Gassing live prey with CO2

Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

n3xia

Active Member
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
168
Reaction score
0
Location
Darwin, NT
I just did a search and can't believe nobody has ever posted about this here. Anyway, getting large frozen prey for my adult murray darling seems to be pretty expensive, and someone suggested that I buy live and gas them myself. The pet shops wanted $35-50 for 800g of prey, and I know I can get live roosters locally for $4. I have read that I can get a tank of CO2 from welding suppliers, but they said I will need to rent the tank from them and pay for refills, and also seemed to think it would be expensive, although they didn't tell me how much it might cost. Has anyone done this before? I found this tutorial, but the setup seems a little trickier than they've described. E.g. the local welding place didn't really know what to sell me and I don't want to end up paying rental to them indefinitely if I can help it.
 
Just buy a soda stream machine from Kmart, hook some aquarium tubing to it and pump the co2 into a click clack
 
Agreed Scorps thats what I use. And you can exchange the co2 bottle at the service desk at bigw cost me $16 instead of nearly $40 for new bottle works a treat.
 
The tutorial I linked to said they paid $2 for refills, and the soda stream website has refills starting at $20 each. Surely a larger cylinder from a welding supplier or similar would be cheaper than the soda stream ones?
 
I belive you have to rent the bottles from them and not that cheap. I gassed heaps of rats and mice with mine and it lasted ages. I personaly wouldnt bother with a large type cylender and just stick with the soda stream for what you want to do.
 
I produce approximately 100-200 rodents a week and refill costs $9 at Kmart which I do every 3 months so its pretty cheap. I'd rather donk everything though
 
i purchased a co2 bottle from a brewery store, costs a couple of hundred and about 20 bucks to refill, lasts quite a while and you can get different sized bottles to what you need. all you need is the cylinder and a regulator (60 bucks) and some tubing. You may use a bit culling decent sized chooks though. Remember that due to the keel bone alot of snakes will need smaller then usual feed when its a bird. if i remember correctly you have an adult md, there is no reason to feed it any more then a large-jumbo rat once every 10-14days if that. I would suggest you simply find a local rat breeder and by one for 6 bucks. Much easier and cheaper. There is a tonne of people like myself who breed rats for their reptiles and have excess at times should be someone around you
 
Don't think I've ever seen a rat that big but 800 gram rats for an adult MD is way too much and really not necessary.Much better feeding a 200~250 grm rat per week or 2 at a time every 2 weeks etc.
 
This was an 800g rabbit I'm talking about. I would prefer not to feed extra large rats as they are full of fat, although I know I can get them quite easily. The previous owner said she has taken up to 1.5kg prey at a time. Sounds like Soda Stream is the way to go. I have also emailed the author of that tutorial I linked to, to find out where she was getting refills for $2.

Where did you guys get aquarium tubing? Bunnings?
 
Don't know why I assumed it to be a rat,regardless 800 grm feeds I think are not needed,maybe if you fed once every four or five weeks but much better to feed 200~250's which would probably work out much cheaper too.

As far as tubing goes most hardware shops have it.
 
Last edited:
I just use silicon air line tubing can be purchased from most pet shops or ebay an fits right onto the sodastream tube.
 
I've recently started breeding my own rats as feed for my snakes and am looking for advice on the CORRECT way to humanely euthanaise my rodents,
 
I've recently started breeding my own rats as feed for my snakes and am looking for advice on the CORRECT way to humanely euthanaise my rodents,

Ummm that kind of what the whole thread has been about :facepalm:
humanely culling rodents for food using co2 bottles. Soda stream is a cheap one that works well and all the above methods of going about it are humane :lol:
 
Ummm that kind of what the whole thread has been about :facepalm:
humanely culling rodents for food using co2 bottles. Soda stream is a cheap one that works well and all the above methods of going about it are humane :lol:
I took his post to mean he wishes to know the correct method for gassing them. Just because it kills them doesn't mean it is humane. It has been proposed before that getting it wrong can actually cause pain and suffering. What seems to be most important is rate of introduction of the gas. Too quickly or too slowly is not considered humane according to certain studies.

Troy, I can't help with correct flow rates etc. but personally I think CD or a good whack on the head is more efficient/humane. With adults I have a "whacking stick" which does the job well and for babies a good hard floor and a semi-hard throw works well.
For younger ones who are too old for the floor and whose neck muscles haven't developed, CD can be performed in under a second.
Of course these aren't always the most desirable methods if you're squeamish or if you have a lot to do in one go though.
 
For anyone interested, I just found this more detailed tutorial. After consulting my friend who is a paintball referee, I think I'll be getting a 20oz cylinder from this paintball supplier and refilling it at an industrial gas supplier like BOC, as it should be cheaper than Kmart. Soda Stream cylinders while more readily available, are 15oz at the most and the gas will probably run out quickly if I'm gassing roosters or rabbits. Still not sure if this method is even advisable for larger prey items, although I did read about someone using it for a hamster.
 
If you search using “carbon dioxide” it will pull out the relevant threads (plus others you don’t want). I got the same number of results but a slightly different set of threads between a normal search and using the “advanced search”.

The principle of CO[SUB]2[/SUB] death is simple. The increased concentration of CO2 entering the lungs stops the blood (haemoglobin molecules to be specific) from releasing carbon dioxide it is carrying. It is therefore unable to pick up any oxygen - even though there is still oxygen present in the gas mix inhaled.

The body continues to use up whatever oxygen it contained and as the level drops it shuts down the conscious part of the brain first – as happens when you faint. Any remaining oxygen is quickly depleted, brain cells then begin to die and death ensues as a result. It happens quickly as a result of the high metabolic rate of warm blooded animals (endotherms).

Pure CO[SUB]2[/SUB] is heavier than air. So when delivered into the top a sealed, air-filled container, with the only outlet also at the top, the CO[SUB]2[/SUB] sinks to the bottom, displacing the air. It is not critical to have 100% CO[SUB]2[/SUB] inhaled. In humans, about 8% or above is fatal, so if you worked on about 20% or above it would give you swift and effective results with feeder animals.

I have never tried this but it should work to enable you to determine the level of CO[SUB]2[/SUB] as it enters the container. Soak several lengths of blue litmus paper in water and then attach them as a strip down the inside wall of the container. As CO[SUB]2[/SUB] reaches the wet litmus paper, a quantity of it should dissolve in the water. This forms a weak acid solution that should be enough to turn blue litmus a pinkish colour.

Blue
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It sounds bad and i've never actually done it myself, but a good knock to the head would be an instant death. It seems brutal, but it is still quicker than suffocating
 
I took his post to mean he wishes to know the correct method for gassing them. Just because it kills them doesn't mean it is humane. It has been proposed before that getting it wrong can actually cause pain and suffering. What seems to be most important is rate of introduction of the gas. Too quickly or too slowly is not considered humane according to certain studies.

Ah cheers for clearing that up sax. I interpreted it slightly different. I just meant that when done right, this method is considered humane and personally I find it easier and less squeamish to gas 'em rather than smash em. Blue has provided some great info and there are a few threads on here explaining how to go about it so if you follow them it will be a humane practice.
 
How many people have actually done both and think that gassing isn't the least bit 'squeemish'? It's not exactly the nicest thing either (apparently there aren't any jews on the forum) & can cause discomfort when improperly performed just as much as other methods.
I think it's just a more efficient way as with knocking & CD the success rate varies and when multiplied by high quantities becomes un-viable.

The co2 also poses an extra bonus with higher quantities in semi sealed containers: The more rodents in the chamber, the less co2 needed & that's where co2 really comes into a league of it's own. That's why I think it's a numbers thing. I don't think I could be bothered getting the gear out for one, but for 10-20, out comes the gas.

A link to a page published by the RSPCA regarding the humane use of gas. Not a bad read: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...oS2igQ&sig=AHIEtbS4w1_TN4hFUYwEwBfvvAVLH8Mqfw

*Nice find on the paintball cylinders to, although I'm pretty sure most gas agents would refill the sodastream ones, though I'm yet to comfirm.
 
Gassing is something that should be done slower rather than quickly as slow gas release will anesthetize the animal before death.
A quick rush of Co2 causes suffering in the animal.
Bi-carb soda and vinegar used in a properly setup system is by far the cheapest and best for the animals but is the hardest setup to construct.
Here's a link to give you an idea how it can be done. Euthanasia machine
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top