Chickens are sooo messy!

[Squirtle]

When ever I feed my Albino Burmese Python, I feed him 4-5 pound chickens and boy, are they messy! Does anyone know a way I can make feedings less messy and stinky? My burm is the kind of snake that just sits there and waits for the prey to come to them, then he strikes quickly, sometimes he just moves really slowly until he's near the prey and then strikes. With this, the chickens tend to want to use my burms cage as a restroom and leave wet and slimy crap all over his cage.. and I can't clean it right away as he's in feeding mode obviously. He also hasn't been eating since early January but shows no signs of weight loss and no visible ribs or bones, should I be worried? He just turned two years old on December 20th.

[RyanReptile]

Euthanizing the chicken before feeding would eliminate your problem of the chicken using the cage as a rest room. You shouldn't worry about him not eating he could go months without food and show no signs of weight loss.

[Squirtle]

Euthanizing the chicken before feeding would eliminate your problem of the chicken using the cage as a rest room. You shouldn't worry about him not eating he could go months without food and show no signs of weight loss.

How would I go about euthanizing the chicken without the use of CO2 chambers and stuff?

[Zosime]

How would I go about euthanizing the chicken without the use of CO2 chambers and stuff?
smash its head on something tough or suffocate it in a plastic bag

[Jendee]

I throw my feeders in a pillow case and crack um! I heard the exit of the chickens is pretty messy too. Thought about feeding the adult boas a chicken every once in awhile as treat but I heard its nasty!!

[RyanReptile]

Breaking the spine is probably the fastest and most humane way of going about. Killing feeders in my opinion.

[Squirtle]

smash its head on something tough or suffocate it in a plastic bag

Would I have to deal with blood if I smash its head on something tough? Also, how hard would I have to bang it?

[nick654377]

grab it by its feet and swing its head into a table or something sturdy. i used to do this with mice when i got my ball on to pre killed. i would grab it by its tail and spin it into my hand and it was dead.

[stephanbakir]

Going all hulk smash on a feeder isn't efficient or effective... neither is a plastic bag (WTF)
Cervical dislocation... its easy, its not messy, and its painless and instant!

[Zosime]

Would I have to deal with blood if I smash its head on something tough? Also, how hard would I have to bang it?
yeah mostlikely your causing massive trauma to the head,, you will have to give it your hardest swing on the ground or table, i think that would be the fastest way

[TeaNinja]

i used to snap my feeders necks with a screwdriver by pinning the neck down really fast and yanking the tail. i felt terrible every time i did it, i hate killing things even for food. especially when i bred them into the world :X

[stephanbakir]

Nice to see you, and that golden again Zak :)
Cervical dislocation with a screwdriver is generally painless for the animal and there is absolutely no mess if you do it right.

[Squirtle]

Okay, I'm going to go with the Cervical Dislocation method. So, all I'd need to in order to complete it is a screw driver right? I will post back on here after some time.

[Lankyrob]

I always found chickens easier to kill by hand. Tight grip with one hand on the "shoulders" and tight grip with the other hand just below the base of the skull. Sharply pull your hand apart and twist them (like wringing out a wet cloth) at the same time and job done. This works for most small animals. I work on the teory that if i can pick it up and hold it in one hand then It is possible.

Larger animals like dogs and even very large cats wouldneed a "tool" for it to be possible.

[KORBIN5895]

Whew! Thanks Rob I was honestly thinking that this was going to end really bad foe squirt and the chicken.

Rib's method is the only one mentioned i would use. Another method is similar to smashing its head off a table but in reverse. Grab the chicken by the head and snap it like a whip.

[Squirtle]

I found this video on Youtube

Humane slaughter of chicken - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR55rMaBQfs)

Should I just do it like that?

[TeaNinja]

lol yeah, i forgot to mention my feeders were rats. uh.... :X

[bumblebat]

Another method is similar to smashing its head off a table but in reverse.

I was convinced you were going to say to pick up the table and smash the chicken with it.

[Squirtle]

I tried feeding him a rat today, was his first time eating since January, and he took it! Does anyone know if it'll be alright to feed him 2 large rats a week as opposed to a 2 lb chicken every 2-3 weeks? Rats are also not messy at all, so that's even better! :)

[stephanbakir]

I was convinced you were going to say to pick up the table and smash the chicken with it.
You are awesome.

I tried feeding him a rat today, was his first time eating since January, and he took it! Does anyone know if it'll be alright to feed him 2 large rats a week as opposed to a 2 lb chicken every 2-3 weeks? Rats are also not messy at all, so that's even better! :)
Rabbits will be fine for a while, eventually you're gona need to feel lots of them tho.. Try finding rabbits.

[DeadlyDesires]

do you remove the feathers?

[stephanbakir]

do you remove the feathers?
Why would you do that?

[Squirtle]

You are awesome.


Rabbits will be fine for a while, eventually you're gona need to feel lots of them tho.. Try finding rabbits.

I will try to breed my own rabbits when we move into a new home, which will be in about a year. Do you think it'll be alright if I gave him 2-3 large rats until then weekly?


@deadly, No, I never removed the feathers of the live chickens. It's mean, and wouldn't want to make stuff messier than they were :)

[stephanbakir]

Why feed live?

Also, rats will be fine but at the point when they are eating meals that size, I'd swap down to a bi-weekly feeding.

[DeadlyDesires]

can you feed rabbits to a full grown BCI?

[stephanbakir]

I used to have an awesome supplier, fed rabbits to my ball pythons.. (small ones ofc, mostly fuzzy/hopper rabbits)
Most people I know with boa constrictors feed them rabbits.

[Terranaut]

Yes. Smaller rabbits but yes. Very healthy choice as well. I even feed the odd one to my female carpet. I haven't found a source I like yet but get the occational few at expos.

[DeadlyDesires]

cool just curious because im currently breeding rats, i'd like to try rabbits once my snakes get bigger