OK so after reading that long and tedious 17 page forum and doing a bit of my own research throughout today yes dry ice can be inhumane if you prim the container, if you expose the rodent directly to the dry ice, and if you add water to speed the process
I have found discrepancies in the time as 5 min is not long enough if it is anything younger than an adult with a maximum time for rats being 20 mins for fuzzies and not recommended at all for pinkies
I also have read the regulations set out and that the only method to dispense co2 correctly is with a full lab setup and co2 canister
Now realistically using either method works and if administered properly is humane in a since when you get right down to it killing anything for a reason other than to prolong an already agonizing situation could be considered inhumane. For reasons of cost effectiveness co2 canister is in the long run cheaper due to storage issues with block dry ice how ever start up cost are not cost effective for someone starting out, feeding on a budget, or only having to dispense of rodents on a periodic basis - for those rodent breeder on much smaller scales I could see how the dry ice method would work best.
I however really did not see any point in the almost year long argument over rather or not using dry ice was inhumane and did not help any of those people that where looking for a cost effective way to humanely dispense of their rodents before feeding. which eventually lead to the grossly inhumane methods of breaking necks, stunning, and just all around methods of bludgeoning the poor fellow for the sake of natural order.
I myself use to feed live when I had snakes years ago and find f/t very convenient however expensive. With a recent adoption from a military man that could no longer care for his red tail boa I got a breeder setup of rats and sought this forum on how best to dispense of them once they reached appropriate size seeing as there are far to many for me to feed even once a week between one red tail boa and 2 ball pythons.
I commend everyone's strong opinions and views looking out for the safety and humane dispensing of the feeders but please remember that killing them just to feed them to another animal isn't in itself humane to start with. I love my steak just as much as the next omnivore and heck I even like tofu and soy products that doesn't mean that I find it any less cruel that for me to have that steak a bull is sent to slaughter in what is claimed to be humane conditions and we all know they are not so humane yet we all still eat. In an informative sticky you would think that there could have been less arguing outright in the forum and keeping directly to the point.
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