gasing rats

[Tonya]

hey ...i know this is a weird question but i was just wondering if you can gas rats with propain or not??? thanks
TONYA

[lubricus]

I'm not into the hole gassing thing, it seem like a slow way to dye, I prefer the 150 miles an hour to the concrete floor method my self. http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c133/lubricus/29021ed_banging.gif

[wtac]

IIRC, they use CO2 in an enclosed chamber. You can use propane if you wish for "hands off" asphyxia but that's a WAY more dangerous route to go for obvious reasons ;).

[DragnDrop]

This didn't belong in the General Discussion forum when there's a feeder forum made just for feeder discussion.

[Paul McCleary]

I believe most veterinary organizations regard asphyxia with carbon dioxide as the most humane way to dispatch rodents. One possible exception is for 'pinkies', where research/testing labs use decapitation using scissors or a similar tool (way too nasty amd unnecessary for herpetoculturists!). I have a friend in charge of a school science department who gases all my feeder rodents with CO2...

[lubricus]

Gassing is slow and cruel, there's no need for it....like I said before blunt trauma to the head works the best....I wonder why I'm thinking about concentration camps all of a sudden??....but hay if the slow way is your thing then why not just throw them in the freezer!

**animation edited out by moderator**

[monty bl python]

lubricus your cartoons are great
answering the question, i agree with lubricus it is best ,in my opinion, to use blunt-force-trauma
the mouse\rat will never know what hit it or it hit which ever comes first

[Paul McCleary]

The most highly regarded authority on the topic is likely the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Panel on Euthanasia...a fascinating, albeit somewhat morbid, read:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:4-YmFfnYIfMJ:www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf+avma+euthanasia&hl=en&client=firefox-a

[lubricus]

I believe most veterinary organizations regard asphyxia with carbon dioxide as the most humane way to dispatch rodents. One possible exception is for 'pinkies', where research/testing labs use decapitation using scissors or a similar tool (way too nasty amd unnecessary for herpetoculturists!). I have a friend in charge of a school science department who gases all my feeder rodents with CO2... why should we be this concerned about are feeder rats & mice when most of us dont ever give a thought as to how cows, chickens, pigs, fish or whatever we humans eat are killed... they dont get gassed thats for Sure http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c133/lubricus/794736.jpg

[wtac]

Hmmm...I don't think there would be much of the feeder if one uses a .308...LMAO.

Joking aside, I almost died a few years ago from CO2 asphyxia when I didn't put the reg on properly on my 50lb CO2 bottle. I felt a slight heavy in the chest feeling (no pain), a bit sleepy and dopy and just settled in to the chair gazing into the aquarium. Luckily the wife came home in an excited mood and burst into the study. Mind you I didn't even flinch and I awoke with the paramedics looking down at me. If she hadn't come home, I don't think it would have been at all stressful departing this world.

Really it's one's preference. If you have the stomach to smack it on the ground, go for it. Hopefully you get it right the first time around without incident. If you don't, get someone else to do it, gas and walk away or buy frozen and thaw it out yourself. The most important thing is that the feeder pinky/mouse/rat is "humanely" given the big sleep by whatever method suits one's moral and ethical boundaries/belief.

It's quite the can-o-worms that not all will agree with.

[boidboi]

i find that holding the mouse by tail and smacking on the corn of a desk of counter works amazingly well if you dont have a CO2 chamber. But in my opinion and study in gases CO2 is a much more humane why to kill any organism of any size .
and i would like to clear the misconception that mice choke on CO2.this is not true
they simply fall asleep and if left in the chamber long enough... they die.

[Peter Ludwig]

Don't use an explosive gas to put down animals, your just asking for trouble. Plus,the mercapthane (the stink they put in the gas) will put any animal off from eating.

[lubricus]

I think some of you should find a new hobby......If you think blunt force trauma is a cruel way to put down feeders, you mite want to say away from red-meat!

[boidboi]

hey no one said that blunt trama was a cruel inhumane way to kill mice but most people agree that CO2 gas chambers are more humane

[blazinreps]

I was wondering if anybody has ever used those mouse/rat traps u can buy. would that be an alrite way to kill them quickly with out haveing to do it with ur own hands. just wondering if that would work.

[wtac]

I think we're getting a bit off topic. Meats for mass market consumption are driven by economic factors where CO2 gassing isn't as cost effective as other "humane slaughter methods". Let's keep it on point regarding rats/mice.

[chris09]

uh NO mouse/rat traps are not humane don't use those...

the blunt trauma method isn't as easy as it sounds, unless you get it just right the first time the animal is going to suffer terribly before dying. I botched it the first time I tried it and never, never again, the poor things back and two of its legs were broken but it was not killed.

I just buy frozen from people who use CO2

[newticus]

I don't know how you managed that one, it's really not that hard. Grab the tail and swing as hard as you possibly can at something hard, like a floor, wall or sink. I personally don't like killing other things, but i do what i have to. If you know, or even think you can't hit it hard enough don't do it there is almost always frozen available, or ask your LPS to do it for you.

[ffollett]

We use to breed our own rats, mice, rabbits, and gerbils. We built a C02 gas chamber to kill them off in groups. It was fast and easy. As long as you feed in the gas slowly it is humane and they simply go to sleep before they die.
Most people who sell frozen rodents in bulk gas their rodents in the same way.
If you feed the gas in to fast it is very painful and at that point it is far from humane.
Our chamber has since been retired. Due to the number of feeders we need at this point it was just easier for us to buy them frozen.

Here are some pics of our set up just in case you want to build one of your own. The whole setup cost us about $50.

http://hissnhers.com/images/pics/gc1.jpg

http://hissnhers.com/images/pics/gc2.jpg

http://hissnhers.com/images/pics/gc3.jpg

[-okapi-]

I think the snake (?) would taste/smell a difference and not even touch the rat. Plus, since it is a natural waste product, wouldnt it be considered a poisonous gas?

[wtac]

Thanks ffollett for sharing the pics, methodology and experience in doing such a task.

The operative word in it's use is a "slow" gas feed, not just blasting it in. Something that I forgot to mention and my experience with CO2 leaking in the study.

[Steele]

I am a gas fitter and I would rilly not recomend that you use propane in your house it could be very bad for your belongings (boom) I use co2 I just use baking soada and viniger

[Tonya]

bakin soda and vinegar r u serious??....

[Steele]

yes it works very well just like a volcano in science class

[Jessica_101]

What about cervical dislocation..?

[Jessica_101]

what about cervical dislocation?

[Jessica_101]

sorry didnt mean to put it twice.

[ffollett]

That works but it needs to be done right. It also gets time consuming when you are doing a large number of rats.

[Jessica_101]

Yeah I dont have a lot of mice I just breed them in the summer for my one snake, let them grow up and then kill then. Im pretty sure im doing it right i use my finger against the neck and then pull the tail. They die right away I was just wondering if they can feel anything.

[Tonya]

how would you do it with the baking soda and vinegar..?

[ffollett]

Yeah I dont have a lot of mice I just breed them in the summer for my one snake, let them grow up and then kill then. Im pretty sure im doing it right i use my finger against the neck and then pull the tail. They die right away I was just wondering if they can feel anything.

The way you are talking about doing it is fine and is considered humane. Some people will use a rod, pencil, or ruler on the neck to make sure that it is held in place.
The times I have done this I just used both thumbs at the base of the rats skull and pushed up to cause the dislocation.