a pillow case and give it a good smack or 2 on the ground. Simple and affective

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

Just simply put them in a pillow case and give it a good smack or 2 on the ground. Simple and affective

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what about a mess? do you just pop em in the freezer then?

lord I so need a herper buddie around!

If you have a WalMart near you, go to the computer section and get a can of Canned Air by Fellowes. It contains an agent that is very useful in euthanizing rodents. I have used it many times on whole litters of pink mice.

Place the whole litter in a plastic ziploc bag, put the plastic dispenser into a small hole where you haven't zipped the bag up all the way, and fill the bag up with the air. After a few minutes they will be gone, maybe a bit of agonal breathing(just nerves firing, they aren't feeling anything), but you can put them in the freezer so they go quicker.

I'm sorry for your loss. The two ratties I've had pass away did so in my arms, so I don't know what it is like to have them go without someone there. She sounds like she was a wonderful mom, even if she did end up having to go too soon.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

If you have a WalMart near you, go to the computer section and get a can of Canned Air by Fellowes. It contains an agent that is very useful in euthanizing rodents. I have used it many times on whole litters of pink mice.

Place the whole litter in a plastic ziploc bag, put the plastic dispenser into a small hole where you haven't zipped the bag up all the way, and fill the bag up with the air. After a few minutes they will be gone, maybe a bit of agonal breathing(just nerves firing, they aren't feeling anything), but you can put them in the freezer so they go quicker.

I'm sorry for your loss. The two ratties I've had pass away did so in my arms, so I don't know what it is like to have them go without someone there. She sounds like she was a wonderful mom, even if she did end up having to go too soon.

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can it be used for weanlings or med sized rats?Canned Air by Fellowes that is.

If they are on the verge of dying, yes. You have to use this stuff in an airtight container or it won't be effective, which is why I mentioned the ziploc bag(small, confined space, not a huge box). When friends of mine have rats that need put to sleep, but they don't want the stress of the rat having to go to the vet, we use this method. It works very well and they are usually gone in a few minutes.

I would continue to use dry ice or vinegar/baking soda mixture for putting feeders to sleep, much less expensive. I use the canned air for the suffering or dying rodents, or babies so I don't have to waste dry ice. It's convenient if you just want one adult animal euthanized, or a litter of mice/rats.

Just my experiences...

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

If they are on the verge of dying, yes. You have to use this stuff in an airtight container or it won't be effective, which is why I mentioned the ziploc bag(small, confined space, not a huge box). When friends of mine have rats that need put to sleep, but they don't want the stress of the rat having to go to the vet, we use this method. It works very well and they are usually gone in a few minutes.

I would continue to use dry ice or vinegar/baking soda mixture for putting feeders to sleep, much less expensive. I use the canned air for the suffering or dying rodents, or babies so I don't have to waste dry ice. It's convenient if you just want one adult animal euthanized, or a litter of mice/rats.

Just my experiences...

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You sure you no just sufficating them? What does that can of air contain co2? or just compressed air?

Let me find the can and I will give you the ingredient...

Tetrafluorethane is one of the main ingredients. It is an asphyxiant and a refrigerant. It is denser than air so it replaces the air in the lungs, thus rendering then unable to breathe.

I have never seen any panicky behavior in any of the rodents we have euthanized using this method. They breathe it in gradually and since there is air to breathe, they don't seem to feel like they are suffocating. They start breathing it in and their respirations become slower and deeper, no twitching whatsoever, and they go to sleep and die.

Here's some good reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane

For smaller rats and all mice, A nice flick on the head works well. If you don't have a full coat of hair, Throwing them in the freezer kills them in a minute or so. Its not that hard to kill young rodents

I think we're talking humane euthanasia... Not a "quick" thwap in the head on the edge of a kitchen counter.

Reminds me of a car wreck and not dying instantly... Sounds like a great way to die.

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

For smaller rats and all mice, A nice flick on the head works well. If you don't have a full coat of hair, Throwing them in the freezer kills them in a minute or so. Its not that hard to kill young rodents

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Flicking in the head and freezing are not humane ways to euthanize. What makes you think that throwing them in the freezer is humane?

Since newborn rodents are quite resistant to anoxic conditions, (probably so mom can't smother them when they are young) so trying to use CO2 to euthanize a pink takes a VERY long time. I've seen pinkie mice still gasping for breath after about 15 minutes in a CO2 chamber. Freezing is much more suitable than CO2 to put down pinks, but anything older than pinks succumb to CO2 much quicker and should not be frozen. This is just my experience putting down quite a number of rodents. I'd like to hear if anyone has a better way to put down pinks though.


-Evan

That canned air works like a charm. They gasp for maybe a full minute or two, but then they stop and I put them in the freezer. Works very quickly, quicker than CO2 IMO, and you just have to fill the sandwich size ziploc bag and walk away. Barely uses any of the canned air(which costs around $4 at WalMart).

I prefer not to freeze them as they like to urinate, and then when they freeze, they all stick together. Eew.

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Originally Posted by Evan Jamison

Since newborn rodents are quite resistant to anoxic conditions, (probably so mom can't smother them when they are young) so trying to use CO2 to euthanize a pink takes a VERY long time.


-Evan

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THis is correct... but you still can use co2....

Co2 is the best all the way around even for pinks.. not to kill them but to put them in a anesthesic state...

Co2 has a couple of properties that we find helpful in human anesthesia gases. Co2 is a analgesic (pain reliever), and it can be used as an anesthetic which causes a rapid loss of consciousness ( hell CO2 may be a great anesthetic for humans excpet for how it displaces oxygen off of hemoglobin .. not a good thing :O.. well unless your trying to kill em )

So befor you whack em, or suffocate them to death try putting em to sleep first.. i know none of those sound humane unless your pain free :rolleye2:



just a helpfull tip..

Becky...thank you for the idea of using the canned air. It did take a couple of minutes (seemed like an eternity though) and they were gone.
Thanks again.

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Originally Posted by Ironhead

Becky...thank you for the idea of using the canned air. It did take a couple of minutes (seemed like an eternity though) and they were gone.
Thanks again.

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Glad that worked for you Carl! Becky rocks. Unparalleled ratty knowledge!

So sorry you lost your female and her litter like that (well not lost the litter but still). Feeders or breeders I just hate that needless waste of life and not knowing why it happened.