?Freezing The food?

[playwell]

Does anyone know the process involved in getting the living rat/mouse or rabbit etc from the healthy living animal to the frozen variety bought in the shop.

What I am asking is what is the most "humain" way of freezing the poor little buggers for the greater good of feeding my reptiles.

(And ohh how I luv watching them eat, I really did how my male diamond goes pink on his neck.) :lol:

 

[africancichlidau]

In my opinion playwell the best method of despatch is the "flick and brick" method. If you are unfamiliar with this PM me and I'll give you more explicit instructions. Please don't use the freezer to actually kill them as this is an agonising death for them.

 

[playwell]

Yeh I figured that it would be a slow painful death to freeze the poor little guys, as I have not done this, so I feel no gilt.
But I do want to breed my own food for my reptiles as it is going to get expensive to keep buying them frozen.
I'll PM in a minute or ten

 

[dpeica]

http://www.alysion.org/euthanasia/index.html

I used a modified version of this method the other day...
Clean, quick death.

 

[Greebo]

I put little headphones on them and give them a quick blast of Shannon Noll. I suppose that's not really humane....best go with the 'brick and flick" method.

 

[sxereturn]

Hold the base of the tail, and wrap them around a post. Try and get the neck to strike first...when you've done it properly, there will be a nice little indent where it hit the post, and the head will be very, very floppy...

 

[thals]

I put little headphones on them and give them a quick blast of Shannon Noll.

u serious Greebs?! they probley die from the bad taste in music rather than the actual sound! :roll: :lol: (just kidding there Greebs, no hard feelins k )

Anyways, bak on trak here, i was told da quickest & least painful way 2 kill da lil buggers, is 2 put one in a paper-bag, close da bag by rolling up da top a bit, then givin it a good hard wack against a smooth hard surface!

ps. sorry 4 u squeamish and sensitive guys out there who hear (read, wateva) my methods on how to "wacking mousies" :lol:
don't worry...havent actually murdered any myself yet...still an angel :roll:

 

[playwell]

ohhh, I'd feel so quilty by giving them a bash around a pole, or in a bag. I think at the moment I think I'll keep buying them frozen. At least I untill I get a few more snakes. by the end of the year I'll start processing my own food.

I'm such a woos, I cant imagine bashing a rat or a rabbit around a pole. But I guess I will get used to the process sooner or later. poor little buggers.

It's probly better than getting bitten and then strangled by a snake.

 

[Robert]

Get a something strongthe size of a pencil.
I find screwdriver the best,hold rat a base of tail lay screwie across rodents kneck the i a quick swift motion push screwie down with a fair amount of pressure in the same action you shoued be pulling the rat so his bum basically comes over the top and touches his head.
Done proply will simply snap neck and severe spinal chord,you don't notice cracking etc Som emay kick but think most of the time it is nerves,make the snake quite excited to.
Also i have a brick near the back door which gets put into use as i simply carry them to their destiny.
Once again if you don't pussy foot around,give em 1 mighty little smack, and a bit of a flick ot the wrist at the end.straight after impact cause really bad whiplash effect another snap snap snaparoo.
Do find more blood from nose that ea though.

 

[womas4me]

Are frozen rodents really that expensive in the east? In a large collection i can definately understand but surely for just a couple of animals buying them would have to be cheaper if all factors are taken into account ie setup, mouse food, your time, bedding etc. My supplies fly 1600 km to get to me and it is still cheap enough.

 

[Greebo]

u serious Greebs?! they probley die from the bad taste in music rather than the actual sound! (just kidding there Greebs, no hard feelins k

Um....that was the point Jess....I think you may of missed it.

 

[hey_im_sam]

lol greebo

Jess.. the 'paper bag' method?? far better to grab it by the tail and make sure it's neck/head hits, rather than indiscriminately splatting it's body against a brick wall. Using CO2 to euthanise would certainly be the most sure, humane method in my mind. A flick of the head on a pole, or the method robert described, also work well if done properly..

 

[farmdog]

wat about the old faithful shotty?? just get dozen rats in a box and go bang ready to go rats

 

[montyette]

my g/friend uses co2 but i buy mine frozen. At $7 for 5 its not dear and it also keeps any unwaned visitors out of the freezer :mrgreen: If u need to know more message dragonlady here as she uses the co2 method herself.

 

[playwell]

The problem is... I seem to only be able to buy mice or rats. No variety at all, and I intend to move to a more country area.
It's already a forty minute drive (each way) for me to get the frosen rats. So I will probly start breeding food for them.
I cant see the pet shop flying frost rodents to me. LOL

 

[BROWNS]

Just kill the little tackers as quickly as possible!I ONLY USE FROZEN CAUSE I HATE BREEDING RODENTS FOR MANY EASONS.

 

[angelrose]

ac6tually if you buy them in bulk a lot of places will fly them to you.... try www.animalattraction.com.au

 

[stockeh]

hey playwell how are you as angel has said we do ship frozen rodents all around australia (an airport to airport service), but if you are looking for the most humane way of euthanising your own rats then the answer is Co2.

To buy a large bottle of this is quite expensive and often not worth the cost if you are only killing a few rats at a time.... but there is an alternative

The good old soda stream... you can pick one up for about $80 at K-mart and they come with a co2 cannister included (three pumps on the button is enough to put about 10-15 rats to sleep at a time).

The upside of this is when you are not using it for the rats you can have fizzy drinks year round

Hope this helps out
Matt
animalattraction.com.au

 

[playwell]

Thank you all for your help. it is appreciated