i cant kill the food...

[jennuhkins]

my mice finally had some pups but i think their so cute i don't want to kill them :no:
i need help,!
, ... i need food for my snakes and i dont want hundreds of mice...
but i cant kill the cute lil pinkys!!! :confused:

[RandyRhoads]

Yes you can.

Killin's easy as breathin....when you're forced to....

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d86/randy666rhoads/rambo-mexico.jpg

[infernalis]

Just toss 'em to the snakes and walk away.

[jennuhkins]

i get attached so easily i suppose ill make my bf do it .. i want to see it grow up it looks so fascinating ...
i am so lame...

[jennuhkins]

Yes you can.

Killin's easy as breathin....when you're forced to....

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d86/randy666rhoads/rambo-mexico.jpg

that made me laugh so hard xD

[infernalis]

i get attached so easily i suppose ill make my bf do it .. i want to see it grow up it looks so fascinating ...
i am so lame...

Compassion is never lame...

I love breeding rats, I am attached to my rats, My rats live better than some peoples hamsters... But just like the farmer who raised the steer, when the time comes, meat is on the menu.

Heck, back when I did raise a few steer, We shot them right here to ensure it was done humanely, rather than take a chance that the slaughterhouse was going to abuse my cattle.

[EmbraceCalamity]

i get attached so easilyAnd yet you through it'd be genius to breed them to use the babies as feeders? Derp. I know I'd never be able to do it because I do too, which is why I wouldn't. Heck, back when I did raise a few steer, We shot them right here to ensure it was done humanely, rather than take a chance that the slaughterhouse was going to abuse my cattle.Definitely a better option. Some slaughterhouses are good, even scientifically designed to reduce stress, but some are pretty horrid. I wouldn't want to take the chance.

~Maggot

[jennuhkins]

i may have had a derp moment but its a lot cheaper then buying frozen..i thought i could do it..
ill have to toughen up some day :)
but for now ill get someone else to do it for me lol

[jennuhkins]

i see what you mean, my snakes need to eat and they're on the menu.
what is the most human way to kill do you think?

[EmbraceCalamity]

i see what you mean, my snakes need to eat and they're on the menu.
what is the most human way to kill do you think?Snapped neck. Freezing is ridiculous painful, blunt force trauma is painful and unreliable, CO2 is pretty terrifying and unpleasant.

~Maggot

[infernalis]

i see what you mean, my snakes need to eat and they're on the menu.
what is the most human way to kill do you think?


Carbon dioxide suffocation....

[EmbraceCalamity]

Carbon dioxide suffocation....Gas chambers are pretty widely considered inhumane. Suffocation is an awful feeling and a terrible way to go.

~Maggot

[jennuhkins]

i feel like Hitler . if i could say that...lol

[RandyRhoads]

Gas chambers are pretty widely considered inhumane. Suffocation is an awful feeling and a terrible way to go.

~Maggot

I agree. A hypercapnic death would not be a pleasant one. Excess c02 causes a lot of unpleasant symptoms. If you think they feel fine because they are still breathing air and just slip away, well, your drive to take a breath is caused by c02 not 02. So I imagine pumping them full of C02 would be the worst feeling of not being able to breathe.

[Terranaut]

Snapped neck. Freezing is ridiculous painful, blunt force trauma is painful and unreliable, CO2 is pretty terrifying and unpleasant.

~Maggot

Do you make sure your feeders are killed this way?
CO2 is the way to go. You may not like it but is the lesser evil.
Least painfull to the rat is complete crushing of the skull and brain with a big hammer but the mess and gore isn't for everyone. I don't feel bad when I use a frozen feeder , I feel bad when it is not eaten and I have to toss it away. This doesn't happen often but it has and I do feel it was a wasted death.

[TeaNinja]

lol. i hated killing rat pups when i bred them for snake food, they were cute.

http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af184/teaninja/rats6-4002.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af184/teaninja/ratsday9-10018-1.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af184/teaninja/pupsday12001-1.jpg

[RandyRhoads]

Least painfull to the rat is complete crushing of the skull and brain with a big hammer but the mess and gore isn't for everyone.

I'm surprised. With how much people on here care about the suffering of animals I would have thought the response would be something like "If you can't handle it you shouldn't have gotten into snakes and having to kill feeders"

...rather than settling for something that seems very painful, but "the lesser of evils"....

[KORBIN5895]

CO² is a really a rough way to kill something. Now CO is quick and painless but since it CO is hard to come by I recommend either cervical dislocation or cranial destruction.

[RandyRhoads]

I recommend either cervical dislocation or cranial destruction.


30 pound weight.....

[KORBIN5895]

I just use a paint scraper for cervical dislocation. I also have a real good cranial destruction method using a screw driver.

[RandyRhoads]

II also have a real good cranial destruction method using a screw driver.


....Go on.......

[Terranaut]

Korbin do you do this all the time or buy frozen feeders?

[KORBIN5895]

Korbin do you do this all the time or buy frozen feeders?

When I was breeding feeders I used these two methods exclusively. I now import frozen rodents in bulk and resale them as a side business so most of my personal feeders are imported.

As for the methods I will post them after work.

[KORBIN5895]

The first method requires a dull paint scraper and an old piece of carpet. What you do is hold the rat by the tail on the carpet. The rat will strain to get away and stretch its neck out. Place the scraper at the base of the head. Push down and forward on the scraper while pulling back on the tail.

The next method only requires a hard handled screwdriver. Hold the rat by the tail in the air. It will spread it legs out while arching its back. This will expose the base of its skull. Hold the screwdriver by the shaft and give a hard downward swing to the base of the skull.

[infernalis]

Since pinkies cannot harm your snakes, just feed them off live.

Bottom line, no matter what rout you take, the end results are the same.

One dead rodent, one fed snake.

Dead is dead, no matter how you get there.

[Corey209]

Since pinkies cannot harm your snakes, just feed them off live.

Bottom line, no matter what rout you take, the end results are the same.

One dead rodent, one fed snake.

Dead is dead, no matter how you get there.

Unless you were to slowly mutilate your feed, that'd be kinda twisted...

[infernalis]

Unless you were to slowly mutilate your feed, that'd be kinda twisted...

Predatory animals don't do that on purpose.;)

Besides, Hannibal Lecter would have no remourse killing a mouse anyway.

Want to talk twisted: Glue traps! now there is one sick way to kill a rodent. Yet the general public buy them and use them.... You should see the looks I get when I "preach" that in wal mart when I see someone buying a glue trap.

[Corey209]

Predatory animals don't do that on purpose.;)

Besides, Hannibal Lecter would have no remourse killing a mouse anyway.

Want to talk twisted: Glue traps! now there is one sick way to kill a rodent. Yet the general public buy them and use them.... You should see the looks I get when I "preach" that in wal mart when I see someone buying a glue trap.

Well luckily, I don't have a rodent problem and I just feed live because the biggest my snakes are eating right now is an adult mouse/rat pup.

[Hannibalcanibal]

I just snap the neck. Painless, easy, dead mouse.

But it's your choice. unless you are trying to deliberately casue pain to the mouse, any of the above will work. Mice are cute animals, but at the end of the day, still just an animal bred to die.

[infernalis]

ever see two monitor lizards play "tug of war" with a mouse?? now that's gross.

[Corey209]

ever see two monitor lizards play "tug of war" with a mouse?? now that's gross.

I've seen tons of baby monitors kept in the same tiny glass enclosure at my local pet store.. this weekend..

[Hannibalcanibal]

I saw a dead one for sale in a pet shop in Ottawa....

Even grosser than tug-of-war.....

[TragicTaste]

ever see two monitor lizards play "tug of war" with a mouse?? now that's gross.

I can imagine that wouldnt be pleasant, but i have seen on a large scale, two dobermans playing catch with a wild rabbit.

[Aaron_S]

ever see two monitor lizards play "tug of war" with a mouse?? now that's gross.

Yes. It sucked.


So for those who use all the gory methods or the more "hands on" approach, how many do you kill at a time? I can't see anyone who needs to kill hundred to thousands in a business doing it this way.

[dinosaurdammit]

Yes. It sucked.


So for those who use all the gory methods or the more "hands on" approach, how many do you kill at a time? I can't see anyone who needs to kill hundred to thousands in a business doing it this way.

probably CO or CO2 gas, helium also works I hear, but I have never seen it in use.

[Wildside]

Just toss 'em to the snakes and walk away.

This one! This! This! This! This is how you kill cute little pinkies. They can't harm your snake.

[KORBIN5895]

Yes. It sucked.


So for those who use all the gory methods or the more "hands on" approach, how many do you kill at a time? I can't see anyone who needs to kill hundred to thousands in a business doing it this way.

Well I put thirty five 200-450g rats down Monday this way and it took me less than 45 minuets and I knew they died painlessly.

I am actually thinking of running car exhaust into a Rubbermaid of rats. Easiest way I know to get CO.

[lady_bug87]

I dont blame the op I couldn't kill them either

[Gungirl]

When I was breeding rats I gassed them all. When I start breeding again I will use the same method. Doesn't bother me at all....

[RandyRhoads]

Well I put thirty five 200-450g rats down Monday this way and it took me less than 45 minuets and I knew they died painlessly.

I am actually thinking of running car exhaust into a Rubbermaid of rats. Easiest way I know to get CO.


Uhhhh. While i'm sure you'd get the needed CO, there are also a lot of other by products in there you might pump the rats full of and possibly harm the snake...err .. i'd avoid that...
When I was breeding rats I gassed them all. When I start breeding again I will use the same method. Doesn't bother me at all....
And glue traps and suffering rodents don't bother me at all. I was just saying for the people that do care about this, ouch for the rat....

[KORBIN5895]

Uhhhh. While i'm sure you'd get the needed CO, there are also a lot of other by products in there you might pump the rats full of and possibly harm the snake...err .. i'd avoid that...

Actually I am not so sure there would be that much. I am thinking that airing them out would dissipate most harmful crap. Not sure and I haven't looked into it yet. I got my inspiration from those that run the hose into there car.

[RandyRhoads]

Hahahaha....

[Sorraia]

I used to breed pet rats, so I don't like thinking about them being food, but I also recognize they are part of the food chain, and pretty low on it! I am a biologist too, so it really is just life. You have to learn to separate yourself to a degree. What is it about a chicken or a hog that makes it food? Why is a dog or a cat not food? Why is a miniature pot-bellied pig a pet? So on and so forth. It is a very arbitrary and man-made differentiation. Left to fend for themselves, rats, chickens, and hogs are both hunted and hunters, while dogs, cats, and snakes also become food for others.

I have two rosy boas now, and although they aren't eating rats, they are eating pinky mice. I want to get a ball python some day, and that snake will probably end up eating rats, then I will have to separate myself from its food, despite the pets I once had. I think of it as the chicks I raised to be egg-laying hens. Two of those chicks ended up being roosters, and I cant keep roosters. Rather than giving them away (really can't sell roosters around here!) for someone else to benefit from, I may as well get my money's worth and take care of them myself. I don't enjoy it, and I do have to separate myself from the cute little chicks I watched grow up, but it is a part of life.

Comments to other replies:
The cervical dislocation using the paint scraper or screwdriver sounds similar to some methods used on food rabbits. I am not in the position to do so right now, but want to be able to raise my own food, including food animals, some day. One of those animals is rabbits, so this is something I've been looking into.

Using car exhaust to dispose of animals:
Do a little more research on it to be sure it would be safe for your snakes to consume. There are other chemicals in car exhaust, but also particulate matter. Some cars are cleaner than others and would have less particulate matter. I would be concerned the particulate may be carcinogenic. Most of it could probably be cleaned off the outside, if you wanted to clean the dead animals, but that which was inhaled would go into your snakes. Also newer cars do not produce as much CO as older cars. If you have a newer car this might be something to consider as well. And if you are going to do this, make sure you start with a cool motor, preferably on a cold day or night. Otherwise your engine will heat up very quickly and you end up cooking the animals to death at the same time they die from hypoxia.

For what it's worth, some wildlife agencies consider CO and CO2 adequate and appropriate methods of killing animals, when necessary (i.e. removal of invasive species). Isn't the "end all" of that discussion, but just thought I'd throw it out there.

[KORBIN5895]

I used to breed pet rats, so I don't like thinking about them being food, but I also recognize they are part of the food chain, and pretty low on it! I am a biologist too, so it really is just life. You have to learn to separate yourself to a degree. What is it about a chicken or a hog that makes it food? Why is a dog or a cat not food? Why is a miniature pot-bellied pig a pet? So on and so forth. It is a very arbitrary and man-made differentiation. Left to fend for themselves, rats, chickens, and hogs are both hunted and hunters, while dogs, cats, and snakes also become food for others.

I have two rosy boas now, and although they aren't eating rats, they are eating pinky mice. I want to get a ball python some day, and that snake will probably end up eating rats, then I will have to separate myself from its food, despite the pets I once had. I think of it as the chicks I raised to be egg-laying hens. Two of those chicks ended up being roosters, and I cant keep roosters. Rather than giving them away (really can't sell roosters around here!) for someone else to benefit from, I may as well get my money's worth and take care of them myself. I don't enjoy it, and I do have to separate myself from the cute little chicks I watched grow up, but it is a part of life.

Comments to other replies:
The cervical dislocation using the paint scraper or screwdriver sounds similar to some methods used on food rabbits. I am not in the position to do so right now, but want to be able to raise my own food, including food animals, some day. One of those animals is rabbits, so this is something I've been looking into.

Using car exhaust to dispose of animals:
Do a little more research on it to be sure it would be safe for your snakes to consume. There are other chemicals in car exhaust, but also particulate matter. Some cars are cleaner than others and would have less particulate matter. I would be concerned the particulate may be carcinogenic. Most of it could probably be cleaned off the outside, if you wanted to clean the dead animals, but that which was inhaled would go into your snakes. Also newer cars do not produce as much CO as older cars. If you have a newer car this might be something to consider as well. And if you are going to do this, make sure you start with a cool motor, preferably on a cold day or night. Otherwise your engine will heat up very quickly and you end up cooking the animals to death at the same time they die from hypoxia.

For what it's worth, some wildlife agencies consider CO and CO2 adequate and appropriate methods of killing animals, when necessary (i.e. removal of invasive species). Isn't the "end all" of that discussion, but just thought I'd throw it out there.

First the car exhaust is probably something I will never get around to doing but I would research it.

Secondly the paint scraper works well on rabbits also.

Finally I don't see an issue feeding dogs or cats off as they are eaten in several cultures.

[RandyRhoads]

Some cars are cleaner than others and would have less particulate matter.

Yeah, why don'y you Prius them to death! Bahahaha...

[KORBIN5895]

Yeah, why don'y you Prius them to death! Bahahaha...

You mean toss them all in a tote of water then add jumper cables?

[Sorraia]

Finally I don't see an issue feeding dogs or cats off as they are eaten in several cultures.

I don't either, but there are some people who do. It reminds me of the debate about horse slaughter in the US and making it illegal. Some view dogs, cats, horses, etc as "pets", and pets can never be eaten. Not everyone agree with that view though.

You mean toss them all in a tote of water then add jumper cables?

However wrong it may sound, that made me laugh! That's certainly one way to do it!

[erichillkeast]

You mean toss them all in a tote of water then add jumper cables?

The only problem with that is it may cook them :D

[infernalis]

The only problem with that is it may cook them :D

That would depend on what's at the other end of the jumper cables.

A car battery would do a whole lot of nothing but separate the water into hydrogen and oxygen gas.

[beardeds4life]

I personally am against horse slaughter in the us BECAUSE of the way slaughterhouses are run. I have seen how inhumane they treat the animals I dont think any animal should suffer like that bu other than that issue I have no problem with it. I just wouldnt eat it ;)

If I started breeding rats I think that I would use the co2 method.

[erichillkeast]

I personally am against horse slaughter in the us BECAUSE of the way slaughterhouses are run. I have seen how inhumane they treat the animals I dont think any animal should suffer like that bu other than that issue I have no problem with it. I just wouldnt eat it ;)

If I started breeding rats I think that I would use the co2 method.

My problem with horse slaughter, in Canada, is that they use the Cow slaughterhouses with machines that are made for cows. So it is difficult to get them lined up properly and often takes more than one try.

[StudentoReptile]

I just feed live if I can help it, and let my healthy snake do what millions of years has taught it to do much more efficiently than I can, so I don't have to worry about all this crap ya'll are talking about. ;D

[beardeds4life]

Do they even make machines for horse slaughter?

[erichillkeast]

As far as I know they don't.

[KORBIN5895]

I personally am against horse slaughter in the us BECAUSE of the way slaughterhouses are run. I have seen how inhumane they treat the animals I dont think any animal should suffer like that bu other than that issue I have no problem with it. I just wouldnt eat it ;)

If I started breeding rats I think that I would use the co2 method.

So why aren't you against cow and pig slaughter?

[Nobodyspecial]

I personally am against horse slaughter in the us BECAUSE of the way slaughterhouses are run. I have seen how inhumane they treat the animals I dont think any animal should suffer like that bu other than that issue I have no problem with it. I just wouldnt eat it ;)

If I started breeding rats I think that I would use the co2 method.

Actually its not as bad as you think... I was worried about slaughter houses myself until I was pointed in the direction of this video. WARNING: it is graphic, cows are killed in the video. But its very informative on how slaughter houses are run, and it's not as nearly bad as PETA or the HSUS would have anyone believe. Its a very interesting video, although I think that they put too much emphasis of the fact that Temple Grandin is autistic in the begining.

Again cows are shown being killed in the video so watch at your own discretion please. (If this is considered inappropriate I'll take it down.)
Video Tour of Beef Plant Featuring Temple Grandin - YouTube (http://youtu.be/VMqYYXswono)

As for the main subject at hand - I've toyed with the idea of raising my own rats for snake food, but I'm incapable of killing anything- I don't even know if I could feed live unless is absolutely had too. So I'd end up with hundreds of pet rats haha.

[Lankyrob]

I worked six months in a slaughterhouse in the UK, they love those animals and they are treated with the greatest of respect, as a work experience i worked various roles throughout the operation and saw no signs of any "abuse" in any sense of the word.

[EmbraceCalamity]

Actually its not as bad as you think... I was worried about slaughter houses myself until I was pointed in the direction of this video. WARNING: it is graphic, cows are killed in the video. But its very informative on how slaughter houses are run, and it's not as nearly bad as PETA or the HSUS would have anyone believe. Its a very interesting video, although I think that they put too much emphasis of the fact that Temple Grandin is autistic in the begining.

Again cows are shown being killed in the video so watch at your own discretion please. (If this is considered inappropriate I'll take it down.)
Video Tour of Beef Plant Featuring Temple Grandin - YouTube (http://youtu.be/VMqYYXswono)
Like pet stores, it depends entirely on who is in charge. Like I said, some are scientifically designed to reduce stress and give the animals a relatively peaceful, pain-free end. Other ones, however, are horrors. I've often considered owning a slaughterhouse as an adult because I'd like to know that they meet good ends, but I'd end up taking them all home. >.>

~Maggot

[beardeds4life]

So why aren't you against cow and pig slaughter?

The ones i have seen were run much better then the horse slaughter.

[KORBIN5895]

The ones i have seen were run much better then the horse slaughter.

So how many slaughterhouses have you been too?