Disposing of Rat

We have a feeder rat that is a good size for both of our larger girls. Unfortunatly, neither of them will take the rat. Soon the rat will be too large. We do not want to use it in our breeding colony and if we let it go outside, there is a chance it will return to our home for food and shelter. I would like to use it as food for our ferret (its not too terribly large. Might take the ferret longer to consume it than a mouse would, but its a good sized meal (2-3oz)

I have stunned mice before, but rats are something new to me. I have attempted to stun rats in the past, but because their skulls are thicker, when I attempted to stun the rat, it went into seizures and it took a few minutes to die. It was horrible. Now I have this rat which is even older than the previous rat and I'm both afraid of causing it pain like that and not being able to stun it properly.

I CANNOT smack it against a wall or hit it with anything. I can't bring myself to be that violent. While it may not seem 'violent' to some, to me it is horrible and I can't do it. I have no access to dry ice tonight and I need to use it tonight as I am out of cage space and it is currently in a cardboard box that we brought it home in.

I can't think of anything to do other than let it go. Any advice? (Other than having a seperate enclosure for situations like this?)

Do NOT ever let a domesticated rat go in the wild - it's unfair to an animal that's had all the wild bred out of it.

Check the sticky above on humanely euthanizing.

put it up on Craigslist.

I can't C02 the rat till Monday and I have no cage room for it. I figured at least one of my snakes would eat it, but none are interested (the ones that are of appropriate size).

I want to feed it to my ferret, but the rat would need to be dead or knocked out due to the fact a live, angry rat, in a cage with a ferret who has only killed mice before is a bad thing.

So, I can't use a CO2 chamber for a few more days and I can't smack it against something and its really hard to knock it out.

Any other ideas?

your best bet is to get it a temporary enclosure and wait till you can either CO2 is or find someone via craigslist that is willing to take it off your hands for what ever purpose.

do you have any tubs/tanks that you can put it in? throw some shredded newspaper/phonebook pages in and a little food ( cereal, pasta, left overs), some water, and it'll be set till monday.

i def would not let it go for reasons robin mentioned.

I don't want to let it go and getting a temporary enclosure will work till Monday. I can get a tub and make it the "Emergency Feeder Keeper."

good plan....

i always have a spare tub/critter keeper incase something like this comes up. it's a good practice.

You could always take it to the pet store couldn't you? Wouldn't they be glad to take it off your hands?

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Originally Posted by Pwilliams58

You could always take it to the pet store couldn't you? Wouldn't they be glad to take it off your hands?

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And resell it! One rat twice the price always a bargain for the seller! :)

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Originally Posted by Pwilliams58

You could always take it to the pet store couldn't you? Wouldn't they be glad to take it off your hands?

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No some pet stores won't take a rat from a private person, especially the chain stores. If you're a live feeder you just have to plan for the occasional refusal and have supplies on hand to deal with it. Turning a feeder rodent loose outside is never an option.

You can do vinegar and baking soda? Thats a slower way to C02, but it works and it is humane.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Turning a feeder rodent loose outside is never an option.

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And neither is feeding it to a domesticated animal. Just cause a wild ferret is capable of killing a rodent doesn't mean your pet store versions should be allowed to (those pet store ferrets are undersized and not experienced with how to kill quickly and not equiped for the rat to fight back...so both suffer).

A house cat is capable too...but that doesn't mean it should be allowed to.

Just my 2 cents.

I know that "PetCo" is a dirty word around here, but the PetCo near me accepts animals for adoption. I have gotten several of my breeder rats this way in the past.

Steve

As far as my ferret being able to kill a feeder rodent. She is just fine at dispatching them quickly. The only feeder she gets thats live is a small mouse at most. A rat is another story and I prefer them to be knocked out, stunned or prekilled. But my ferret does get live feeders once or twice a week and she's great at killing them.

I've never heard of anyone advocating feeding live mice(or mice of any kind) to a ferret. Why would you even WANT to do that? You say you can't bring yourself to 'be that violant' but you routinely pit a small mouse against your pet ferret?
As far as the rat, either keep it temporaily until you find someone to take it, or euthanize it. If you are going to feed live, then you should be prepared to hold a rodent a few days.
Letting it go is a MAJOR reason why people have greivances against pet owners already. There's no reason to turn a rodent loose. It will be a slow death of exposure, starvation, or predetor, or car. If it did survive, you just introduced another non-native creature. If you are tired of your snake, will you turn it loose too?
Rats are easy to keep in a bin that costs a couple dollars with a little effort.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

I've never heard of anyone advocating feeding live mice(or mice of any kind) to a ferret. Why would you even WANT to do that? You say you can't bring yourself to 'be that violant' but you routinely pit a small mouse against your pet ferret?
As far as the rat, either keep it temporaily until you find someone to take it, or euthanize it. If you are going to feed live, then you should be prepared to hold a rodent a few days.
Letting it go is a MAJOR reason why people have greivances against pet owners already. There's no reason to turn a rodent loose. It will be a slow death of exposure, starvation, or predetor, or car. If it did survive, you just introduced another non-native creature. If you are tired of your snake, will you turn it loose too?
Rats are easy to keep in a bin that costs a couple dollars with a little effort.

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Ferrets are highly capable of killing rodents, that's what their made to do, their carnivores... They eat meat and can't digest most processed ferret foods on the market. There are to many additives, and undigestible vegetables and fruit (can't digest the sugars and fibers). Some Ferret diets are good but i stick with the raw diet. Just thought i would throw my .2 in on that one ;)

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Originally Posted by hannibal21222

Ferrets are highly capable of killing rodents, that's what their made to do, their carnivores... They eat meat and can't digest most processed ferret foods on the market. There are to many additives, and undigestible vegetables and fruit (can't digest the sugars and fibers). Some Ferret diets are good but i stick with the raw diet. Just thought i would throw my .2 in on that one ;)

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Exactly. We were feeding her commercial food for a grand 3 days before we found out about the Raw meat and bone diet. We did that for a while and then we talked to other ferret owners who feed raw and they feed their ferrets rodents. We tried her on it and she loves it. So now she gets a combination of the raw meat and feeder diet.

And I'm not "pitting" a mouse against my ferret. I let her see the rodent first so she knows where it is and can be the first to attack. She's quite good at it now. Its no different than feeding live to a snake or lizard. Ferrets just have more fur. :D

Wolfy_hound, I am trying not to be offended by your post, but the more I read it, the more I am getting offended. I know very well that turning a rat loose into the wild would not be a good idea. I said it mearly as a last resort.

Also, no I would not turn my snake loose if I got tired of it. That is just stupid. I know that a ball python would not live very long outside where I live anyway. And this rat is not a pet. I have never had issues before of snakes not eating and me being stuck with a rodent 'I didn't have an enclosure for'. Now that I have these two females that won't eat, I have been stuck with 3 rats. Two I found an enclosure for and they are destined to be breeders. This rat however was living in a cardboard box (which it was quickly destroying) and drinking out of a shallow dish (because I didn't have any extra water bottles or any way to rig one up)

Anyway, your post came off as a bit strong. I was just looking for advice on how to dispatch the rat without slamming it against something.

I think that, since you already stun them, that humanely, quickly killing the rat by whacking it against something sturdy, would be fine. I personally don't like stunning prey; it just seems cruel to me. Snakes' grabbing them and constricting is quick and deliberate; stunning a rat confuses it, can cause permanent damage if the snake does not eat it and it lives. A quick whack or two against a concrete floor is all that's needed to kill a rat dead and with minimal suffering. In closing, if you're ok with stunning them, I don't see what's wrong with the whacking method of dispatching a rat. Of course the legs of the rat will kick for a few seconds, but it's just like when a deer or rabbit gets shot; reflexes that cause movement after death. But the strike has to be deliberate and against something stationary like a door frame or a concrete floor; an unconfident strike might not get the job done.
This does bring up a great point, though. Anyone who feeds live (myself included) should have spare housing and food/water supplies for any rejected prey items. Especially in the case of adult mice, which won't outgrow the snake, you an just keep it for a few days and re-offer it. I just am used to having a bunch of old 10g tanks around so it is no big deal if mine would reject prey.

You are the one that suggested turning it loose. "As a last resort" as opposed to keeping it.
And if it's "just stupid" to turn loose a snake, why is it somehow acceptable to turn loose a rat?
My dogs eat "meat" technically. I've heard of lots of people feeding a raw diet, but I've yet to see anyone feeding live bunnies to their dogs. How is it somehow different to a ferret? Are you saying that somehow your ferret won't eat meat without it running around first? I believe you did say you gave it a rodent only a few times a week too.
You get just as offended as you want, it offends me that you want to throw a domesticated rat out, as oppose to the many other ways to dispose of it. Then you even admit to "stunning it" a rodent, but you can't bring yourself to be that violant as to kill one by doing the same thing, somehow? Injuring a mouse vs killing a rat.
I don't think it's overboard to have to house a rat. If it's chewing up the cardboard box, get another one. Use a plastic bin, or kill the rat. Take it to a petstore that takes in rodents, or offer it on craigslist, call the humane society. You're the one that suggested turning it loose.

Dogs can digest plant matter, but ferrets on the other hand are obligate meat-eaters. Their digestive tract is short and meant for digesting things as quickly as possible. They are not meant to eat anything else. Most commercial foods contain many plant-based ingredients that are considered by many ferret owners as unhealthy for the ferret.

As for ferrets being domesticated. That is far from the truth. There are very few differences between the ferret that lives in my living room and the ferret that lives in the wild. My ferret seeks out things to "hunt" and she loves the stimulation of hunting for her meal. My ferret is quite content to eat raw meat and bones as her only source of food but to make sure she's getting the right nutrition, whole prey items are recommended. A mouse would be a natural food source for a ferret in the wild, so it makes sense that a feeder mouse would make a good meal. As for it being alive, it just provides her with stimulation. My girl has never taken more than 10 seconds to dispatch her prey and begin eating it, and I have never given her anything larger than a 20g mouse live.

This thread was not put here so I could have the way I keep my animals put under attack. I simply came asking for advice and I got it. I was unprepared to house this rat and thanks to the helpful people here on this forum, I got some good answers and advice without being attacked until you came along. I would appreciate it if this thread would be locked now that I've gotten my answer about the rat.

And wolfy_hound, if you would like more information on ferret diets, please feel free to PM me.

And as for the ferret getting rodents only a few times a week. Yes, she only gets feeder rodents a few times a week, normally 3-4 times a week. This does not mean that she doesn't get fed in the meantime. She gets many different kinds of meats, bones, and organs. My animals eat better than I do. Twitch gets chicken, turkey, beef, fish (in small amounts), pork (in small amounts), cornish game hen, and we plan on trying her on rabbit (as meat, not feeder)

Why are we contesting how Jay_bunny feeds her ferrets? I think we of all people should be more relaxed when it comes to feeder rats and what the predator is. I'm more than convinced that ferrets need the whole prey item in their diet.

ferrets = weasels, no?

when im out hunting i sometimes see weasels tracking down moles, mice, chipmunks, etc and then killing them in what looks to be one bite.

look at their teeth, any animal with canines is a meat eater.


about that rat...why not try eating it yourself? asians do it all the time so it must not be too bad:gj: squirrel tastes great :D

Jay_Bunny = Vegetarian.

:D The rat will hopefully be fed off tomorrow if I can get either of the girls to eat. If not then I'm going to the store for dry ice and CO2ing the rat and then giving it to my ferret.

Thanks for all your help, everyone.