It sounds mean but look at it in the same respect if the rat was alive in with the snake. The snake wraps it up and squeezes it cutting off its oxygen. Im doing the same thing but without the hassle of the rat putting up a fight with the snake. The rat will only feel the loss of oxygen and will black out pretty quickly. Sorry that nobody agrees with me but these are purely feeders and i look for the cheapest, least time consuming, and cleanest way to put them down as possible.