Wacking a rodent....how exactly is this done

[Jeanne]

I have had many snakes. Many did take fresh killed and a few F/T. When I had to kill the rodent myself, I would take a 5 gallon bucket, and put a wire grate about mid way up, leaving space in the bottom, and put dry ice in the bottom, and pour a little water over it, drop the rodent in, and put the lid on..within minutes, it does kill them with the gas created by the dry ice and water. This was the most humane way I could do it at the time. And it does not hurt the rodent in any way making it unsafe to feed to your snake. I am all for doing it as humanely as possible. However, right now, I am stuck feeding my bp's live..I have tried Randy's method and many others, and it cost me alot of money wasted in dead rodents that would never get eaten and only thrown away. Since I am stuck feeding live, it means I MUST be right there to supervise the whole situation for my snakes safety. In any case, good luck in getting your snake/snakes to eat fresh killed or F/T... it is easier, and a lot less expensive in the long run cause you can buy bulk and safer for the snake/snakes.

[BallKingdom]

Where do you get your dry ice, and how expensive is it?

[Jeanne]

I was buying it at what is called a "beer dock" a drive through beer, pop and cig place. I was buying it by the bag..5 lbs @ $2.39. I would just use a hammer and knock off a piece for use.

[RPlank]

Another thing i heard works, but haven't tried is....holdinding them down flat on a board or any surface. put a ruler or stick behind their neck and give their tail a quick tug....apparently this separates the last neck verebrate and they die instantly.....But like i said i haven't tried it.

I tried this method....once. Maybe it's because it was a fuzzy rat, or maybe my superhuman strength got out of control, :lol: but all I did was pull the tail off the poor thing, which made it difficult to bash.

[Hoomi]

I wonder how difficult it would be to put together a small container with a nozzle to accept a CO2 cartridge like you would use in a pellet gun? One could buy several rats/mice, place them in the container, and then simply screw the CO2 cartridge onto the fitting and fill the container with CO2, accomplishing the same effect as the dry ice method. One could be fed immediately, and the others frozen for later.

Since we can't call up the Rat Mafia and have a contract taken out on the little rodents, I guess we have to figure out our own ways...

[Jeanne]

Hi Hoomi,

I provided a link to an article I found on euthanizing rodents, it has some good ideas and it is humane. I bet you could modify the chamber to take c02 cartridges, but, I wonder, will those be cost effective, as the way the article says. Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/index.ph...opic&t=158

[Ironhead]

My problem is, is that I refuse to kill any animal unless I plan on eating it myself. So, luckily my BP eat's live critters. Though I am the one putting it in the tank to be ate, I am not doing the actuall killing. This is just the food chain in progress. Another problem, is my youngest daughter has pet rat's, so Killing them would more or less kill her. She excepts the fact that our BP must eat, but her just knowing that I was bashing them etc. would tear her up, and I'm not willing to risk that. But if your going to do it, just do it as humanely as possible. I like the rodents myself.

[BallKingdom]

I understand how you could be against killing rats, but feeding live rats can do serious damage. I think you should definitely consider frozen, all you do is thaw them out like hamburg.

[Ironhead]

I understand what is said about them possibly hurting the BP, but they have no help in the wild and seem to manage to survive. I do keep a very good eye on him while he is feeding, and he seems to be very smart as to when to strike his intended victim. He has never just immediately hit his food when it is first introduced. He watch's for a while and seems to wait till the best oppurtunity. He loves to stalk his victim. I dont know exactly how he did it with his previous owner (who only fed him every 6 weeks) but I have had him going on 5 weeks and have fed him 3 times and this is the way he prepares his meal's. He has never had anything but live food and I am worried that he would not take to fresh frozen thawed meal's and besides, live is much cheaper. And after having to feed 5 children and one grandaughter, cheaper is better. :lol:

[BallKingdom]

It's worth a shot though.