how can i humanely kill a mouse

[sam]

Honestly I'd just put it in the fridge until it passes, but then it defeats the whole purpose of a fresh/warm mouse. Another thing you can do is break it's neck to break the spinal cord, if you know what you're doing It's the most humane and quick way to end it's life. But if you mess up it will be the opposite and will cause alot of pain to the animal.

Ive seen people put them in a sock or bag and slam them into a wall or something but that sounds a little brutal. But if i can say one thing DROWNING is NOT a humane way to kill anything. Especially mammals.

[macandchz]

dear serpentgirl123, thanks for the reply. your description of what your snakes do when you spritz them is exactly what mac does . he takes off for the closest hide.

[macandchz]

dear sam, thanks for the reply. i might give freezing a try but i'll really have to package it well! the first time i brought home f/t i put them in a container you couldn't see through but i didn't bother to label what it was. my husband who is kind of sqeemish about my whole snake thing went looking for a snack and i don't have to tell you the rest. now i make sure i label every item!

[macandchz]

dear zelg, that's just what mac has started to do. when he was younger he'd attack and coil. now i wiggle it, he sniffs at it, and i just drop it in. if he's hungry,he eventually eats it.that brings up a good point. just how hot should the mouse be that you feed them? i don't want to burn mac but as soon as they cool down he rejects them. i try re-warming them but then he doesn't act interested.

[Andy_G]

Putting it in the fridge of freezer until it passes is almost as bad as drowning. Extremely inhumane and a much more drawn out death compared to even cervical dislocation done wrong. Please do not do this.

[Zelg]

Originally Posted by macandchz

dear zelg, that's just what mac has started to do. when he was younger he'd attack and coil. now i wiggle it, he sniffs at it, and i just drop it in. if he's hungry,he eventually eats it.that brings up a good point. just how hot should the mouse be that you feed them? i don't want to burn mac but as soon as they cool down he rejects them. i try re-warming them but then he doesn't act interested.

Well while reading posts about switching from live to F/T I saw a lot of people warn about getting the prey too warm. 1) you could cook it and apparently thats no good. 2) apparently guts can explode out during a strike/coil if they're too hot. No idea how true that is but I figured it wasnt something I wanted to find out.

I first offered them heated up with a heat mat at 84 degrees. To put that in perspective, thats the temp of his hot side of his cage. Basically I tried to serve room temperature food lol. He barely sniffed it before he backed up into his hide again.

So the next day I do a couple more mice but this time at 93 degrees. I figure its only a few more degrees than room temp and probably close to a mouses internal temp. No idea what their temp is just thought I'd try a little warmer since he took prekilled (as in i killed him and immediately offered to the ball). Worked like a charm and his last two feedings have been F/T so I'm feeling VERY happy about this especially looking back when he was I think about a year old, he went off feeding for 4 freaking months in the summer.

I tried using water to warm them up but I just found it difficult to get a precise temp on the mouse with it. Not to mention the bags leak...even ziplock bags will leak and you end up with a wet mouse. Another possible reason why he refused.

Basically, I advise trying different methods if you feel like what you're doing, you're doing correctly and its not working.

Also, I'm currently feeding my guy 2 mice. The first one I have to lure him out of his hide and then wiggle a little to keep him interested but since that first strike and coil he's prefered me to just set it down once hes out. I set it down, leave the room, light off and come back 25 minutes later and do the second if the first is gone.

Hope you have success, good luck!

[macandchz]

dear zelg, i'm confused. do you mean you wrap the mouse in the heat pad? and how did you get the temp of the pad? the ones i use just stick on the glass but don't tell me the temp. i have a thermometer that tells me the temp of the enclosure and i have one of those ones that are hand-held.

[Zelg]

Originally Posted by macandchz

dear zelg, i'm confused. do you mean you wrap the mouse in the heat pad? and how did you get the temp of the pad? the ones i use just stick on the glass but don't tell me the temp. i have a thermometer that tells me the temp of the enclosure and i have one of those ones that are hand-held.

Sorry I guess I could have been more specific in my setup when thaw them.

I have a heat mat that I just set on a table, plugged into a thermostat. I have a $30 hydrofarm i think it is. Anyways, you plug the mat into the thermostat, lay it on a flat surface and take the thermostat probe and set it right on top of the heat mat. If the probe wont stay by itself, lay something on the cord of the probe to keep it in place on the mat.

Next, (I tried laying them on a folded paper towel but not enough heat got through I guess.) lay the mice on the heat mat and set the thermostat to 93 degrees and come back to check on it in about 30 mins.

Reading your post again, im not sure if you mean you have those round stick on thermometers or a heatpad that just sticks on the glass.

A hand held thermometer will be good with seeing the temp of the mouse but of course wont regulate the temp of the heat mat. you need a proper thermostat with any heat mat.

Hope this helps.

[macandchz]

dear zelg-i think we were talking about 2 different things. i have a large heating pad that sticks on under my tank and one on the outside of the tank right where his hot side hiding log is. the thermometer is a probe type thing that has a dial that sticks on the outside of the tank. i double check that with the hand held one. i think you have something more complicated. but thanks for the advice.

[Zelg]

Originally Posted by macandchz

dear zelg-i think we were talking about 2 different things. i have a large heating pad that sticks on under my tank and one on the outside of the tank right where his hot side hiding log is. the thermometer is a probe type thing that has a dial that sticks on the outside of the tank. i double check that with the hand held one. i think you have something more complicated. but thanks for the advice.

Theres nothing complicated about it. We're still talking about thawing and warming up mice right? I simply have an EXTRA heat mat and thermostat that are not used for a snake. I use that to thaw and warm the mice. Plug the mat into the thermostat, place probe on mat, place mice on mat, wait 30 mins, voila! Warm mice.

But if I'm misinterpreting what you're having problems with I apologize and hope someone else can chime in.

[macandchz]

dear zelg i got it up to plugging the mat into the thermostat. what's the thermostat? my mat plugs directly into the outlet. will this work without a thermostat? it sounds like a good plan.

[sam]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Putting it in the fridge of freezer until it passes is almost as bad as drowning. Extremely inhumane and a much more drawn out death compared to even cervical dislocation done wrong. Please do not do this.

What we need to remember here is that some of us feed LIVE rodents to our herps, which is a far worse death than almost anything Ive seen in this thread. It's on the same level as drowning, which is asphyxiation.

I believe that dying in a fridge is okay, as the mouse goes to sleep peacefully. However i think you may be right Andy. Ive used this method on crickets and woodie roaches. What I seem to have not talking into consideration is that mammals are completely different from insects. I used this method to 'euthanise' my sick hermit crabs when I was VERY young. So I guess the thought just stuck to me.

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by sam

What we need to remember here is that some of us feed LIVE rodents to our herps, which is a far worse death than almost anything Ive seen in this thread.

I strongly disagree with this statement, Sam. CO2, whacking, and dislocation are all quick and easy, but in regards to DROWNING or FREEZING TO DEATH SLOWLY,constriction is WAY quicker and therefore more humane by a longshot. It's a predator killing it's prey quickly and efficiently versus a talking monkey confining it to freeze to death slowly and painfully (unconscious does NOT mean without pain for this kind of death!!!!!) for hours or making it swim to exhaustion and inhaling water. That, my friend, is what we should be remembering.

[serpentgirl123]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

I strongly disagree with this statement, Sam. CO2, whacking, and dislocation are all quick and easy, but in regards to DROWNING or FREEZING TO DEATH SLOWLY,constriction is WAY quicker and therefore more humane by a longshot. It's a predator killing it's prey quickly and efficiently versus a talking monkey confining it to freeze to death slowly and painfully (unconscious does NOT mean without pain for this kind of death!!!!!) for hours or making it swim to exhaustion and inhaling water. That, my friend, is what we should be remembering.

I agree 100% Andy!

I have watched my snakes (when I fed live), constricting their prey and the animal was usually dead within a few minutes or less depending on how they grabbed/coiled it.

I personally prefer CO2 and dislocation as I find this the most humane methods of killing a feeder rodent/mammal. I had to get over my own personal "uncomfortable" feelings about dislocation when I did it myself (when I fed pre-killed), but I did and got efficient and good at it with practice.

I just personally got tired of doing it and it was safer (for the snakes), easier (on me), and less expensive buying F/T as I didn't want to take care of any more rodent colonies (been there and done that). I spent more time, money, and effort trying to protect them from my cats so that I could feed them to the snakes.

[sam]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

I strongly disagree with this statement, Sam. CO2, whacking, and dislocation are all quick and easy, but in regards to DROWNING or FREEZING TO DEATH SLOWLY,constriction is WAY quicker and therefore more humane by a longshot. It's a predator killing it's prey quickly and efficiently versus a talking monkey confining it to freeze to death slowly and painfully (unconscious does NOT mean without pain for this kind of death!!!!!) for hours or making it swim to exhaustion and inhaling water. That, my friend, is what we should be remembering.

My apologies Andy, I went into this thread with fairly little knowledge and spoke without much to back up my opinions. (As I don't breed or deal with live prey items myself)
Ive done some research and the vast majority believe that breaking the neck or CO2 is the safest and most ethical way of euthanising mammals. Atleast in the herp community.

Everyone thank Andy for pointing out our flawed methods and helping to point OP and the less educated in the right direction.

However I don't think the monkey's will appreciate you putting them DOWN to MY LEVEL, Don't be so offensive!

Sincerely.