Sorry folks..another question-killing feeders

[jwsporty]

What are the best methods to kill the feeders

Drowning?

Suffocation?

Whacking over the head?

Any pros and cons to each. or other methods?

Drowning seems to me would be the best..but that is only my opinion


Jim

[Pythonian]

drowning..in my opinion one of the worst deaths u can experiance, suffocation .. same thing.. wacking overthe head.. it's quick .. painless and when it's down it's done.. thats just my take on the situation..

Mike

[Dom]

Put yourself in the rodents shoes...

Whats the best way of dying .. drowning or suffacation or the freezer are by far the worst .. cevical snapping or smashing the brain is the best painless method for the rodent but not the funnest for us.. I use cervicalsnapping and smashig the brain (I do both in case..)

[Edwin]

Whacking over the head works best for me. If you want, you could get a bucket and a canister of CO2 and put the rodents to 'sleep'.

[vanderkm]

A sharp blow to the head, breaking the neck or using CO2 gas are the accepted humane ways of killing feeders. There are some posts over the last couple months that show a CO2 set up and give instructions on how to kill rodents of various ages. If you need more details, I can provide them - just let me know.

mary v.

[unknownclown]

Im kinda new at this whole thing but since the "food" hasn't ticked me off yet I plan on using just a plain ole mouse/rat trap to do the dirty work for me. Now if my prozak perscription ever gets cancelled or they tick me off some how I will have no prob pinning them down and pulling thier tail to separate thier spines. o> Ugh I hate mice!

[Dom]

Unknowclown .. I hope your kiding about using the mouse trap on em right? Those simply incapacitate them but does not kill em .. I hope this was a joke.

I think if you would of seen a mouse get trapped and suffer in a mouse trap you would of never said that...

As much as their snake food .. they have all rights to die painlessly.

[Dino]

Maybe I am blind but I tried to find pictures of a Co2 setup in this forum without luck.

Mary or anyone else for that matter could you set me up with some pictures or a link to a do it yourself site.

Thanks in advance
Dino

P.S. I am with Dom I hope your kidding about the mouse trap!

[vanderkm]

I don't know how to link to a previous thread on this forum, but this was a picture of Dawn's CO2 set up that she posted mid December.

If you use the search button at the top of the page (right under the Ssnakes logo) and search by user name Cas, you will pull up the posting. She doesn't have many details on the construction, but you can get some idea of how it was set up and I am sure if you e-mail her directly she can provide more details on stuff like flow rates.

mary v.

[Linds]

Originally posted by jwsporty
What are the best methods to kill the feeders

Drowning?

Probably one of the most inhumane methods you will find. Have you ever almsot drowned? It's pretty scary! It's longest panic of your life. Seconds feel like minutes, and since it takes as many as 4-5 minutes for a mouse to drown... think how long that panic is gonna last?

Suffocation?

Pretty well same as drowning.

Whacking over the head?

This can be both good and bad. If you can off the animal in a single blow (instantly), then this is great. Animal won't feel a thing. There are several whacking methods that can be used, such as whacking the animal off a sharp edge, or putting it in a pillowcase and hitting it off the floor/wall (make sure its concrete for anything larger than a mouse, rats will crack/chip/dent drywall and plaster). I prefer the pillowcase method, less mess and you can use more force (and also not get yourself injured).

or other methods?

CO2 is an approved humane method of killing feeders. It can be acheived with either dry ice or with a cannister. This and whacking are the only humane ones IMHO. Some people don't have the balls to go through with killing the animal first so they just freeze them to death - and some people actually think that this is humane and that their system slows down and they fall asleep first. Now this is probably the worst of them all, rats can live over 24h in a freezer It's a slow, painful death. Blood begins to crystallize and so forth. No good at all. Another one that is commonly used and accepted is cervical dislocation. I don't buy into it though, I jsut think of superman


Hope this helped

[unknownclown]

well.. um... like I said Im new at this, and yes I meant that only because I thought it would snap thier neck fast. Ok so Im an idiot feel free to laugh at me if ya want Im just glad ya caught that and said something cause I realy was under the impression that it was a quick death.

Um now I guess you can see why I joined the forum.... which would be to get some insight, advice and knowledge.

Ill just sit back, shut up and listen now.

[Cas]

Did someone mention my CO₂ setup?

<img width="515" height="388" src="http://image.photoloft.com/opx-bin/OpxFIDISA.dll?s=cano&src=/PhotoLoft/Asset20/2002/12/14/10221/10221181_0_0909.fpx,0,0,1,1,515,388,FFFFFF">

I use a flowrate that replaces approximately 20% of the chamber volume per minute - I also precharge the chamber before adding rodents, turn the gas off after about 45 seconds to a minute, and then leave the mice in there for another minute or so. For pinkies I leave the gas on for 2 or 3 minutes, and then leave them in the chamber for at least 15 minutes(usually longer - although if you take them out after 10 minutes or so and put them directly in the freezer, I don't think they ever actually regain consciousness).

Setup is pretty simple - attach regulator to tank, attach one end of hose to regulator and the other end to the chamber (a juice jug is convienient because the tap pops off easily, leaving a nice hole for near the bottom for the hose). The hose at the top of the chamber is just to allow the air to escape while letting the heavier CO₂ stay in the bottom of the chamber - it also allows me to turn of the CO₂ flow and not lose any from the chamber (since it's not going to flow up the tube at the top on its own). Figure out your chamber volume and what to turn your regulator to to get a 20% replacement per minute (can't help much on that one - I let my engineer b/f figure that one out *L*), and you're all set.
Oh, for attaching the hoses, I used a variety of lab quality fittings that were just laying around (we have weird stuff just laying around!) - but I believe places like home depot and such would have any fittings you might need.



Oh, also, here's a link to the American Veterinary Medical Association's recommendations for euthanasia: http://iacuc.cwru.edu/resources/euthanasia.pdf (the tables at the bottom are a good summary)

Dawn

[jwsporty]

All your opinions are valued...sounds like CO2 is the way to go...thanks again


Jim

[Dino]

Hey thanks alot Cas & Mary.

Sooner or later I would like to get a set up like that.
Great job Cas
Has anyone seen how to set one up with a paintball Co2 cartridge. Is it possible to put a regulator on one of those tanks? Cas I read in your other thread that it cost you $200 to set up. Is that with a rental Tank?

Oh and Linds, Dry Ice? Do tell!

Thanks Again
Dino

[Linds]

M1) Put a mug of hot water in a container, drop dry ice in mug and add rodents. Close lid tightly.

There's another method I've heard of people using, but am not familiar with it. Dry ice is a hard find out this way, I just use the ol' pillowcase off concrete method