# killing rats



## diox (Apr 20, 2009)

im thinking of breeding rats for food items but i want to know what you think the best way of killing them quikly is thinking a good hit on the head but dont want to get it wrong and have to do it a few times to kill it any thoughts on other options cheers


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## essexchondro (Apr 9, 2007)

CO2 gas chamber would be the best method.


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## diox (Apr 20, 2009)

yeh gonna look into that option
what do you think about drowning them in a bucket :gasp: would that be to cruel?


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Drowning is an extremely slow and cruel method that would cause unnecessary stress and suffering to the animal.

I have heard good things about the use of pure canned Nitrogen (N2, not NO2!) for rodent euthanasia as an alternative to Carbon Dioxide.


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## corn snake king (Apr 14, 2009)

pay a fat man to sit on there heads


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## bassy 1019 (Sep 26, 2006)

drowning for rats is not nice, they can swim for ages, may be somebody can come up with a better method.


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## richingram (May 11, 2008)

ive just been on the net looking for d.i.y build plans for co2 gas chambers . is there anyone on the forum who builds these:2thumb:


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## Steve L (Jun 14, 2008)

essexchondro said:


> CO2 gas chamber would be the best method.


ditto: victory:


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## Merve (Sep 6, 2008)

The neck crank is the quickest way, rat doesnt even know whats happening, they die instantly. You do have to get 'hands on' and you have to be prepared for some severe twitching of the muscles a few seconds after death but i think its one of the most humane kills. 

An effective way is to take a spanner, push it down into the space between back of skull and beginning of spine (neck in other words lol) push it hard mind you, rat will struggle too so do it quick to be humane. Then immediately take the tail and yank it upwards 3 or 4 times. This causes instant dislocation of the spinal cord from the brain. I say yank it 3 or 4 times as you may not have the method down well to begin with and one crank might not be strong enough, depends on size of rat. 

Most important, be as fast and as tough as you can, rats are more powerful than you realise. 


Of course, thats for those of us that dont mind being hands on in the process. If you cant bear it, use the CO2 chamber and let em drift off.


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## diox (Apr 20, 2009)

*rats*

ive decided against breeding rats thought about it and having to look after them would probebly take up more time that i havnt got and i dont go through huge amounts anyway so just gonna keep on buying from the local reptile shop

and i just dont like the idea of having to kill them myself:bash:
na not gonna bother cheers


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## lobley (Jan 26, 2008)

this is what i use and how i built it

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/snakes/295798-making-co2-chamber.html


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