First Fresh Kill experience (WARNING - graphic detail)

[Invictus]

So, in a further effort to get my stubborn Kenyan onto pre-killed food, I decided to try fresh killed. Bought a hopper mouse, brought the cute little thing home, and put it in a bag. Having just whacked a fuzzy (and almost crying, I might add), TheRedDragon wanted to give it a try, so she whacked this hopper mouse on the table. It was stunned but still twitching. Wanting to do the humane thing and make sure it died and didn't suffer, I took the bag and gave it a much harder whack, and, well.... SPLLLLLLAT! I totally whacked it too hard and its insides were all over the bag. I was hardly about to feed it to my snake at this point. So, from now on I'll let Dragon do the mouse whacking.

I also wanted to add that I really felt like crap because I really like mice. I know it's all about what's best for my snake, so I did it anyway.

I'd like to know other peoples' first experience with fresh killed prey. Did you also feel a sense of guilt over it? Did you make the mouse go splat like I did?

[marisa]

hhaha not laughing at you but with you.

We whack all the mice we fed. My first time I accidently hit the face, which caused the mouse obvious extreme pain and it was flopping around so i had to re-whack.

I find holding the tail, and the hitting on the head with a hard object is easier for us than using the bag method. But I also know a few people who love the bag method. *shrug*

First experiences putting any animal down are usually sad and upsetting but you get used to it and eventually it won't be no thang.

Marisa

[BoidKeeper]

Yes I used to have a problem taking them home and wacking them. Now that I raise my own and bag and freeze on a weekly basis it doesn't bother me anymore. It's too much like work now to bother feeling sorry about them anymore. But in the begining I used to feel terible about it. And I've had a few bust open in my time too, not fun and a wast of coin because like you did I don't feed thoese ones to my snakes either.
Cheers,
Trevor

[jncoclub]

I let my redneck roommate do the wacking- doesn't seem to bother him. I think it's in his blood.

[crucified]

how big is the kenyan?
mine was a picky feeder.. i had to feed it live pinkies which i didnt enjoy.. it took a fuzzy once.. and then it wouldnt eat.. so after 2-3 months of it not eating its killed food i decided.. id show it a rat pinkie.. i didnt think it would be able to take the meal its pretty small still my kenyan.. and anywayz it just went mad and attacked the rat pinkie like a madman.. and well now its on rat pinkies and growing like a little beast.. give rat pinkies a try.. dead ones that is.. no live
good luck..

[Wrath]

BoidKeeper, but what do you do to them before you bag and freeze them?

[Invictus]

Originally posted by crucified
how big is the kenyan?

My picky live-only feeder is a 4 year old adult female - 27 inches in length. She feeds on hoppers and adults, depending on how long it's been since her last meal.

i decided.. id show it a rat pinkie.. i didnt think it would be able to take the meal its pretty small still my kenyan.. and anywayz it just went mad and attacked the rat pinkie like a madman.. and well now its on rat pinkies and growing like a little beast.. give rat pinkies a try.. dead ones that is.. no live
good luck..

Rats of any kind are extremely difficult to obtain in Alberta, even frozen, because of the pest control act. But I suppose I'll give that a try if fresh killed mice fails.

As fr the size, well... I also have a baby (I'm talking not even 2 months) Kenyan who I have a fuzzy to last night, and he downed it like it was nothing. A lot of people would say that was to big a prey item for a baby, but I feed big. My snakes seem to love it. I get AWESOME feeding responses from the ones I've been feeding large items to.

[Linds]

Can't remember my first experience. I have no problems doing it, but I do still feel bad sometimes, especially with retired female breeders. I just do it quick and hard so its over with. No sense in thinking about it. I got used to it very fast. I couldn't even give you an estimate of how many rodents I have split over the years either...lol

<img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/507/22tasha_intofood.jpg" alt="usually the rat is in the snake, not vice versa!">

[BoidKeeper]

If they're mice I sperate their neck at the base of the skull. If it's rats then I put them in a bag and wack them.
Trevor

[Mike177]

once i shot a rat in the head with a pellit gut. omg i felt soooooo bad. cuz i had to shoot it like 5 times.

[wyz]

Invictus, you probably tried his allready, but if not.. It works for me all the times with stubburned eaters.

Put the snake in a pillow case and give him a dead prey. But open up it's skull so that a bit of brain comes out.. the smell will trigger your snakes instinct. Lets your snake there for a night, the next morning the mouse or rat should be in is belly.

WYZ

[lordkovacs]

Linds, that's gross... damn. but if i were a snake that would be like, well, ummm, chicken wings and beer maybe? haha...
MIKE

[The_Omen]

Just wait till you see a gutted rat get eaten slurpily, innards first, then folded in 1/2 and sucked down.

CO2 is the way to enmass with rodents.
Other than that, cervicle dislocation works well.

Several ways to do that also.

Swinging by the tail aiming the back of the skull at a table edge or counter edge.
Steel rod, rebar works well.
Pin the neck to the floor and yank the tail up sharply till you hear Rice Crispys.
And putting its' head under your foot, yanking the tail till you hear the snap, crackle, pop.

I still don't understand why the Pest Control Act should/would affect the availability of getting rats from pet stores.
Or just breeding your own for that matter if possible.

[jncoclub]

WYZ- I did that with my burm who was picky with f/t- it worked great.

[Lisa]

i cried the first time i had to kill rodents.