Euthanizing feeders via shock, first time I've heard of this....

A guy I know mentioned that he uses a cage with a wire bottom attached to jumper cables to euthanize feeders. Is this a humane method? How does it compare to Co2? I'm looking for the best method possible and it needs to be the following: cheap, easy, humane, quick, and leave the prey item in a state that it's still desirable to the animal. Definitely don't want to end up with a pile of chicken nugget looking mice when I turn on the juice. Someone told me Co2 takes a few minutes to kill them, the electrical current sounds quicker but having not been deprived of oxygen or shocked to death I don't know which one is best for the feeder animals.

At this point I am purchasing frozen and breeding a few myself. Mostly only using live fuzzies and pinks for safety, holding off on using my own adults until I can safely and humanely prekill them.

The most humane way is probably CO2. The animals develop CO2 narcosis and simply go to sleep without pain. You have to be careful though not to narcotize yourself in the process so do it in a well ventilated area. Pinkies have a low metabolic rate and I believe most people freeze them.

As for using electrical shock, that has to hurt, at least for a moment. Think of the electric chair and how it is no longer considered a "humane" way to perform executions, even in Texas.

Most people who feed fresh killed thump the animal. That's what I have done on those occasions while transitioning an animal from live to thawed. I'm not sure that is any better than electricity but it is quick and doesn't "cook" the rodent.

When I was breeding rats I used CO2. They fall unconscious in a matter of seconds. As Jim said, just make sure the area is well ventilated and pinkies to take much longer than adults to succumb.

I personally would not use electricity for quite a few reasons. The risk of electrical shock to you or any one else is greater than the risks associated with CO2. Electricity generates heat so there is an increased risk of fire. And with electricity, it can be doing alot of damage inside the rats body that you don't see. It will literally cook them from the inside out. You could seriously injure or kill a snake feed with a rat just killed by electrocution if the internal body temperature got too high. On the other hand, I have had no ill effects feeding rats just killed using CO2.

Thanks for the responses. I guess CO2 is faster than I thought, not so bad after all as a method. Though I could probably safely use electricity (without harming myself) the other problems such as heating them up internally, etc far outweigh the benefits.

I have some friends who have a turkey farm and they shock them prior to slitting their throats. The shock isn't enough to kill them though. It's just enough to knock them out. Without knowing how much juice would be needed to kill a rodent, you'd chance cooking it. Burnt rodent hair doesn't sound too appealing to me.

Hey Richard,

I use a CO2 set-up and it works great. Mine cost about $50 to initially set up. After that it costs me about $3 every 500-1000 rats to refill my 20oz CO2 tank.

I turn on the gas for about 10-15 seconds and they just go to sleep. I come back 5 minutes later to weigh them and start individually packaging them.

I really do not think there is an easier more humane way of doing it.

20oz CO2 tank: $15
Hose with on/off valve and a quick disconnect: $25
Sterilite/Rubbermaid tub: $6

Took less than 5 minutes to slap it all together.

Also, you can make a complete CO2 setup for about $50.

Co2 is better than shock(according to me) the rodents just fall asleep due to the lack of oxygen, it is not painfull to the rodents.

Electric shock, the one thing I would not want to deal with is the smell of burned hair, think of that smell and you would not want to deal with that every time you take out a mouse. That is a smell that you can never get used to.

Can you go into more detail on how you set that up? I have a shaker box that I use but I truly prefer something a bit more nice if you will. I have several large CO2 tanks as well as hoses. I am assuming it's just a simple matter of connecting the hose to the tank and then the hose to say a seal enclosure, turn it on and viola? Or am I missing something? Thanks!

Griz

It really is as simple as that. Here is a pic of my set up. If you have any specific questions I am more than happy to help.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/phot...cat/500/page/1