Whacking/Live feeding/etc. - Page 3

M_surinamensis · 05-06-04, 11:22 AM

Freezing does have an effect on the tissue of the prey animal, rub your finger across the back of a frozen rat and check out all the hair that comes off... far more than would be the case for an unfrozen freshly killed animal. The tissue breakdown is pretty minimal however, as long as the freezing process is quick enough to prevent immediate decay and cold enough to ****** decomposition lonf term... Much like with a frozen steak though, eventually it will go bad.

As to placing the feeder rodent inside a bag and slamming them off a table... Messy. Imprecise and messy. Breaking the neck is much quicker, cleaner and easier, most you get then is a small nosebleed and those only infrequently.

Auskan · 05-06-04, 11:28 AM

How is it messy to put them in a bag and whack them? I've never had even a drop of blood spilled in this way.

marisa · 05-06-04, 11:52 AM

Auskan he is mentioning it because many of us have had rodents split when whacking in a bag, especially adults. I gave up on that method long ago when I had to do more than a few. Although many members here use that method.

IMHO and this might sound cruel, these are feeders not pets. And while they deserve a high qaulity of life and a humane death in the end the goal is a dead rodent going into a snakes mouth. And no matter which way you choose to kill, its far better than feeding live, for BOTH parties involved....prey and predator.

Marisa

ChristinaM · 05-09-04, 10:20 PM

technical question: when whacking.....you bag the rodent, then do you hold the tail or just bag?
Do you aim for the head or whole body to hit the hard object?
Is there any way to describe how hard to hit?

ChristinaM · 05-09-04, 10:23 PM

technical question: breaking the neck...

do you hold head in one hand body in other then twist?

for either this question or the one above, if you want to pm me go for it.
I'd like to hear as detailed "instructions" as possible before my first time arrives.

marisa · 05-09-04, 11:23 PM

Christina-

For whacking what we do is use a board. It's about 6 by 8 inches....we take the mouse to be whacked and place near the edge of the board, naturally they grasp the edge normally and this stretches them out for a clean hit.

We use a screw driver. Yup. LOL. Actually we use the handle itself for the hitting, its about a toonie around thick and it only takes a minor strength hit to kill them instantly, and without blood almost every time. It does take awhile to get it, but once you have practice it is fast clean and easy. I can't really say how hard exactly. Just try a few times as bad as that sounds.

Marisa

M_surinamensis · 05-10-04, 02:51 AM

When breaking the neck or a rat or a mouse, pressure is applied to the base of the skull where the spine meets the head, then the tail is pulled. If done properly, this will break the spinal cord away from the brain, killing the rodent pretty much instantly. For those massive old breeder rats that could probably eat a spaniel, I generally stun them first by flipping them upsidedown against a hard surface, then use *something* such as a screwdriver or a dowel to hold the head in place, pulling the base of the tail up and away at about a sixty to seventy degree angle. The big guys are a bit tougher to do, for obvious reasons... Little to normal sized rats and mice, I generally hold the head in one hand, with the nose facing my palm, my knuckles above the head and the neck between my index and middle fingers, then pull the base of the tail with the other hand, angling the pull up and away once again. Done properly, the rat will be slightly longer than it used to be, as the vertebre seperate. Do not grip the tip of the tail, as the skin will sometimes come off like a glove as you pull, grip only the third or so closest to the body.

ChristinaM · 05-10-04, 08:44 PM

gag gag gag.
Please tell me it gets easier, please.

I thought about doing the above method, but as soon as I gripped, I hesitated and it squealed.

So I tried Marisa's way, kinda. Using a board, with baby rat wrapped in a cloth, I positioned the head so it was off the board, then flicked the back of the head/neck. I hate to say it, but my best was 3 flicks. One was absolutely awful cuz I could NOT get it right.

In the end, I have 5 dead, 12 day old fuzzy pink rat, and feel extremely nauseous.

But, I wanted to get "practice" in before the buggers opened their eyes.

A question......for Marisa, and anyone else:

when you whack, do you have the rodent covered or uncovered?

I had the babies coverred, and wonder if that restricted my blow a bit.
But I think I restricted it even more though, because I didn't want brains and blood all over the place, so I was timid, instead of doing it and getting it over with.

sigh.

annieb_mice · 05-10-04, 09:34 PM

If you are feeding your snake prekilled prey, why not get a large order of frozen food? It makes it a WHOLE lot easier on you, and all you would have to do is thaw and serve.

Unless you need a "still twitching" body to entice the snake.
If you keep whacking it WILL get easier over time... and as sickening as it is now, this too will pass. The first time I whacked a mouse I didn't hit it hard enough and the poor thing "screamed" and was bleeding and I felt horrid! I just kept hitting the poor thing over and over and over hoping it would die... and it seemed to take forever! That was YEARS ago and it has gotten a LOT easier, though I now use CO2. Rats were harder on me though, as I used to keep several pet rats and didn't realize how much force you needed for an adult rat. :P I tried putting it in a pillowcase and whacking it... but the pillowcase split open and the poor rat was thrown across the room. So I decided to hold it by the tail... BIG mistake. It didn't die right away. I finally took a hammer and hit the head... or at least TRIED to. Anyways... at the end of THAT little experience, I spent nearly half an hour kneeling at the "porcelain altar." :P As I said... that was over ten years ago and things DID get easier.
You have the benefit of people helping to teach you to make things easier for you and the rodent. I didn't. :P Anyways... yes, it WILL get easier and yes, you WILL get better at this.

Now... go make yourself a nice hot cup of tea with some honey and relax.

Or grab a cold beer... whichever you prefer...

Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

marisa · 05-10-04, 09:54 PM

I agree if it makes you feel weird, buy pre frzoen. But I will say this, it gets MUCH easier like Annie said.

We don't cover them at all. We take one out, hold it by the tail, allow it to grasp the edge of the board and whack! :P

It really does lose more and more of its grossness and sadness as time goes by. Especially since each tiem you get better and better at it.

Marisa

ChristinaM · 05-10-04, 10:19 PM

I'm really fussy on what I feed my pets. So I try to raise what feeders I can, hence the rats. I like knowing what goes into them, health, etc. I have assorted worms for my dragons and leo's, now the rats.

I still have a bunch of frozen rats from an order, my goal being to raise enough that by the time everything is gone from that order, I will have enough to supply my snakes without having to buy any.

Definately with more experience, I think I will get better at it, and it grow somewhat immune to killing the prey.

Personal accounts definately help. I know it sounds bad, but I guess I will just have to continue practicing till I'm whackin' with the best

M_surinamensis · 05-10-04, 10:38 PM

As has been said... first few times are always tough. You don't want to apply too much force and really make a mess... too little just hurts the animal without killing it, which is even worse to have to look at.

If you can force yourself to try a certain method, any method, until you can do it quickly and cleanly, even once... it all gets easier from there.

annieb_mice · 05-11-04, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ChristinaM
Personal accounts definately help. I know it sounds bad, but I guess I will just have to continue practicing till I'm whackin' with the best

**** <dirty mind kicks in> LMAO!! Oh... now THAT sounds really bad!!
<tries to shut dirty mind off... and fails> Oh well... I tried. LOL!
Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

*dirty mind still going strong... *

ChristinaM · 05-11-04, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by annieb_mice
**** <dirty mind kicks in> LMAO!! Oh... now THAT sounds really bad!!
<tries to shut dirty mind off... and fails> Oh well... I tried. LOL!
Take care
Annie B. <:3 )~~

*dirty mind still going strong... *

o>
:w

Lisa · 05-11-04, 07:01 PM

I don't want it to get emotionaly easier... To me all life is sacred and even though I'm killing for my snakes food, I don't want to become desensitized to the process.