Stun gun for killing feeder mice?

Breeding my feeder mice, I need a way to easily and humanely kill them, before giving them to my snake. I was thinking that a quick zap to the head with a standard stun gun should kill them, or at least stun them long enough for the snake to eat them.
Would that work?

I looked around online, but can't seem to find any mention of anyone else doing that.. it seems to me like it would be all around more efficient than other methods of killing them. (assuming you're not buying pre killed, that is)

Pick up the mouse by its tail, then with a windmill motion of your arm throw it to the floor with a good amount of force. After you have done this at most about two or three times, you should be at the point where you know how much force to use. You likely then will kill them first time every time with one throw. Even if a throw does not kill them it stuns them sufficiently for feeding purposes. Extremely efficient and no batteries required.

Best regards,
Glenn B

just ask your snake if he likes rare or well-done

Yeah, that's one of the things I was curious about. I wasn't sure if it'd just stun/kill the mouse, or if it would toast it's insides.
I know they shock chickens for slaughter, and that doesn't seem to hurt the meat, so I didn't know.

it would work, but if your looking for a more humane way of doing it , i dont see how it would be better then a wack to floor, i meen whats easyer then that. how would you shock the mouse? if you where touching the mouse and u zaped it wouldnt you get shcoked too? if you dont breed your own mice try buying prekilld frozens.

I owned mice as pets for a good five or six years, and frankly, I'm a big wimpy girl and I wouldn't have the heart to watch them splatter on the ground.
And no, I'm not considering plugging them into an outlet, I'm talking just sending a half second zap to the head. That wouldn't shock me, I wouldn't think.

I'd gladly buy prekilled if it didn't cost twice as much as live, with shipping.

try calling some petshops, they usely have pre killed in stock. or ask them to order some, im sure others feel the same way as you and would rather buy prekilld.

You live in Florida, where I am willing to bet there are some herp societies. I am also willing to be that they know of people who sell frozen rodents that are close to your local area. I get frozen adult mice for $40 to $45 per hundred here in NY.

Just wack it's head on the counter. It almost always works the first time.

I'm not too sure a stun gun would kill or actually stun a mouse long term. Having seen taser's, which actually penetrate into the body used several times, the effect only lasts as long as the current is flowing. And even then it's muscle spasms and nothing more. They can be safely used even on people with pacemakers and similar equipment with no ill effects. It is however extremely painfull, which is I think the opposite of what you're trying to do.

Forgot to add that the probes on a stun gun are generally much further apart than a mouse's head width, so you would have to custom rig something to just shock the head.

Esotericvice said:

it seems to me like it would be all around more efficient than other methods of killing them. (assuming you're not buying pre killed, that is)

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I know this is an old post, but...

The most efficient and most humane (according to the AVMAway of killing feeder rodents is going to be placing them into a deep container that has been 'charged' with carbon dioxide gas. You can do individual mice as and when you need them, using a smaller container and less CO2 - or do a larger number of animals at a time for freezing by using a larger container and more CO2.

Carbon dioxide euthanasia does not appear, in my experience, to cause the animals much stress (maybe the equivalent of 'this is a weird bucket we can't get out of') and no pain - in a close-to-100% CO2 atmosphere, they lose consciousness within a minute or so, and stop breathing not long after. No mess, no blood, no throwing the animal at the floor and hoping the impact kills it first go.

And as long as you don't go sticking your head into the bucket before 'pouring' the carbon dioxide gas (which is heavier than air) out of it, there's no risk to you from using it, which there might be if you were trying to use a taser/stun gun to electrocute the animal.

- Ssthisto

There are some hassles, and some possible hazards with CO2 gas. Most people would have a bit of difficulty making an airtight gas chamber. While it may not have to be completely airtight, that would be the safest and I would not recommend otherwise. If you use co2 in a closed room of small proportions it can knock you out or kill you (basically lack of oxygen). I have used dry ice as a coolant in a surveillance van - very dangerous if not vented properly. Hunters are sometimes found in small cabins or RVs, passed out from CO2 inhalation; they pass out from CO2 because they basically suffocate without enough oxygen. CO2 should be easy enough to find either as dry ice or in canisters, but be careful with it. If you are killing small numbers of mice at a time, like1, 2 or a few, CO2 could become cost prohibitive, I would think.

As far as a stun gun goes, there are also hazards. The thing is though that a stun gun shouldnot kill you if you accientally stun yourself. I am not talking about a TASAR but a stun gun. Still it would require the utmost safety precautions as they can burn you pretty badly in small areas. Also, make sure you don't have any flamable liquids or gasses nearby or boom.

I truly prefer the grab by the tail and throw to the floor method.

Glenn Bartley said:

There are some hassles, and some possible hazards with CO2 gas. Most people would have a bit of difficulty making an airtight gas chamber. While it may not have to be completely airtight, that would be the safest and I would not recommend otherwise. If you use co2 in a closed room of small proportions it can knock you out or kill you (basically lack of oxygen).

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You don't require an airtight container - there is a relatively simple test to see what the surface level of your CO2 in a bucket or bin is. Get a lighted match or candle. Lower it slowly into the bucket. When the flame goes out, that's the level of the carbon dioxide. Don't fill the container all the way - as the CO2 gas IS heavier than air, it won't rise up out of the bucket if you're as careful in filling it as you would be with a bucketful of water. That's why I'd be inclined to use a pressurized CO2 cartridge rather than a block of dry ice - you can control how much CO2 you're emptying into the container much more easily. That said, once the container is charged, a solid cover for it is recommended - and the bucket's contents, once the animals have been euthanased, should be 'poured' out of it into a very well ventilated space (say, outside) rather than just leaning into the container to get the rodents out.

I truly prefer the grab by the tail and throw to the floor method.

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Except that it is not humane and is not particularly tasteful to people who might be willing to prekill feeders but don't want the risk of broken, bleeding feeder on the floor OR prior to the acquisition of the technique, for having to hurl a feeder rodent multiple times at the floor, risking being bitten by an animal that may be in a great deal of pain from internal injuries that aren't serious enough to cause instant death or actual stunning.

If you're going to suggest a physical means of euthanising rodents, standing the animal on a slightly textured surface facing away from you, placing a narrow shaft - screwdriver, pencil, whatever - across the back of the animal's neck, then taking the base of the tail and jerking sharply upward and backward to dislocate the vertebrae of the neck and sever the spinal cord is FAR more humane and acceptable than throwing a live animal at the ground.

http://www.iacuc.arizona.edu/training/rodents/avma.htm has quite a lot more information than what I've passed along here.

- Ssthisto

I agree with the above post, but you can also take a rubbermaid, add your mice take another smaller rubbermaid and poke some pencil size holes in it and add dryice to the smaller rubbermaid.Pour a bit of water on the D/I put the top on both containers, and let simmer(lol) for about 15min., and before you know it every thing in the tub is dead.All the mice/rats fall asleep and dont know what hit em.

method ive used

i personally like the ground throw method ,but before i could get used to smashing a mouse of the ground i used to fill a plastic bag with mice and use a paintball gun to pump co2 into it .that is if you have a paintball gun hanging around.
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