CO2 Chamber- Airtight?

[Peter Williams]

We have C02'd pinkies, and they were the ones that came back on us

There's your problem right there. Pinkies are naturally resistant to hypoxia. I believe it has something to do with so they don't suffocate when the mother is sitting on them. It is much quicker to kill a pinkie to just place it straight into the freezer.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

We have C02'd pinkies, and they were the ones that came back on us.

I would recommend you to euthanize any prey under 14 days old by placing them into your freezer.

[ThyTempest]

Allright, thanks for the pinky tip. Judging by that then, if they dont have their eyes open they should probably go right into the freezer?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Allright, thanks for the pinky tip. Judging by that then, if they dont have their eyes open they should probably go right into the freezer?

Yes

[ThyTempest]

Finally getting around to getting pics when I realized I dont have my laptop back yet, sorry guys. Anyway, I bought a new tub to convert into the CO2 chamber, and I think it is going to work really well. It is a 2.5 Gallon Rubbermaid Easy Find lid food storage container. Size is pretty much perfect for us, and has a pretty good airtight seal already. I soldered a hole in the top to be able to barely squeeze the remote adapter (the threaded part that would go into the gun, that has the pneumatic connector on the other side) through, so I can easily attach or detach the coil/tank from the adapter for storage. I have noticed the seal is not perfectly airtight, which is to be expected, but if that is really neccessary, some silicone caulk or teflon tape would probably fix it pretty easily.

[Peter Williams]

Finally getting around to getting pics when I realized I dont have my laptop back yet, sorry guys. Anyway, I bought a new tub to convert into the CO2 chamber, and I think it is going to work really well. It is a 2.5 Gallon Rubbermaid Easy Find lid food storage container. Size is pretty much perfect for us, and has a pretty good airtight seal already. I soldered a hole in the top to be able to barely squeeze the remote adapter (the threaded part that would go into the gun, that has the pneumatic connector on the other side) through, so I can easily attach or detach the coil/tank from the adapter for storage. I have noticed the seal is not perfectly airtight, which is to be expected, but if that is really neccessary, some silicone caulk or teflon tape would probably fix it pretty easily.

As I said before, depth is more critical than air-tightness. I think you'll find that container is going to be a huge problem, especially when it blows up, possibly injuring you, and sending little rodents flying everywhere. There has to be a place for the air that was already inside the container to go, so maybe drill an equally sized hole on the top somewhat close to the other hole. Because if not, it'll just build air pressure in there and it'll just keep compressing until the container can't take anymore.

[nixer]

As I said before, depth is more critical than air-tightness. I think you'll find that container is going to be a huge problem, especially when it blows up, possibly injuring you, and sending little rodents flying everywhere. There has to be a place for the air that was already inside the container to go, so maybe drill an equally sized hole on the top somewhat close to the other hole. Because if not, it'll just build air pressure in there and it'll just keep compressing until the container can't take anymore.

if you do this make sure you setup a video camera first because i would have to see rodents just flying through the air!

p.s. make sure you put that hole in the top. CO2 is heavier than air hence if the hole was in the bottom it would technically just leak out and never accumulate in the tub evacutaing the oxygen

[ThyTempest]

I have an exhaust hole soldered in too, sorry forgot to mention it. I plan on leaving it open while I have the gas going, then once the tub is filled, I can cover it to keep oxygen from getting back in. Here are some pics, just got my laptop back a few mins ago. I just tested it out and it turns out I did need more exhaust holes, so I soldered in two more. Seems to work pretty well...with just a little stream the top doesnt bulge at all, and even if it is on full blast, the exhaust keeps it from wanting to explode.

New setup

Old Setup...*No kittens were harmed in the capture of this photograph*

[truthsdeceit]

I have an exhaust hole soldered in too, sorry forgot to mention it. I plan on leaving it open while I have the gas going, then once the tub is filled, I can cover it to keep oxygen from getting back in. Here are some pics, just got my laptop back a few mins ago. I just tested it out and it turns out I did need more exhaust holes, so I soldered in two more. Seems to work pretty well...with just a little stream the top doesnt bulge at all, and even if it is on full blast, the exhaust keeps it from wanting to explode.

If you want to take the guess work out of covering and uncovering exhaust holes you can just put some tubing in that runs into a glass of water. That way the escaping oxygen can get out but because of the water none gets back in.

[ThyTempest]

I thought about doing that, but I wasnt that confident that I could get the diameter of the hole close enough to any tuber that I could find easily, also, I have rat pups getting too big that I just had to put down so I didnt have the time to make it perfect. Once I have more time and more hardware options I think I do plan on doing that, the only issue now being that I made three exhaust holes...so I either have to water down all 3 or cover up two of them in a way that will still hold some pressure...I am thinking aluminum tape will hold up okay, but we will see what I come up with.