Arghh....Rats and the heat

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bowdnboy

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Well.... Over the weekend, it was bloody hot! & too make a long story short, I lost a few nursing mums to the heat (obviously struggled to keep up the fluids)..

By the time I got to them (mind u I was checking them every hr or two, and was just about to move a couple of racks inside when I noticed them)

They had just died, and I mean within minutes as some were still breathing - but obviously knackered.

This has happened to me once b4, and I wasnt as quick in getting to them so I threw them in the bin. This time I put em in the freeze, as they were fresh fresh .

So my Q is - Do you still think they'l be OK to feed off???? I'm thinking they'll be no worries. Has anyone fed off rats like this b4, and how long were theyd dead b4 u froze, and then later fed off??
 
I would use to ones you saw die , no telling how manky the others are . That said though , my brother feeds rats to his pythons that have been dead long enough to be stiff , never had a problem .
 
the ones that were still breathing before they died id feed them to the snakes . but really u need to make sure it duznt happen for a 3rd time [ i dont think it would be a good thing to go through- the rat that is]
 
If you are sure they have not been dead long then i would feed them to my snakes. I had the same prob once where i lost about 50 rats in an hr. I fed most of them to my snakes without issues.
 
I have had the prob with heat and rats . I didn’t feed any to my snakes because I had the thought that if there was a problem and I lost a snake I would be so pissed with myself all for the sake of not wasting a few rats. Just my option
 
thanks guys, of the 8 that died, 3 were still alive - barely, the other 5 were dead. 4 were still flacid and not stiff at all, while one felt a little stiffer, but was still manuable if u know what I mean (certainly not rigurred) I had only checked them 1-2hrs previous and they appeared OK, just hot as you'd expect.

On a side note, how long does it take for them to get full rigga. Jungletrans, I'm assuming those rats your brother had fed off b4 would have been dead for hours??
 
Havent done it my self as I haven't had the need....but if you actually think about it all they did is died of dehydration and snakes have one of the most acidic guts in the animal kingdom to dissolve whole bodies. I can not see an issue with feeding fresh died food im sure they eat alot worse in the wild..... it would not affect your snake in any way.
Why do all of us treat our captive pythons like they should be wrapped in cotton wool??
 
Havent done it my self as I haven't had the need....but if you actually think about it all they did is died of dehydration and snakes have one of the most acidic guts in the animal kingdom to dissolve whole bodies. I can not see an issue with feeding fresh died food im sure they eat alot worse in the wild..... it would not affect your snake in any way.
Why do all of us treat our captive pythons like they should be wrapped in cotton wool??

I've even seen a few spotted pythons eating roadkill mice when out herping in townsville, often the carcasses were actually partially stuck to the road so had been there for at least a day, obviously i can't comment on the outcome but i'm sure they knew what they were doing
 
Animals dying a stressful death such as heat stress will go off quicker than those dying a quick "natural " death such as roadkill. If you breed your own rats it wont be hard to replace the dead ones with some better quality unstressed ones.
 
Just deceased animals by even an hour would not harm your python in any way.... thier guts are fairly tough. I cant see a animal that died from heat stress harming your snake as long as it is not deceased for many hours.
Saying this if i had the choice and had plenty of rats to spare, yes i wouldnt bother feeding it off ....as i have done in the past.

Congo
 
Is there an ethical consideration when people keep rats in conditions where they cant escape the heat?
 
Is there an ethical consideration when people keep rats in conditions where they cant escape the heat?

I hadn't considered this until you mentioned it in another thread Wokka. I think it's pretty slack to let them die like this but that's just my opinion. This year all I did was put the tubs in larger tubs filled with water so they are in like a floating island. The water underneath keeps the temp in the tub much lower and the addition of a fan on a timer has lowered the overall temps considerably. I haven't lost a single one and they all look happy and active
 
Best way too keep rats out of the heat is an airconditioned insulated garden shed like the one i built about 8 years ago after loosing most to heat exhaustion and have not lost one since.
Pics show shed and A/C + permanent water supply via self filling cistern

Edit : A/C is on a cooling t'stat set to 24C for the summer heat.
 

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Is there an ethical consideration when people keep rats in conditions where they cant escape the heat?

Definitely. Must be a pretty horrific death - if its going to be a stonking hot day and you know you can't keep them cool, do the poor things a favour and cull them rather than let them suffer.

I've always wondered why noone seems to flutter an eyelid when people say their rats died of heat stress, but say it about a reptile its a different story. All animals should be treated humanely, whether its a pet or food.
 
Good point Saz.... and Wokka too, kinda missed your drift lol. it would be good if peoples look at their food animals in the same light.
 
Perhaps buyers should consider ethical production rather than just the cheapest price when they are sourcing rodent food.
 
a simple way to beat the heat is put plastic bottles in your rat freezer full of water and on days when it gets over 32c put a frozen bottle in each tub and it will last the whole day. Never lost a rat or mouse to the heat yet.
btw if you dont want to feed them to you snakes I will take them off your hands! :)
 
l am the 1st. to admit as a mate just suggested to me l am anal about "fresh killed" feeding but a mate of mine feeds road kill to his morelia and monitors and "never" has a problem but l just cant bring myself to do it...the only real world way to keep your rodents cool imo is air-con, cheap window models are around for days like this .....as in post #14 of this thread
..solar 17 (Baden)
 
Just before summer I cull my older breeders and separate my grow outs into single sex tubs so there is no breeding over summer.
I plan to start out the breeding season with fresh batch of well grown, home bred breeders that have had plenty of time to mature.
 
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