How do you euthanize your rodents?

I was doing some shopping for feeders at my local pet store and something came up that I had not thought about before. I had called prior to going to the pet store asking if they had frozen fuzzy mice, and I told them I would only need 3 or 4 and they said they had enough. I got to the store and asked for the girl there for fuzzies and they said they only had one, but she offered to sell me live fuzzies at the same price. I don't feed live, so I opted out of it, and I said I felt guilty seeing it die, then she said I could kill it myself, and I asked how, and she said by putting it in the freezer...

I've done as much research as I can on the subject and found out very little on how often this kind of thing occurs and whether it is cruel or not. So...

For you breeders out there, how do you euthanize your rodents, the pinkies and fuzzies at least? Do you freeze them or use CO2 or do you feed them or get sell them off while they're still alive?
For those of you who buy them, how does your source of rodents euthanize the pinkies and fuzzies? Freezing, CO2, or are you unsure, or do you feed them live?

CO2 for anything over 2 weeks old
Freezer for anything under 2 weeks old due to their resistance to hypoxia.

Constriction by chondro!

I would have got the live feeders stuck them in my tub and left the room or simply closed my eyes. Honestly how do you know they were humanely euthanized? Alot of feeders come from mass production companies that feel it's a waste of money to C02 a feeder and simply stick a bunch of them in a large freezer which is just as painful if not more than a snake bite/coil.

I feel live and breed my own feeders to each his own and I understand where your coming from but alot of people think just because they're buying a frozen rodent it means it didn't suffer, that's just incorrect.

Right now I am only feeding pinkies and fuzzies so they go into the freezer once they get to about 3 weeks I will start using co2

when I was quite young I would just freeze, I asked someone who apparently thought that was how to humanely euthanize, and being an 8 year old I simply trusted what anyone over 20 told me pretty much. After I heard about CO2 I did that whenever I had to P/K. A ton of people still just freeze though.

I don't P/K anymore, I just buy frozen already from a local feeder source, if only live was available I'd probably feed live, I'm not going to invest in CO2 when I'm just dealing with one feeder a week.

Once I start breeding my own feeders to support the snakes I'm sure I will pick up in the next few years though I'll use CO2 on anything over 3 weeks.

I feed live, but I do know that it's recommended to freeze anything under 2 weeks old. Joanna had posted a link about this last year from her research. I'll see if I can't find it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rabernet

I feed live, but I do know that it's recommended to freeze anything under 2 weeks old. Joanna had posted a link about this last year from her research. I'll see if I can't find it.

---

I was hoping someone could give me something to read about this topic... I just have read more supporting that euthanasia by CO2 is the most humane for the rodents. It's hard to find anything about the newly born rodents though. The only thing I have seen looking at this site were very strong claims and very little information.

Thanks for the inputs everyone.

sorry live! thats all mine eat :gj:too many feeding issues to try to switch now!

can you use dry ice some where i here i saw a guy who built a gas chamber using dry ice

I use a product called " Dust off" Which is compressed air used to clean keyboards I think. Its cheap, found in walmart, and gets the job done fast/ humanely.

I stick them in a container and fill it up, and few seconds later fill it up again to make sure it works. This works from 2-3 weeks+ to adults. I'm a live feeder person but I use it if I have a rat or asf in pain or reached a point where they are not producing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ev477

I was hoping someone could give me something to read about this topic... I just have read more supporting that euthanasia by CO2 is the most humane for the rodents. It's hard to find anything about the newly born rodents though. The only thing I have seen looking at this site were very strong claims and very little information.

Thanks for the inputs everyone.

---

http://www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

http://www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf

---

Thank you very much, unless I missed something somewhere in the text, I guess rapid freezing is considered inhumane, unless it is used along with an anesthetic, which would later be consumed by the snake and we don't want to do that.

rapid freezing would not kill a mammal humanly.nobody ever discusses the snap of the neck which I think is the most humane thing ,even gas is a little slower than that.But anyway my snake do the deed anyway keeps them feasty!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

http://www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf

---

I took a quick look at that document. It said, for rodents, a blow to the head is not humane but microwave irradiation is humane. Really??? :O

JohnNJ

i put mice in a airtight tub, I get dry ice, put it in a critter cage, put the critter cage in the tub with the mice.. and presto! frozen feeders!

I am glad this came up as this very same thing happened to me yesterday. I feed frozen but some of the frozen I have received have had blood on there ears or nose which leads me to believe they suffered :tears::taz:. Totally not the reason I would be doing f/t :( ..I think in time I will learn to co2 them on my own so that I can be certain . Until then I am hoping to find a small breeder who does this that I trust to be a honest and humane person . Plus our reptile store is pretty gross anyways . :colbert: I would rather breed and euthanize my own so I know how they were treated.

Everything living that I drop into my bp's enclosure is instantly euthanized:gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by quickone4u

everything living that i drop into my bp's enclosure is instantly euthanized:gj:

---

lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by americangypsy

I am glad this came up as this very same thing happened to me yesterday. I feed frozen but some of the frozen I have received have had blood on there ears or nose which leads me to believe they suffered :tears::taz:. Totally not the reason I would be doing f/t :( ..I think in time I will learn to co2 them on my own so that I can be certain . Until then I am hoping to find a small breeder who does this that I trust to be a honest and humane person . Plus our reptile store is pretty gross anyways . :colbert: I would rather breed and euthanize my own so I know how they were treated.

---

The blood is not necessarily due to any damage prior to the freezing. It is more likely to be caused by the freezing and thawing process. I remember someone saying that certain blood paths are destroyed during this and this causes the blood leakage. The same thing might happen to you if you breed your own, although you'd be getting them at a much cheaper price :gj:

I have one snake that refuses frozen thawed mice but he is terrible at constricting so I always prekill for him. The one time I gave him a live one, he got it by the leg and didn't even wrap it. The mouse had a good 30 seconds before he got a coil around it (it didn't bite my snake, thank god). But since I only euthanize one mouse at a time, I find that cervical dislocation is the easiest method. But I have extensive experience with this method, make sure you do it right!

If they are pinkies- I feed live or freeze live
if they are fuzzies- I feed live or freeze live
hoppers+- I place a butter knife behind the neck and pull the tail, usually this is a quick death and not much movement afterwards. That being said not many get to live this long as my Ball only eats once a shed as he's crazy picky:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rebeccabecca

That being said not many get to live this long as my Ball only eats once a shed as he's crazy picky:)

---

Once a shed:O How much does he weigh and how old?

I put them in a blender. :D

HAMMER METHOD!
:bonk:


:rofl:


i feed ASFs, but only to a few snakes, and they eat adults...
to just a quick ol smack over the head.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by juddb

Constriction by chondro!

---

LOL - Always the best way!!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sebrina

I would have got the live feeders stuck them in my tub and left the room or simply closed my eyes. Honestly how do you know they were humanely euthanized? Alot of feeders come from mass production companies that feel it's a waste of money to C02 a feeder and simply stick a bunch of them in a large freezer which is just as painful if not more than a snake bite/coil.
I feel live and breed my own feeders to each his own and I understand where your coming from but alot of people think just because they're buying a frozen rodent it means it didn't suffer, that's just incorrect.

---

i dont think that it is very painful for a rodent to be constricted by a snake except for the first few seconds. the constriction of the snake cuts off the blood flow to the brain and therefore just makes the mouse pass out, before it becomes fully deceased. now sticking it in the freezer on the other hand would be a long slow agonizing death in my opinion.

Just like I was shown the first time. Smack em on your wrist and let them twitch. Cruel hunh! Been doin it for years.

quick and easy cervical dislocation. It's really quit simple. I keep saying I'm going to make a vid on it but there are vids on you tube. The one I found is not how I do it. I use a pair of long tweezers behind the head. It is very quick. Much quicker than c02.

I will try to get something made at some point. Next feeding perhaps.YouTube - pre kill mouse, feed corn snake

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hulihzack

I have one snake that refuses frozen thawed mice but he is terrible at constricting so I always prekill for him. The one time I gave him a live one, he got it by the leg and didn't even wrap it. The mouse had a good 30 seconds before he got a coil around it (it didn't bite my snake, thank god). But since I only euthanize one mouse at a time, I find that cervical dislocation is the easiest method. But I have extensive experience with this method, make sure you do it right!

---

How do you suggest doing this to a larger/jumbo rat? Would the last video be the same method you are talking about?

[QUOTE=singingtothewheat;1268951]quick and easy cervical dislocation. It's really quit simple. I keep saying I'm going to make a vid on it but there are vids on you tube. The one I found is not how I do it. I use a pair of long tweezers behind the head. It is very quick. Much quicker than c02.

Would this work for a large/jumbo rat too? So you just tweeze the head and pull? :confused::confused:

It's not at all true that a blow to the head is not a humane way to kill rodents. Instant destruction of the brain has to be the most humane way to kill anything.

The risk is in MISSING--that can lead to a situation where the animal's in pain. It's also brutal, and people seem to want to avoid doing anything 'violent'.

I whack them cleanly over the head. They're so dead, sometimes they don't even twitch afterward. When we do larger numbers, it's CO2.

By the way, if you decide to whack a jumbo rat, do not underestimate the amount of force required--they have skulls like granite, so don't hold back if you want to make it clean.
It's much more humane than your average rat trap.
As for the babies, if I have to feed pk, or freeze some, then I use cervical dislocation. You place a stick or bar at the back of their head, then pull backward sharply on the tail, breaking the neck. Don't try this on anything older than a fuzzy, it's unlikely to work.

Mice are fed live
Rats go in the pillow case of doom and are introduced to concrete at high speed. They dont twitch and I've yet to have a messy incident. Blood doesn't really bother me but I'd rather see the blood of a rat than the blood of my snakes. :rolleyes:

ziplock vacum bags just pump out the air then put them in the frezzer and your good. no mess or fuss. you can do about four at a time and there are no chemicals to harm your snake

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sniper

ziplock vacum bags just pump out the air then put them in the frezzer and your good. no mess or fuss. you can do about four at a time and there are no chemicals to harm your snake

---

This is not a humane way of killing rodents. Smothering them, is no good.

If you're refering to CO2 as a chemical that may harm your snake, it doesn't.

I do CO2 and cervical dislocation because I am impatient. lol I use vinegar and baking soda to make the CO2. I disinfect my cages with vinegar so the smell does not bother my mice.