Quote Originally Posted by wolfy-hound View Post
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.