What goes down with killing and constricting?

[FrankieCarbone]

man, wolfy-hound put in work in that last thread!

[h00blah]

Amy, where in SoCal do you live? SoCal has a lot of rodent breeders. PM me if you want

[JohnNJ]

Amy: You have received lots of good information and advice but with all of your stipulations you may want to reconsider owning a snake. It just may not be the right pet for you and your situation at this time. Maybe later.

[AmysAnimals]

Amy: You have received lots of good information and advice but with all of your stipulations you may want to reconsider owning a snake. It just may not be the right pet for you and your situation at this time. Maybe later.

Because I might have to feed live? I don't see the problem as long as I am very careful. I am going to talk with my brothers and sister about having f/t rats in the freezer. It's the outside freezer that hardly anyone even goes into so I don't see where the problem would lie. My mom was the one making it tough in the first place but I talked to her and she said "See what your siblings and dad say." So I may be able to feed f/t. If not, I'll just get 3 weeks worth of rats.

I have been wanting a snake for about 3 years and my family is finally letting me own one. I understand what goes on with feeding now. I appreciate most of your guys input. I would never want my snake to be harmed. My first thought when considering getting a snake was f/t but I didn't think about what my family would think about it.

I don't know that I could kill rats myself in a CO2 chamber because to me it sounds holocausty... Taking rats and putting them in a gas chamber awaiting their untimely death due to suffocation by gas. But then again, if I feed live it's like even worse to them...So hopefully I can get my family to not hate me for putting dead, frozen rats in the freezer outside.

Wish me luck in the mean time, unless of course all of you are against me getting a snake too just because the way I may have to feed.

I may have come off as sensitive to the rats because I owned five of them, but like I have said before, it's circle of life and the snake needs to eat too.

Again, thank you guys for the help and information. It has helped a lot.

[Domepiece]

Yes some will make a noise. And as far as the blood coming out, it doesnt happen all the time but they are being essentially crushed and this can punture lungs, stomach, ect, and blood will therefore come out of the mouth and nose sometimes but not always, the better they get at feeding the quicker and less distressful feedings will become for the prey and the snake as they figure out how to do it more quickly and the right way.

[akjadlnfkjfdkladf]

i've heard of rats screaming and biting the snakes before, but not so much with mice.

[wolfy-hound]

Actually, most blood from the nose would probably be from excessive blood pressure from the constriction to the chest. (from one of the vets at UF I was talking to way back about snake constriction to the prey).

To the OP, myself, I am not worried over whether you feed live or not, but you have said a lot of "I can't buy live every week, I can't keep frozen rats, I don't want to kill them myself.." and it does kind of sound like there might be a lot of hurdles to overcome for you. It's good that you're figuring all these issues out before you have a snake to feed and it's "URGENT". Shows you're being responsible.

As far as gassing the rodents, it's not painful. It's CO2 gas, so don't compare that to the Holocaust with the poison gases. CO2 just makes them go to sleep and then they stop breathing. It's not painful, they don't suffucate or undergo any stress when it's done properly. Of course, if the snake strikes properly, the rat is only alive a few seconds before the constriction causes them to lose consciousness also. So either the snake or you, it's possible to have a relatively humane death. The difference comes when the snake hits poorly, and it can be painful to the rodent OR dangerous to the snake. If you mess up, you'd see they are not dead, you add more CO2 and they still die painlessly.

[AmysAnimals]

Actually, most blood from the nose would probably be from excessive blood pressure from the constriction to the chest. (from one of the vets at UF I was talking to way back about snake constriction to the prey).

To the OP, myself, I am not worried over whether you feed live or not, but you have said a lot of "I can't buy live every week, I can't keep frozen rats, I don't want to kill them myself.." and it does kind of sound like there might be a lot of hurdles to overcome for you. It's good that you're figuring all these issues out before you have a snake to feed and it's "URGENT". Shows you're being responsible.

As far as gassing the rodents, it's not painful. It's CO2 gas, so don't compare that to the Holocaust with the poison gases. CO2 just makes them go to sleep and then they stop breathing. It's not painful, they don't suffucate or undergo any stress when it's done properly. Of course, if the snake strikes properly, the rat is only alive a few seconds before the constriction causes them to lose consciousness also. So either the snake or you, it's possible to have a relatively humane death. The difference comes when the snake hits poorly, and it can be painful to the rodent OR dangerous to the snake. If you mess up, you'd see they are not dead, you add more CO2 and they still die painlessly.

I *can* buy rats every week, it's just I don't want to drive to the reptile store. I am going to check out the reptile store that is NEAR me but from the reviews it's gotten it's probably not going to be a pleasant visit. If it's dirty, smells and the animals are in poor condition I won't be purchasing my feeders there. Otherwise I am just going to have to buy 3 weeks worth of rats at the reptile store that is a distance away and use those. OOORR if my family agrees (which I am hoping) then I will just get f/t. =) It will all work out fine, one way or another.

I guess I shouldn't have compared it to the Holocaust considering I didn't know much about it other than it was gas. Even though it's humane, I do not think I could do it. I'd rather have the pet store kill the rat for me if I need that done.

Thanks, you have been very helpful.

[luvmyballs]

When we got our first snake I was against live food and fresh killed I thought frozen was the way to go but I quickly changed my mind. I have one male that will only eat live and the others prefer fresh killed or live. I hard no choice with the one either he was going to starve or I feed live. Also frozen thawed is a pain. One snake would only take them after we warmed them with a hair dryer. If pre killing makes you sad feed live keep a eye on them and when they hit back away so you don't have to see any blood. They kill them pretty quick. as far as the squeak is concerned it usually last a second and all of this stuff you will get use to it. My daughter loves baby rodents as well as the big ones but when its time to feed she knows they are food and has no problems dropping one in and watching them strike. Good luck I hope you can work everything out so you can get your snake.

[MikeJuggles]

That's sick. Would you want to die that way. What if they didn't die? What if they were still alive and suffering?!

Not sick at all. The only way it wouldn't die is if you don't smack it hard enough. How do you think I kill my fish when I go fishing. I smash them on the head with a mallet.
If you think suffocating them is more humane than instantaneous death by blunt force, be my guest.
As owners of animals that kill(via suffocation and crushing) and eat other animals in nature I would think that most of us would be ok with making such a small sacrifice and save it the gruesome and not so slow death of being killed by a constricting snake.