Help on choosing the best way to kill a mouse

[Amanda E]

I have a sick mouse that needs to be put out of it's misery. It's cool to the touch and just sits in the nest not moving much at all, except labored breathing. When I pick her up she doesn't complain or wiggle much at all, though I can tell she'd rather be put down. She's also getting abused by the other mice, not biting her, but they don't mind standing on her or pushing her aside. I've always wondered if there was something wrong with her, but I always thought that she was just shy... possibly due to her being an albino, now I know she's definitley sick. Why, I'm not sure.

I know that the best thing is CO2 asphyxiation, but I don't have a CO2 chamber set up yet since I wasn't planning on having to kill off any mice older than pinkies until much later.

I was thinking either the old swing-it-by-the-tail-and-wack-it-on-a-table or cervical dislocation. As I've never done either I'd like to know what the easiest is do do correctly on the first try. I don't want to hit her too lightly (but I don't want to splatter my table with blood either) or not do the cervical dislocation right and make her suffer more.

Can someone give me input on what to do? She's almost 6 weeks old.

[pcar]

Well, the cervical dislocation would be the fastest and less bloddy. All you have to do is put the metal side of a screw driver at the base of the mouse's head, and then jerk up on the tail. If you do this, you will get some spasms caused by nerves firing due to lack of direction from the brain. You could also try the Flick method. here you just flick the back of the head. And, you don't have to do it all that hard. You will deffinately get spasms here.

Sorry to hear that you have to put the mouse down. Hope that it moves to a better place soon.

[JM :o)]

I agree cervical dislocation will be best. Use the flat of the screw driver blade pressed down on the back of her neck. Grasp the tail and pull firm and hard ~ upwards and backwards. Listen for the crunch (Yuck, I know) Thats how you know you've seperated the spine from the brain. Do it fast~ but don't stop until your sure you've dislocated her. She will spasm, but if you've heard the crunch you seperated the spine~ the spasms are from electrical impulses in the spine firing into the nerves.

If you absolutely can not do it while she is consious (SP?) put her in a pillow case and thump her HARD on a concrete or asphalt surface. Then do the cervical dislocation.

[Hurley]

The cervical dislocation doesn't take as much effort and isn't as brutal-feeling as the whacking method. You will, however, hear/feel the vertebrae separate and that disturbs some people.

As far as blood on the table, if I use the whacking method, I put them in a lightweight plastic bag (like from the grocery store) and swing the whole bag as quick as I can at a hard surface. I will say I've had more non-successes with whacking than with cervical dislocation, meaning more dazed-but-not-dead that take a second whack. I prefer the bag to avoid blood, avoid the skin of the tail coming off, and quite honestly to avoid having to be holding the mouse directly when the moment of truth occurs.

What I usually do is use a piece of dry ice in a gladware container with some holes punched in it. I add hot water to increase the CO2 let off from the ice. Put the container in with the mouse in a solid container (the smaller, the better for quick effect) and let them go to sleep. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air, so I have euthanized rats with dry ice in the bottom of a trash can container without a lid. It'll work.

The reason I use the container-inside-a-container method is to avoid the mouse/rat sticking itself to the ice or getting in the water I use to speed up the CO2 release. I usually just leave them in there for 5 minutes to be sure.

Sorry to hear about the little one, I hope she goes quick and easy.

[Amanda E]

Okay, I'm going to go do it now. This is going to be hard for me. :crying: I know she was only raised to be a breeder and then later a feeder, but I never expected to have to do a hands on approach to killing.

I recently moved her from the cage she was in and I noticed that she has 6 toes, rather than five, on her back feet. From this, who knows what other deformities she has that I can't see, like a bad heart or bad lungs, etc. so that she wouldn't have made it anyway.

Have you ever heard of albinism causing lethal defects? She's the only albino and the only one that isn't thriving. This past litter her mom only had 3 babies. I figured it was because she raised her whole first litter to weanlings. Now I'm wondering if the mother and father are carrying a lethal gene.

[pcar]

Have you ever heard of albinism causing lethal defects?

Don't know about this. What you you mean by albino? Pure white with red eyes? I have two mice this way...one male and one female and haven't had a problem with either or their babies.

[Amanda E]

I'm such a wuss! :crying:

I did it, but you would have thought that one of my family members just died the way I sobbed afterward. I guess that just shows I have a heart, right?

The cervical dislocation thing was right on. If I ever have to do it again, and I don't plan to (I'm going to build that CO2 container REAL soon), I know how to do it.

Yes, white with red eyes. Her parents and siblings are Chocolate Tans, and I'm assuming Het for Albino. But since this was the only albino baby and the only one to not thrive, I can only assume so far that it may have something to do with the albino gene.

[pcar]

could be possible.

it will be ok.

[JM :o)]

There is a lady that posts here sometimes by the name "Sasheena"~ you can probably look her up in the member list~ she knows a lot about mouse genes, and I've seen her discuss lethal combinations before.

As for the Albino being a lethal combo~ no it's not. It's possible that there was something else going on with that baby though. I've got strains of long haired mice, silky mice, and albino mice (and many other colors) that I cross and match all the time~ BUT sometimes a CURLY long haired mouse shows up~ most of those never thrive (are sickly and small, die young) or an albino-silky-long haired mouse~ those rarely thrive either.

Afraid I don't know enough about the genetics to say for sure what the "lethal" combo is~ But Sasheena (or someone else??) may be able to help. As it is~ I only keep clean, plain albinos as breeders (I always keep one tub of all albino's~ so silky, no curly, no long hair as a good luck tub)

[pcar]

Thanks for the info. Will have to keep it in mind.