a bucket-full of crap

LOL!!!!

 

I feel for the rat too, how horrible.
We had a similar thing happen 2 weeks ago, rat was barely knocked out and the snake was not hungry that day. My husband has no problem suffocating rats but I do! While the rat was knocked out, I had him put it in a bag in the freezer. I am canadian, I know cold and I would rather freeze to death (in my sleep or not) then be suffocated. Not having to go trough that is why I usually order frozen rats. If you want to kill at home, the CO2 is the best solution IMHO.

Now on the snake feeding issue, try to thaw a rat and warm it up a little... You can sit it on the top (not in) a toaster oven (on paper towels) - it gets hot and the outside of the rat will be warm. You can also put the rat in a ziplock bag and dump it in warm (not hot! you don't want to cook it!) water to warm up a little and then, try the rat zombie thing. Present the dead rat in the very same manner you did the live ones and it should work. I got a picky ball and a wild corn to get to eat f/t that way. I know some people use the microwave at a low setting, I have no experience doing that.

Good luck!

 

What you don't realize is that you would wake up before you die because of the pain. Stick your hand in a bucket of icewater and tell me how if feels after a few minutes. Imagine your entire body feeling that way. The cells would begin to freeze and rupture and you'd still be alive to feel it. NO, NEVER kill a live animal by freezing it, NEVER!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yes, CO2 (carbon dioxide) just makes them pass out. Then they die from lack of oxygen. Does not hurt nor does it feel like suffocation. Just light-headed.

I like rats, too, and feel its/your pain...but just move forward. One of those life lessons.

 

dilema isnt it - we love the animals we keep and regard them as a superior life form worthy of greater consideration than the animals we feed to our charges - there are some who feed live as its natural and a snake in the wild will get bitten (No such thing as a free meal) but in captivity we try and protect our pet and in doing so treat another life form in a way that will be interpeted by many as cruel - yet there are others who will not even flinch at the distress caused to the feeder animal as its life is deemed over the minute its purchased to be consumed and as such the quality of its life is in consequential
In this instance an act intended to be kind (stun quickly as to prevent terror when in the reptiles proximity) has had a unpleasant out come

Those that shun away by always buying fozen etc may feel they are more humane but we all know they are not all rats or mice that died in their sleep, they are prepared in that way to take the guilty consciouse feelings away

Rachael its a bad experience - put it behind you - move on and do consider alternative methods of sedation or switch to feeding frozen in which case you will be saved from any potential future mishaps

Steve

 

this is why i feed frozen...i cant bring myself to whack a mouse or rat because i am afraid that this is exactly what will happen. because there have been times when i've offered my snakes mice and they wont eat them. which is fine with F/T because i can just toss them in the fridge and try again tomorrow. with a live mouse/rat you're stuck with having to house it or care for it until your snake decides to eat. and i'm a softy...next thing i know, i'll be at the pet store buying food and a cage for him and toys for him to play with! and if it's injured then what do you do?

Shadow, my grey rat snake, is a picky eater...i've had to hold the dead pinkie by the tail with tongs and dangle it in front of him...but i know he's always been fed F/T so i dont know why he insists on his food "moving". he also doesnt always eat when i offer him a pinkie. he eats whenever he feels like it....my corn on the other hand, Blaze is on a routine, he eats every Tuesday night, no problems.

 

You should see what happens to animals in slaughter houses. Not a pretty picture.
We quit breeding bunnies because my husband was so bad at the stun thing.
We like rabbit meat, but hearing them scream is a killer.

What do you do with refused thawed rats? My BP is fasting again this winter.

 

What else? Throw them in a frying pan and have a snack!

Seriously though, sometimes you can re-freeze them and that has been known to help kick in the feeding response. I've had a few eaten after a refreeze. I probably wouldn't do it twice though and instead pitch them.

 

Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

Oh barf Rob!

I was told you could not refreeze...but maybe I will try it. Probably helps break the tissue down a bit...
Has anyone tried making the rats smell more like gerbils?

 

RE: Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

co2 isnt really painless, i freezes the lungs and the die from no oxygen, sounds painful to me. I on the other hand grab the tail with your hand and the head with some strong tong, and one quick pull no squeek or nothing dead instantly. simple and quick

 

I personally think that is a terrible way to feed your snake. No captive snake should be fed live food. And wacking it against the wall is just plain mean. No wonder it cowers away when you reach in the box. You slammed it up against a wall!!! Du. I dont feel sry for you because you caused everything that happened. If you fed frozen food or did the suffocating thing that would be different.

 

ok, heres the fun part that we already covered. the whack usually stuns the rat and the snake eats it and no big deal. she's been raised on live food and WILL NOT take pre-killed.

i HAD gotten over the rat incident, but thanks for making me feel like a f***ing monster all over again.

 

Ok kids, stop this fighting.

 

RE: Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

Well, as far as I understand it, CO2 replaces oxygen in the lungs, and simply puts them to sleep. It's the simplest for us.

 

RE: Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

do you know what co2 feels like in your lungs. co2 is very cold and can give you frostbite on contact, its still suffocation just faster suffocation im all for the old tail yank. you dont feel anything when your spine isnt connected to your brain anymore

 

RE: Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

Gaseous co2 isn't always cold. It's a natural component of our atmosphere, and that's not cold. Liquid co2 is pretty cold, but gaseous co2 can be any temperature.
Someone (or thing) that dies from lack of oxygen just gets tired. Remember the miners in W.Viginia the other week?
It's kinda like the old suicide by car exhaust trick, without the exhaust smell. The rats just pass out, then die.

 

RE: Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

is there any way you can just... drug the rat? so it still moves and is visibly alive but wont put up a fight? none of the rats i've given her, except this one, ever had the chance to put up a fight, but now i'm all paranoid. and i'm never ever trying to feed her anything other than solid white rats again.

 

RE: Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

hmm rugs-rat-snake= drugs in your snake

 

RE: Re: RE: a bucket-full of crap

well i didnt mean shoot it up with morphine. i meant something like using a limited amount of co2 so it just gets loopy.

 

You know, Rachael, your avatar kind of reminds me of your problem here.
She hits...he keeps bouncing back...lol

You could have someone else kill it or just buy frozen.