Stunning of live rats

[motorhead1980]

How many people here stun their rats before putting them in for feeding? If so how do you go about doing it? Do you feel it is nessesary if you supervise? The rat I would be feeding is a small.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Not only is this not human, but you are putting your snake at even a greater risk.

If you want to feed live you should respect the animal you are feeding off, this means no torture, no stress and feeding a properly care for rodent.

The ideal feeder if you want to feed live is well fed, well hydrated and stress free, if you do so, you can feed live without experiencing any issue.

Anyone that need to stun a rat should not feed live to start with.

If you stun a rat you better hope it's not coming out of it's dazed because that is when accident happen.

I feed over 200 live rats each month (that is a small amount) and have done so since 2006 and I never had to stun a rat.

[Daigga]

How many people here stun their rats before putting them in for feeding? If so how do you go about doing it? Do you feel it is nessesary if you supervise? The rat I would be feeding is a small.

I don't think it's necessary at all. If I need a live rat for feeding purposes, I need it moving around in order to entice my fussy eaters. If it doesn't have to move around in order for the snake to eat, I'm feeding frozen. I can't imagine having to stun the feeder unless it's particularly mean, since most rats I've used as food don't even notice the snake until it's too late (not that my snakes even give them enough time to notice). The single case I had where the feeder (in this case a gerbil) tried to give the snake a bite, the snake handled the situation before I could get my hand in there to change things.

If you feel the feeders you're using are too aggressive to be safely left with your snakes, I would recommend finding a different source of feeders (a breeder that has a more docile stock, or a more ruthless cull if you're breeding your own. Biters can't be tolerated).

[Latifah]

I've seen this being discussed and I don't agree with stunning the rats.

My snake needs that movement to hunt, strike, and eat. I'd think that if the rat comes out of being stunned, then your snake is going to have one angry prey item in there lol.

I wouldn't think of doing it myself.

[auhsojnacnud]

What would be the point of feeding live if you're just going to stun? Save yourself the trouble and buy one thats already dead. I feed live because I prefer to watch the snake hunt it. It builds suspense.

[somnambulant]

I stunned at first because that's what the rescue I adopted my first ball told me to do, and honestly, it made me feel like the most horrible person in the world. If the snake isn't interested or takes awhile to strike and the rat regains itself.... it just feels like you've put the rat through terrible trauma for no reason. Not only that, but then they're freaked out and have a higher chance of becoming super aggressive out of fear and harming your snake.

I feed live. If I come across a rat that is aggressive (which as someone mentioned before, can come along with rats that are not properly cared for... I bought rats from a pet shop when I first moved here not realizing until I got home that they were underfed and couldn't stop pooping dog food... they ended up being the most aggressive rats I've ever seen), then I put it down first. In my experience, stunning is unnecessary.

[motorhead1980]

Not to worry I did not want to do it. She ate and there were no problems. Her first meal with me!! Thanks guys

[KMG]

I have never stunned a rodent before offering the few times I have fed live. However, I have fed some rats that put up a good fight and started to bite my snakes. During this situation I just gave the rat a thump with my finger and it was usually enough to stop the action and let the snake make the kill without getting chewed up.

I have seen others use a pencil to keep the rodent from biting the snake but I never really liked that idea and a quick thump has always worked for me.

When feeding live keep a close eye on it. I bought a BRB that the previous owner fed a nasty rat that gave the snake a good size opening in its side requiring a vet to close the wound. The scar is only just now starting to go away. They said they tried the pencil technique but it did little to protect the snake.

[MarkS]

I think a lot of people use the term 'stunning' rats when what they really mean is fresh killed. Thumping your rats should always be done with enough force to destroy the brain killing the animal. (you will usually see reflex action and bodily movement for several minutes after death which is usually enough to entice a strike and constriction) Thumping a rat lightly with the intention that 'it'll wake up later' IS cruel torture and should never be attempted.

[motorhead1980]

I agree 100%, which is why I did not do it. This was advice by a local reptile store. Which I did not take and felt bad even asking about it on here, but just wanted to run it by everyone. The rat was very calm and was taken care of by the snake in under 10 seconds. Thanks again for telling me what I was hoping you would say !