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Feeding Rat Question

evilcowboy420

evilcowboy420

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I got a breeder pair of rats recently. I got a total of 11 rats in a litter. I was curious if anyone else has a hard time feeding these to a snake?

I have owned them as pets and all of them were excellent pets so it is a bit harder for me to just flat out kill a rat. Right now I am using a freezer to kill but I still have a hard time doing it.

I have heard rats are better nutritionally than mice and if you want a snake to grow well feed it rats. Is this true? I don't have a problem feeding mice cause they are pretty ignorant and all the ones I have owned bit me and everything. So I have no problem killing mice. :ack2: I got these to cut cost on food and because a number of my snakes will only take P/K so I figured it was a better way of maintaining a food supply.

I personally just like the little guys.
 
I never thought I could do it when I first started...I just put myself in the mind-set that it was part of the food chain. I can still get attached to some of the babies now & then, but I pull them for breeders & it's like the best of both worlds!
 
yeah, rats are more nutritional than mice. plus, you can exchange a hopper mouse for a rat pup, and it's less hair and more body mass. and then, if you have large snakes, pigs are much more nutritional. but raising them can be a HUGE bother lol
 
just dont get attached to them. dont play with them. when its feeding time for mine i just pull out the closest 1 and wack them in the head with a hammer handle twice then throw them in then move on to the next. i hand no hard time with it. the only one i couldnt feed was my first one i owned and after he died i buried him but the rest its on lol
 
Man o Man I still go into my rat room sometimes when feeding them and talk to the lil weanlings like any other pets.Well then there is other days that I just go down there and try to have no concious and feed feed feed,its hard sometimes Brother when a real cute one looks at ya like your its Mama now thats when its hard.
 
Like bokuza's link co2 is the easiest and quickest way to put a one down. No blood, no mess, and they won't feel a thing. IMO more humane than freezing them.

Joe Exposito @ Thorough Bred (where I got my snake) told me to switch to rat pups as soon as my snake can eat one due to higher calcium, body mass, and better nutritional value.
 
Rats are much better for feeding, they carry a lot more nutrient than mice.
However, if the rats are fed dog kibble and crappy feed you can scratch that out.
 
Yeah its getting easier now but I still cringe when I wack em in the head. But I may end up pulling some and selling them to the pet shop. They usually take them with no problem. I find it easier before they open their eyes. After that it is still kind of difficult to kill them.
 
If it bothers you why not convert to freeze thawed and let someone else do the killing. Thats what we all do with beed for ourselves.
 
I can't do the wacking. Nope, not for me at all.
I take good care of them and it makes no sense but I believe in quality of life. :/
If im going to birth them just to kill them they should at least have a nice life and easy death.
 
I have a couple of BP's who are picky eaters and a couple other snakes that will eat anything. So for me to buy frozen I would have to buy a package of frozen ones, Then buy 1 live one, then buy a couple fresh killed ones. So I figured it would be simpler for me to do it so I can prepare the meals that suit my snakes best.

I have found that bagging the rat and doing the quick thump on the counter helps because you don't have to see their face while you do it. I did have a female rat kill all her babies so I didn't feel quite so bad about that one. I guess this sort of thing could be harder for someone who has owned them as pets. I had 2 rats that never in a million years would I have ever thumped. They died roughly around 2 and 3 yo and I buried them like I would have done for a dog.

It is also hard when they have a personality that is big. I wish mice were a bit more nutritious than they are cause them things are just down right stupid. even when they get use to you the still poop and pee on you where rats become trained to not go outside their cage.

But I guess I will raise these and see if I can get some thing a little less smart. It may be mean but it would be easier for me to kill a gerbil over a rat its just rats produce faster and can keep a steady supply coming. Gerbils are picky breeders until the find their soul mate lol.
 
Rats are pretty damn great. I went to trade in 4 large male feeders for a few small females for future breeding and in the small rat rack there was this black cape male who just rocked. This little guy didn't go on me once and ate out of my hand. I knew i would have ended up not using him as a feeder so I left him. I wish mice had more nutrients like you too. I honestly feel no attachment to mice. I've had them as a kid but they aren't as great as rats.
 
You can make a gas chamber very easily, I went a little overboard, but you get the idea from the pics. They lay down real quiet for a nap and just don't wake up, clean and simple, easy to use.

GasChamber006.jpg


GasChamber005.jpg


GasChamber002.jpg
 
Also those ar epics from the day I made it, I have since switched to a 24oz can and would recommend it from the start for anyone else considering it.
 
Wow where did you get the co2 canister? That is a very nice euthanize chamber. I tried to use baking soda and vinegar mix once but the smell seemed to bother them so I was thinking of something like that would work better. I take it the valve came from a hardware store?

Very nice job.
 
Evil, I tried that too once. The smell made some of the rats sneeze terribly and hack a little, I didnt like it much either. :C
 
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