So, I learned 3 things today...

[stkkts]

1. It takes a much harder whack to kill a rat than it does a mouse.

2. Don't pet and hold the rat before you have to kill it.

3. That final death spasm, after you are sure it is dead, gets a much bigger jump out of me than any horror movie ever.

thankfully, my roomate was kind enough to do the deed and put the rat down for me. I dont think I would have been able to do it myself.

[Wuntu Menny]

Its good policy to learn something new every day. Just wait till that snake graduates to marmots or small arboreal antelope!! LOL!

Just havin some fun

WM

[JeffT]

Ah sick that reminds me of when I feed my big male tokay a pinkie once, she shook it and a bunch of intestines and guts went right on my cheek! Glad I sold him lol

[CyberGypsy]

Yeah, holding, petting and talking to the rat before hand isn't all that good of an idea. I felt I owed it an apology up front though.

P.S. I ain't wackin' no tree antelopes.

[Bartman]

hey jeff if you sold your tokay why you keep ur avatar of it?

yea killing rats and things is really gross..its good that my petstore has them frozen and already dead.

[Bryce Masuk]

Why dont you use this method instead push down hard the back of the rat's neck with a hook or pensil and pull its tail up towards its head it will break its neck and give it a clean painless death since the spine is broken nearly instantly

[Lisa]

I prefer gassing them

[stkkts]

Lisa,
I would gas them, but dry ice would become expensive. It would pay to do mass killings, but neither me, nor my 2 roomates want a cryogenic freezer of medium-jumbo sized rats. Where would we put our frozen pizza???

We tried the cervical dislocation thing....well my roomate did. it didnt end well.

[CyberGypsy]

I hate killing anything. The reason I use the wacking method is so I don't have to look the poor thing in the eye when I do it. It isn't that I''m a wuss about it, I just don't like to hurt something that can't defend itself.
Gassing it would probably be better, but dry ice is expensive from the vendors near us, and we don't have enough animals to justify the cost currently. Cost is a concern occasionally, at least for me...the cheaper the method of putting the prey item down, the more I can spend on the prey itself.

[Linds]

Originally posted by stkkts

2. Don't pet and hold the rat before you have to kill it.


LOL definitely one of the key points in killing them... unless your a serial killer :eek:



Originally posted by Bartman
hey jeff if you sold your tokay why you keep ur avatar of it?


Don't have to own the animal in your avatar... LOL half the avatars I see under members names are my herps :p

[mark129er]

As opposed to dry ice you could use carbon dioxide gas, or any other inert gas for that matter, I'm not sure gasing would be any more humane. Asphyxiation is rather cruel, what with all the gasping and choking for that final breath of air. Whacking is the way to go. But never name the prey items!!

[stkkts]

Its not asphyxiation. They just kind of pass out and never wake up(Im guessing its like carbon monoxide for a person, you just get tired and fall asleep). Alot of medical labs use this method.

[spyderman]

If gassed, wouldn't/Couldn't that be dangerous to the snake?

[CyberGypsy]

Dry ice is Carbon Dioxide.

It isn't dangerous to the snake as far as I know. The rodent will pass out and die in its sleep in a few minutes. Not long enough for its body to be saturated with CO2 levels that might be dangerous.

Like everyone said, it isn't painful for the rodent at all. It just gets very sleepy and passes out. It dies in its sleep peacefully. What the snake does to it is asphyxiation.
In the end you're killing the poor thing, you can't get around that fact, there is no perfect way to do it that makes you feel good about the ordeal.
My opinion on it is whether you wack em, gas em or use cervical dislocation, all are more humane for the rodent than feeding live.

[jay76]

Originally posted by stkkts
We tried the cervical dislocation thing....well my roomate did. it didnt end well.

Sounds like there's an intriguingly horrible tale behind that statement :eek:

[Jayson]

went an animal breaths in co2 the co2 replaces the oxygen in the blood cells and the animal dies from lack of oxygen. So yes it is the same as asphyxiation, It is the same as holding your breath untill you pass out, only diffrence is when you pass out you start to breath again automatically, if you have air to breath. when an animal is is constricted by a snake it is unable to breath in and dies from lack of oxygen.
And the co2 killed rats do not harm the snakes or other animals that eat them as they are still able to breath freash air
Bryce I think it is impossible for anyone to say that cirvical dislocation is painless unless they have had one. LOL
Jason

[reptilesalonica]

LOL definitely one of the key points in killing them... unless your a serial killer
:D..."Aisha! He got out!...he's a murderer!...He's a serial rat killer!..." :D
'
Simply make a Co2 chaimber and put them inside. That's it, no need to worry about various methods of killing or animals' pain.
You don't kill them by your hands and the rodents feel no pain in the Co2 chambair. They are clean and fresh to offer them to your snake or put them in the freezer.
~Greg~