GAS CHAMBER

[FourFeathers]

This is the gas chamber I made today.

Went to a military surplus store and bought a cannister intended for paintball co2. Had'em top it off,
bought a hose and fitting, drilled a hole in a cooler, screwed in fitting, dropped in live rat, closed the lid,
opened the valve and it was done. The rat was put down humanely. I only put in one for the test, but the cooler can hold several rats at a time. In fact, I'd bet that the more rats I put in, the less gas it would take to put them down.

All the equipment cost less than a hundred bucks. The canister, although small, holds quite a bit and the
guy who sold it to me said he estimated that expanded, the gas would equal about 600 cubic feet. That's
plenty of gas for my small time operation. And will only cost about 4 bucks to refill it.

I do have to hold the lid down tightly to keep the gas and pressure in. But that's not a big deal. Just takes a moment.

What do you think?

[sophie42204]

Very kewl!

[led4urhead]

Very nice ... good idea as well. Do you freeze the rats or are you only gonna use it on feeding day?

[FourFeathers]

I'm trying to use up the frozen rats & mice I've already got and at the same time, use this chamber also on feeding day. So, the're getting both right now. I'm sure that eventually, my rat colony is going to take off and I'm going to have to store them in a freezer.

My wife suggested that I gas them enough to knock them out, but not kill them. Then introduce them, hearts still beating, to the snake. They will take it and do their thing and feel the heart stop when they're constricting. Nature in action, only with safety precautions in place.

[JLC]

Wow....very excellent set-up, Marcus! People had suggested using those canisters as a way to gas, but no one seemed to know quite how to set it up.

[JLC]

I'm going to move this to the Feeder Forum and make a sticky out of it.

[FourFeathers]

Thanks for the positive feedback. Seems to be working pretty well. I may have to put some epoxy around the base where it connects to the lid. I think there may an ever so slight leak there. Not enough to cause a problem. But enough to bother me.

Thanks again!

[Marla]

Thanks for documenting it Marcus! Looks like a good setup.

[hhw]

I'm trying to use up the frozen rats & mice I've already got and at the same time, use this chamber also on feeding day. So, the're getting both right now. I'm sure that eventually, my rat colony is going to take off and I'm going to have to store them in a freezer.

My wife suggested that I gas them enough to knock them out, but not kill them. Then introduce them, hearts still beating, to the snake. They will take it and do their thing and feel the heart stop when they're constricting. Nature in action, only with safety precautions in place.

I have heard that if a rodent regains conscious after being knocked out by CO2, it will suffer some so it would be more humane to kill them.

Great setup though... seems to be more efficient than the dry ice method.

Where did you get the hosing by the way? Is that sold at paintball stores too?

[steelsack]

Great thinking! Slap it in the DYI, but give it a snappy name......"The FourFeathers Box of Death" LOL!
Seriously man good job that's perty dern clever 8)