How to euthanize prey...

[dinosaurdammit]

Couldnt find the thread where someone was talking about this so I thought I might show a small how to. There is a rat shortage in Tucson like no one's business. SO, to help out a friend feed her boas I did a little how to on humanely euthanizing prey items. Item in question is a ring neck dove and thats about all that is available here at the moment. Its that or no rats for 3 weeks. Any who- the how to:

(works with any bird/rat/rabbit)

Step one- make sure the animal is calm and not stressed (it helps you get good grip)

Step two- get a firm but gentle hold of the animal
Birds: around the wings with one hand with thumb and forefinger facing each other

Rabbits: Gently invert the animal and stroke its back, holding its back legs firmly

Rats: Gently but firmly grip the base of the tail and back legs inverting the animal

Step three- cervical dislocation:
Birds: Put palm of hand on back of head, gently but firmly gripping the head and pulling it down until you hear it POP and feel the spine separate from the back of the skull killing it

Rabbits: Repete above for birds but push the head towards the ground and pull the legs up, the loud POP will be audible and the neck should flop freely

Rats: You can pin their head down with a rod or paint scraper and pull up or repeat the above method for the bird/rabbit and this works as well



Showing my friend a how to she wanted to record me doing it so she could have an example for later use.

Warning: video shows euthanasia by cervical dislocation and I might add that birds do tend to flop about even after their heads are completely removed so any twitching is just nerves and the animal is long dead

1qHAfbVf1Ac


CO and CO2 gas is not always available and you do not want to endanger your reptile when you dont have to, its also more humane for the food item in the long run. This is not cruel and is much more quick than CO2 gas. The brain stem is separated causing instant death and thus no suffering. Hope I dont get flamed for this I just thought it might be helpful to someone. :/

[RandyRhoads]

Couldnt find the thread where someone was talking about this
This gets brought up all the time.


.....wait for it.....

Well might as well start it off. I agree with you, this is more humane. I think C02 is a pretty bad way to go.

[dinosaurdammit]

This gets brought up all the time.


.....wait for it.....

God forbid someone can't find something and to heck with someone trying to make something informitive

[EmbraceCalamity]

God forbid someone can't find something and to heck with someone trying to make something informitiveUm, pretty sure he wasn't criticising you. Was just stating that it's brought up all the time - which it is. No need to get your panties in a twist. And I agree with him on the method.

~Maggot

[RandyRhoads]

God forbid someone can't find something and to heck with someone trying to make something informitive




Easy killer. It was not about you, this was a good post, thanks for taking the time to put it together. I'm just saying this gets brought up in debates a lot, and people have a lot of different opinions on the humane way to do it. Like I said. C spine dislocation seems to me like the most humane way.

...and after having watched your video, good technique and thanks more. I do this several times a day while dove hunting, and your method seems much more effective.

[dinosaurdammit]

Easy killer. It was not about you, this was a good post, thanks for taking the time to put it together. I'm just saying this gets brought up in debates a lot, and people have a lot of different opinions on the humane way to do it. Like I said. C spine dislocation seems to me like the most humane way.

Its hard to read emotion from text so excuse my testyness but usually any thread I seem to start turns into an attack which makes me feel bad and regret ever posting. I just read your post and assumed the worst and assumed this was going to spiral into a scarcasm off. My appologies for misinterpreting your post.

[EmbraceCalamity]

Its hard to read emotion from text so excuse my testyness but usually any thread I seem to start turns into an attack which makes me feel bad and regret ever posting. I just read your post and assumed the worst and assumed this was going to spiral into a scarcasm off. My appologies for misinterpreting your post.Dude. Chill. Seriously.

~Maggot

[Little Wise Owl]

Thanks for the post. The bone popping is so gross. lol

[dinosaurdammit]

Thanks for the post. The bone popping is so gross. lol

Its not as bad as slaughtering goats. That is a whole nother ball fieldof gross. When the bones pop you know you did it right and other than birds rats and rabbits rarely if ever death kick because of CD. Birds are weird

[Little Wise Owl]

I didn't think the flopping was excessive in the video.

Speaking of which, when I was little my grandfather beheaded a turkey and I remember it flapping around like... a chicken with its head cut off.

Dead birds are so dramatic.

[dinosaurdammit]

I didn't think the flopping was excessive in the video.

Speaking of which, when I was little my grandfather beheaded a turkey and I remember it flapping around like... a chicken with its head cut off.

Dead birds are so dramatic.

My dad used to ring their necks and throw them under a bucket and say "ever hear a bird bongo?"

[RandyRhoads]

I didn't think the flopping was excessive in the video.


Seriously. I opened my bag after a successful dove hunt one day, and one flew out. I break every neck on every bird. And he flew away...not very straight, but he took off.

[EmbraceCalamity]

Seriously. I opened my bag after a successful dove hunt one day, and one flew out. I break every neck on every bird. And he flew away...not very straight, but he took off....Ew.

~Maggot

[Terranaut]

Wonderful. Great thread. Thanks!!

[dinosaurdammit]

Wonderful. Great thread. Thanks!!

Thanks! I hope to get a rabbit and rat soon to show examples. Its really easy to do and if you have to mass kill it only takes a second to do then in the freezer. I should mention in my first post which i will edit now that I think of it:

Corneal reflex- basically poke it in the eye with a finger, if it blinks its still alive and not dead, in this case just twist the head. I usually twist at the end of my final pull down on rabbits and I have never had the corneal reflex crop up. But do not put an animal that is basically just paralyzed into the freezer. You can harvest as many animals as you want with the above method and freeze them right then just make sure you didnt just paralyze it, often times people dont push hard enough and only break their necks, you need to separate the chord from the brain. The neck should stretch out about 2 or 3 extra inches if properly done.


EDIT HELP: How do I edit the first post, its only giving me the option to edit this one?

[Gungirl]

Good thread..

You can only edit a post for a short time after you make the post.. 30 minute window or close to that.

[dinosaurdammit]

Good thread..

You can only edit a post for a short time after you make the post.. 30 minute window or close to that.

Well dang, maybe if i ask a mod to put that up there for me, i feel its pretty important to check for corneal reflexes. I didnt even think about it till I got up this morning and poked myself in the eye and it hit me.

[Lankyrob]

Well dang, maybe if i ask a mod to put that up there for me, i feel its pretty important to check for corneal reflexes. I didnt even think about it till I got up this morning and poked myself in the eye and it hit me.

Do you do this every morning to check you are still alive? :p:p:p:laugh::laugh:

[Aaron_S]

I still stand by CO2. I guess it's the difference between 10 animals and 1000.

[Jay]

I still stand by CO2. I guess it's the difference between 10 animals and 1000.

Dealing with thousands, c02 is much mor efficient. Also there's a lot less room for error when you're using c02, IMO.

[Will0W783]

We use CO2 here at my university, for animals that we are not immediately experimenting on. It looks quite painless; the rats lay down and fall asleep. After a few hiccups, they stop trying to breathe and they are gone. It certainly looks humane, far more humane than smashing their brains in or slitting their throats.

[dinosaurdammit]

Do you do this every morning to check you are still alive? :p:p:p:laugh::laugh: No its usually to pick out eye boogers

I still stand by CO2. I guess it's the difference between 10 animals and 1000.

I could probably do around 500 animals in less than 20 min with the above method, ive just gotten so used to it its second nature.

We use CO2 here at my university, for animals that we are not immediately experimenting on. It looks quite painless; the rats lay down and fall asleep. After a few hiccups, they stop trying to breathe and they are gone. It certainly looks humane, far more humane than smashing their brains in or slitting their throats.

The "hiccups" are actuarially their diaphragm spazzing out. Some things they feel:

Headache
Lethargy
Elevated rate of cardiac output
Irregular heartbeat
Panic
Convulsions
Chest pain
Hallucinations
Vomiting
Stomach pain
Seizures
Memory problems
Changes in vision
Unconsciousness
Eventually death

Different source:

deeper breathing
twitching of muscles
increased blood pressure
headache
increased pulse rate
loss of judgement
labored breathing
unconsciousness (occurs in under a minute when CO2 concentration rises about 10%)
death



cites:Carbon Dioxide Poisoning (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/carbon-dioxide-poisoning.html)
cites: Carbon Dioxide Poisoning (http://chemistry.about.com/od/medicalhealth/a/Carbon-Dioxide-Poisoning.htm)

[EmbraceCalamity]

We use CO2 here at my university, for animals that we are not immediately experimenting on. It looks quite painless; the rats lay down and fall asleep. After a few hiccups, they stop trying to breathe and they are gone. It certainly looks humane, far more humane than smashing their brains in or slitting their throats.Take it from someone who's been suffocated and choked: asphyxia is terrifying. Just because something looks more humane, that doesn't mean it is.

~Maggot