Disposing of Rat

[Beardedragon]

You can do vinegar and baking soda? Thats a slower way to C02, but it works and it is humane.

[lord jackel]

Turning a feeder rodent loose outside is never an option.

And neither is feeding it to a domesticated animal. Just cause a wild ferret is capable of killing a rodent doesn't mean your pet store versions should be allowed to (those pet store ferrets are undersized and not experienced with how to kill quickly and not equiped for the rat to fight back...so both suffer).

A house cat is capable too...but that doesn't mean it should be allowed to.

Just my 2 cents.

[hoo-t]

I know that "PetCo" is a dirty word around here, but the PetCo near me accepts animals for adoption. I have gotten several of my breeder rats this way in the past.

Steve

[Jay_Bunny]

As far as my ferret being able to kill a feeder rodent. She is just fine at dispatching them quickly. The only feeder she gets thats live is a small mouse at most. A rat is another story and I prefer them to be knocked out, stunned or prekilled. But my ferret does get live feeders once or twice a week and she's great at killing them.

[wolfy-hound]

I've never heard of anyone advocating feeding live mice(or mice of any kind) to a ferret. Why would you even WANT to do that? You say you can't bring yourself to 'be that violant' but you routinely pit a small mouse against your pet ferret?
As far as the rat, either keep it temporaily until you find someone to take it, or euthanize it. If you are going to feed live, then you should be prepared to hold a rodent a few days.
Letting it go is a MAJOR reason why people have greivances against pet owners already. There's no reason to turn a rodent loose. It will be a slow death of exposure, starvation, or predetor, or car. If it did survive, you just introduced another non-native creature. If you are tired of your snake, will you turn it loose too?
Rats are easy to keep in a bin that costs a couple dollars with a little effort.

[hannibal21222]

I've never heard of anyone advocating feeding live mice(or mice of any kind) to a ferret. Why would you even WANT to do that? You say you can't bring yourself to 'be that violant' but you routinely pit a small mouse against your pet ferret?
As far as the rat, either keep it temporaily until you find someone to take it, or euthanize it. If you are going to feed live, then you should be prepared to hold a rodent a few days.
Letting it go is a MAJOR reason why people have greivances against pet owners already. There's no reason to turn a rodent loose. It will be a slow death of exposure, starvation, or predetor, or car. If it did survive, you just introduced another non-native creature. If you are tired of your snake, will you turn it loose too?
Rats are easy to keep in a bin that costs a couple dollars with a little effort.

Ferrets are highly capable of killing rodents, that's what their made to do, their carnivores... They eat meat and can't digest most processed ferret foods on the market. There are to many additives, and undigestible vegetables and fruit (can't digest the sugars and fibers). Some Ferret diets are good but i stick with the raw diet. Just thought i would throw my .2 in on that one

[Jay_Bunny]

Ferrets are highly capable of killing rodents, that's what their made to do, their carnivores... They eat meat and can't digest most processed ferret foods on the market. There are to many additives, and undigestible vegetables and fruit (can't digest the sugars and fibers). Some Ferret diets are good but i stick with the raw diet. Just thought i would throw my .2 in on that one

Exactly. We were feeding her commercial food for a grand 3 days before we found out about the Raw meat and bone diet. We did that for a while and then we talked to other ferret owners who feed raw and they feed their ferrets rodents. We tried her on it and she loves it. So now she gets a combination of the raw meat and feeder diet.

And I'm not "pitting" a mouse against my ferret. I let her see the rodent first so she knows where it is and can be the first to attack. She's quite good at it now. Its no different than feeding live to a snake or lizard. Ferrets just have more fur.

[Jay_Bunny]

Wolfy_hound, I am trying not to be offended by your post, but the more I read it, the more I am getting offended. I know very well that turning a rat loose into the wild would not be a good idea. I said it mearly as a last resort.

Also, no I would not turn my snake loose if I got tired of it. That is just stupid. I know that a ball python would not live very long outside where I live anyway. And this rat is not a pet. I have never had issues before of snakes not eating and me being stuck with a rodent 'I didn't have an enclosure for'. Now that I have these two females that won't eat, I have been stuck with 3 rats. Two I found an enclosure for and they are destined to be breeders. This rat however was living in a cardboard box (which it was quickly destroying) and drinking out of a shallow dish (because I didn't have any extra water bottles or any way to rig one up)

Anyway, your post came off as a bit strong. I was just looking for advice on how to dispatch the rat without slamming it against something.

[Ginevive]

I think that, since you already stun them, that humanely, quickly killing the rat by whacking it against something sturdy, would be fine. I personally don't like stunning prey; it just seems cruel to me. Snakes' grabbing them and constricting is quick and deliberate; stunning a rat confuses it, can cause permanent damage if the snake does not eat it and it lives. A quick whack or two against a concrete floor is all that's needed to kill a rat dead and with minimal suffering. In closing, if you're ok with stunning them, I don't see what's wrong with the whacking method of dispatching a rat. Of course the legs of the rat will kick for a few seconds, but it's just like when a deer or rabbit gets shot; reflexes that cause movement after death. But the strike has to be deliberate and against something stationary like a door frame or a concrete floor; an unconfident strike might not get the job done.
This does bring up a great point, though. Anyone who feeds live (myself included) should have spare housing and food/water supplies for any rejected prey items. Especially in the case of adult mice, which won't outgrow the snake, you an just keep it for a few days and re-offer it. I just am used to having a bunch of old 10g tanks around so it is no big deal if mine would reject prey.

[wolfy-hound]

You are the one that suggested turning it loose. "As a last resort" as opposed to keeping it.
And if it's "just stupid" to turn loose a snake, why is it somehow acceptable to turn loose a rat?
My dogs eat "meat" technically. I've heard of lots of people feeding a raw diet, but I've yet to see anyone feeding live bunnies to their dogs. How is it somehow different to a ferret? Are you saying that somehow your ferret won't eat meat without it running around first? I believe you did say you gave it a rodent only a few times a week too.
You get just as offended as you want, it offends me that you want to throw a domesticated rat out, as oppose to the many other ways to dispose of it. Then you even admit to "stunning it" a rodent, but you can't bring yourself to be that violant as to kill one by doing the same thing, somehow? Injuring a mouse vs killing a rat.
I don't think it's overboard to have to house a rat. If it's chewing up the cardboard box, get another one. Use a plastic bin, or kill the rat. Take it to a petstore that takes in rodents, or offer it on craigslist, call the humane society. You're the one that suggested turning it loose.