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Euthanizing feeders?

Jay@PJCReptiles

Jay@PJCReptiles

"Quality Before Quantity"
Hi Everyone,
Our rats have had a litter of 15 babies and now they are big enough as they will be weanlings in a couple weeks. Our question is, how or what is the best and humane way of euthanizing them so they can be frozen till we need them? Can we put them all in an air tight container and place them in the freezer till they freeze solid or is there something else we should do? It would bother us if we had to phisically kill them first. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Jay & PJ :cool:
 
Do a search in this forum on euthanizing, co2 chamber, gas chamber, or dry ice.

This topic has come up a lot and there are several good threads on it already.
 
Persoanlly, the bag and whack method works wonders. Although its you physically killing them, they die instantly if you hit them hard enough.
 
I use CO2 gas on my mice, don't know about rats tho.. I assume it would work as well.

Several ways just do a search on euthanizing and you will come up with the ways. I'm afraid you are going to have to get over the "I don't want to physically kill them myself" attitude though. I mean would you rather be sure the critter is put out as quickly and painlessly as is possible, or do you want it to suffer hours of freezing just so you don't have to hurt it yourself? (Which of course is what you are doing if you place it in the freezer alive and awake. It just feels better because you dont haveto look at em..)

Personally I feel like crap every time I do my mice in, but I know the alternative, letting them live through freezing to death is worse. So I buck up and do em in, that way I don't have to buy em prekilled and frozen. Cheaper for me, and you get over it quick.
 
Somehow "science" has discovered that the ice crystals forming in the tissues during freezing is a painful process but CO2 (or dry ice, same thing) is not painful. The "whack" method is humane IF you knock them out the first blow - wimps like me aren't good at that. I vote for the CO2. The dry ice I've read about on this forum seems like a clever way to accomplish that.
 
a CO2 chamber is a good way to go, there are a few ways to get it though, a Co2 tank, dry ice, or just baking powder and vinegar. If there eyes are not open yet you can just toss them in the freezer and come back in a few hours and bag them. You can just hold there tail and give them a good ol whack to the brain stem with a screw driver, but that is only if you can bring yourself to do that.....
 
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