Best way to kill a live mouse?

[NonVenomous]

Well I'm not new to Herps, I am most certainly new to BP's. I've gone from 22 corns who would eagerly accept a f/t, now I have a stubborn BP that will only eat live.

Being concerned about rat/mice bites, I'm wondering what is the best way to kill a live mouse? Or would you just suggest I leave them live and let my BP do the work? I never leave them unattended, I'm just thinking fresh killed would be better.

Thanks.

[GL6570]

hey, i recognize that avatar. are you on the cornsnakes.com forums?

i couldn't have made a more useless post.

sorry, haha

[stangs13]

You can feed it live, just watch it of course. But the only way to humanely put the mouse down is to build a Co2 chamber and gas it.

[Peter Williams]

Check out my sticky on how to make a CO2 chamber:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=55509

[blackcrystal22]

You don't have to worry about bites, it's very common for beginner live feeders to feel worried about the bites of a mouse or rat.

Most of the 'deadly rat bites' are from an irresponsible herp owner leaving the rat or the mouse in the cage for too long of a period of time, which IS dangerous.

Many people feed live with tongs, which is easier because you don't have to wait and watch for the snake to eat, it has already started eating as soon as you close the tub.
As long as you don't leave the mouse or rat in overnight and you keep an eye on the feeding, there should never be a problem. Even if there is a little bite, it's probably not going to be harmful or dangerous to the snake.

If it helps, my only live feeding corn snake has been bitten several times and I've only had him for a short amount of time, none of the bites have been findable within the next day.

However, if your set on trying to feed PK there are two humane ways that I see fit. Some people will also say smacking it on a hard surface is good, but it can be messy and if not done right, not very humane.
First off theres the best method. Slow CO2 Gas chamber. You can get a plain old cooler and put some dry ice (in a separate air flow container like a critter keeper) and put the mice or rats in. Do not add water to the dry ice or let the dry ice sit by itself before adding the animals! This creates a much more painful death. When the CO2 is administered slowly, they fall asleep and die.
Secondly there is CD. Which is dislocation of the main vertebrae behind the base of the skull. Using a spoon or any piece of metal you securely hold it behind the skull and pull sharply up on the tail in which you should hear or feel a dislocation and it should be over. This also can be done wrong, so be careful here.

Good luck!

[panthercz]

Best way to kill a mouse is to put it in with the ball python...he'll do the rest.

[starmom]

x1

[McAdry]

the quickest most humane way to kill the mouse is to feed it to a snake.That said the cruelest way to kill a mouse is to feed it to a cat.

[edie]

the quickest most humane way to kill the mouse is to feed it to a snake.That said the cruelest way to kill a mouse is to feed it to a cat.

Unless the cat loves the mouse and decides to make friends with it



Just keeping an eye on the mouse/rat with the snake is fine - I have only had to do it a couple times while switching my BPs over to f/t (some take more time to get on f/t, but I kept up with the harder ones and they have all made the switch). My adult male BP was bitten once while he was coiled around the rat, it didn't make anything bleed but it ripped some scales off.. I just kept an eye on it and put neosporin on it and you can't even tell now.. I'm lazy and would never breed and hate picking live up weekly so I'm glad I don't have to feed live anymore, it was a hassle for me, but for other people it is an easier option.

EDIT: I found a picture of the bite, you can tell its not terrible but I was also around so nothing happened beyond that

[Blue Apple Herps]

Most of my bps are on f/t, but I have a couple that won't go near it. I just make sure to pre-scent the room. When I finally do go to feed they're all at the front of their tubs waiting for it. I grab the mouse/rat by the scruff of its neck with tongs and feed it to the snake. The snake pretty much always grabs the head and I feel fairly confident about it not getting injured.