Killing rodents? - Page 3

vanderkm · 03-12-04, 10:44 AM

Suffocation from putting an animal in an enclosed container is not the same as killing with CO2 and is not an accepted humane method of killing.

CO2 gas, when given correctly, results in rapid loss of consciousness so the animal passes out quickly before it suffers from being deprived of oxygen.

Suffocation from being placed in a closed container causes the CO2 buildup to be very slow and the animal experiences the distress of being deprived of oxygen and struggling to breathe before it becomes unconscious. This can be a prolonged process and is certainly not as humane as breaking their neck or blunt trauma to destroy the brain.

CO2, cervical dislocation and decapitation are considered humane methods to kill rodents by organizations like the Canadian Council on Animal Care.

mary v.

YummyCdnMale · 03-13-04, 11:12 AM

Take them by the tail.... then wack there head on a table etc. takes seconds and is over very fast and simple would you like to die fast or aganizingly as to be gased to the point your lungs burn literaly? I think the older method of breaking there necks would be the most humain way no?

sapphire_moon · 03-13-04, 11:16 AM

It would be humane. But in a situation where you have no one to show you how to do it properly, then you could possibly just end up injuring the animal (Especially if it is a large rat).

Gassing does not burn the lungs. If done properly it puts them to sleep first, then they die. It is the most humane way of killing rats (as said by labs, I had a website for it, but deleted it)

Siretsap · 03-13-04, 11:21 AM

what is the use of decapitation on your rat that you wnat to feed to your snake?

just wack it on a table. If you kill hundreds at a time, use the co2 method.
if you kill 5 or 10 at a time, well wack or cervical dislocation.
as for babies, wack too, or gaz if you kill many or freese if you have 5 or 10.

sapphire_moon · 03-13-04, 11:41 AM

Just flick pinks/fuzzies on the back of the head, or break their necks. Don't freeze them, and it's pointless to gas pinks because they have a gasp reflex. I think it's inhumane to just toss them in the freezer!

I'll soon be having about 20 or more/less rats to kill soon, and I will be gassing them.
PLUS some people (including me) just don't like the hands on approach. Not saying it's wrong way to do it. servical dislocation, and whacking work perfectly fine. Some people just don't like to do it.

Cas · 03-14-04, 05:41 AM

Just for interest's sake..... here's the 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

Will · 03-18-04, 03:00 AM

Back to the original question of using pure Oxygen to kill rodents. Nobody seems to have mentioned(as far as I could see quickly browsing the responses) that pure oxygen is extremely flammable, and in my opinion, probably isn't a good thing to have around unless you know what you are doing.

Quote:

CO scares me, never used it but I've heard bad things.

Personally, I'd rather use the CO2 in a ventilated area rather than having pure oxygen all around me...

Lisa · 03-18-04, 02:38 PM

One thing with using a CO2 tank... I inquired into getting a tank from praxair the other day... here were the costs (in canadian funds).

Tank lease $50/year (20 pound tank)
Tank fill $30 (probably last a year)
Regulator $120 (required, the gas is under extream pressure, and most likely to blow anything in it's path out of it's way.)

I opted for the dry ice because it's free, I only need a pound and they can't be bothered to write up a receit for that.

btw, a pound of dry ice is alot of dry ice, if i have to store it it lasts about 24 hours.

C.m.pyrrhus · 03-18-04, 02:57 PM

I have switched over from whacking to using dry ice as well. It is simply to easy not to use this method as a way to dispatch rodents. It, for me, is a lot easier than whacking. Buying dry ice here you must be 18 years of age...but otherwise it is cheap, simple and stress-free. It is $1.09 where I purchased it.

I simply take about a pound of dry ice, place it in a tub with a lid (such as a larger used margerine tub) and a few holes placed into the lid. Place this, with the rodents into a larger rubbermaid container and lid.....and presto....a humane and simple way to kill off feeder rodents. Takes all but about 15 minutes at most. No blood or mess. Just freshly dispatched prey for the freezer. I do not see why anyone would be scared to use this method...? Pure oxygen, by the way...is very dangerous for anyone to use. CO2 will do nothing cept dispatch prey and make some cool fog effects.

Cruciform · 03-18-04, 03:17 PM

Well, it's still dangerous too.

ALWAYS use in a well ventilated area. And if you're going to be usng it indoors, never do so when you're alone. Have someone check in on you periodically.

The gas pools in low lying places so you want to make sure that it doesn't build up in the corner your cat likes to snuggle up in too.

Vengeance · 03-18-04, 03:30 PM

Where do you buy Dry Ice?

Auskan · 03-18-04, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Siretsap
what is the use of decapitation on your rat that you wnat to feed to your snake?

just wack it on a table. If you kill hundreds at a time, use the co2 method.
if you kill 5 or 10 at a time, well wack or cervical dislocation.
as for babies, wack too, or gaz if you kill many or freese if you have 5 or 10.

No-one's talking about decapitating. Breaking their neck does not decapitate them.

Edit: A couple of people mentioned that in their opinion, breaking the neck is more humane than whacking. Not sure why this would be so? I whack (put them in an opaque cloth bag & whack against the edge of a table) and it seems to be pretty much instantaneous death.

Cruciform · 03-18-04, 03:38 PM

Vengeance:

Lisa mentioned Praxair. http://www.praxair.com

They're a fairly big company so they should have a location near to you

My father dealt with them a lot and they've got a good reputation for customer service.

MouseKilla · 03-18-04, 04:03 PM

Ya know what works really well? Here's a truly Canadian solution. The little piece of wood that comes off a hockey stick when you cut it down to size. I had a nice piece about 1 foot long that came off my daughter's hockey stick and I just taped up one end of it like you would if it were an entire hockey stick.

I've tried the gory bag method and it's just too clumsy and inaccurate. I can't be bothered to build any gas chambers or find sources for gas or dry ice because I only kill maybe a dozen or so rodents at a time. I just pick them up one at a time by their tails, wait till they naturally look up and BLAM! End of story, bag it and weigh it and toss it in the freezer.

I can't believe how difficult and complicated some people make this stuff. I would switch to a gas chamber method of some kind if it got to be hundreds of kills in a session but other than that I say don't be a little girl about things, just pick it up and kill it like a bug. It's not the most pleasant thing to do at first but after a while it's so routine and quick you don't give it a second thought. Why make it harder than it needs to be?

Vengeance · 03-18-04, 04:07 PM

Thanks, yea they have a location in Scarbrough that's close to me. Will be good to know when and if I ever have to kill rats. Don't like the idea of whacking or neck breaking, dry ice seems like a good alternative.