How to kill a mouse

tai_pan1 · 10-15-02, 10:27 AM

I now have 4 corns (which I hope to breed) and the food bill is getting expensive. I've thought about raising mice so that I have a readily available, cheaper (I hope) food supply. I've always fed f/t and would like to continue to do so. My question is what is the most humane way to kill the mice before I freeze them? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

Pixie · 10-15-02, 10:32 AM

I've gotten a lot of grief when answering this question on another forum! I prefer to freeze them directly but I know it doesn't take very long this way.

The first time I did it was because my male mouse ate more than half my very pregnant female. I was so mad I just put him in a tupperware (that incidentaly had vent holes) and threw him in the freezer. I checked back in 5 minutes, almost to the second and the bugger was already stiff! Now my freezer is at the coldest it can be and I'm sure the vent holes on the lid of the small container helped. So since then that's what I've been doing, mostly with juvenile mice since that's what my corns are eating at the moment.

For my ball, I pre-kill the mice. I put them in a fabric bag and give em a good whack on the ceramic of the toilet bowl then feed to my snake. You could do something of the likes to your mice before freezing them if you think freezing them outright isn't good for you.

Scotty Allen · 10-15-02, 10:33 AM

If you are only killing a few at a time, the simplest and most humane method is quickly breaking their necks. Get someone to show you how though to avoid as much pain as possible. Yes, they're only mice but they're still alive.

tai_pan1 · 10-15-02, 03:09 PM

Quick and painless is what I'm looking for if possible. I'm not sure how to break the neck of a pinky. Oh well, I guess I'll figure it all out.

Scotty Allen · 10-15-02, 04:02 PM

I did'nt realize you were talking about pinks. If CO2 gas is not an option for you, a sharp smack on the floor or other convienient solid object works. This takes a little practice. I'll probably get drawn and quatered for this suggestion, but it won't be the first time. Also, many people will just put live pinks directly in the freezer. I'm sure this is pretty quick, but I don't like it personally. Drowning in very cold water is also fairly quick.

jsnake0 · 10-15-02, 04:23 PM

if you can CO2 is the best you and get canisters of it
have heard of people useing dry ice
co2 is not hard to set up small box regulator and a bottle of co2

breaking necks put side of pencil/pen across base of head pess
down and forward quickly needs lots of force
or wack them on the edge of a table

10-15-02, 07:06 PM

I wack them on the floor. A word of experience, I did raise mice and rats for a couple of years for feeders by the time enclosures, food (pro lab diet is spendy), and my time were figured it was cheaper to buy bulk frozen. Not to mention the stink!

tai_pan1 · 10-15-02, 07:21 PM

LOL! I'm afraid my wife and kids will fall in love with them and not let me feed them to the snakes!

Lisa · 10-15-02, 07:52 PM

we buy in bulk from a supplier like mice4you their prices are amazing, you don't have to kill the mice (they arrive frozen) and you don't have to feed them or clean cages.

Kyle Walkinshaw · 10-16-02, 04:28 PM

Easiest way to wack mice in to simply hold it by the tail and "wack" the back of its neck agaist the corner of a hard surface.

gunnerslakeshor · 10-18-02, 05:06 PM

Ive always just put mice in a suitable container (tupperware) and poped them into the freezer its hypothermia that kills them they just go to sleep no mess or sharp broken bones to worry about.
Leave them for about 15 min then remove and bag seperately in the best freezer bags you can afford ( no feezer burn this way).
I think its far kinder than smashing them on a table. jmho.
Phil

tai_pan1 · 10-18-02, 10:29 PM

I heard that freezing them alive was extremely painful due to the cells in the body rupturing from the cold? Forget where I heard that.

rattekonigin · 10-18-02, 10:38 PM

By the time the cells freeze and burst, the animal is long dead...it can't live once it's body temp drops a few degrees and that isn't anywhere near the freezing point. The cells have to actually freeze to burst, if they didn't people would have a big problem going outside in the winter.

Pixie · 10-19-02, 11:06 AM

Death by hypothermia starts with falling asleep. When the body gets too cold the metabolic state slows to a crawl and they fall asleep. It's after that that death occurs so it wouldn't be painful per say, just cold for a while.

vanderkm · 10-19-02, 08:50 PM

Death by hypothermia actually progresses through intense shivering and searching for warmth - it takes a while to get to losing consciousness. The drive to preserve body temperature is very strong, especially in young animals and I find it impossible to believe that freezing to death can be considered humane. I think people feel it is acceptable because they don't have to see the animal suffer. Freezing animals alive may not be messy, but immediate unconsciousness is more humane.
Carbon dioxide gas is a good method for humane killing prey animals, but may not be practical for small numbers. A rodent that has had it's neck broken correctly will lose consciousness immediately from the trauma to the base of the brain and death follows rapidly. Movements that occur are reflex and not an indication of conscious pain. A strong blow to the head, appropriate to the size of the animal, will have the same result. Pinkies and small fuzzies can be rendered unconscious by a finger snap to the head without damaging the body extensively. I consider any of these more humane than freezing alive.

Mary v.