freezing mice......humane question...well lots of

[CrazyHedgehog]

I would rather pay a little more to kill them quickly and humanely..
If I set the C02 up, maybe just wait until they were older than 10 days...
And hire someone else to actually put them into the chamber and turn on the gas....(don't think I could throw them at anything or even flick them for that matter!!)
As I am a bit too soft maybe I will just keep paying through the nose for frozen mice! let someone else have it on thier mind....it was just a thought

[GarterGuy]

I would rather pay a little more to kill them quickly and humanely..
If I set the C02 up, maybe just wait until they were older than 10 days...
And hire someone else to actually put them into the chamber and turn on the gas....(don't think I could throw them at anything or even flick them for that matter!!)
As I am a bit too soft maybe I will just keep paying through the nose for frozen mice! let someone else have it on thier mind....it was just a thought

Hey I don't blame you one bit. I used to do the nose flick and such. Even used to snap bunny necks with my hands if needed, while I was working at the pet store. Counldn't do that now though.....I don't feed anything alive, unless it's crickets or mealworms (even cockroaches get to me....I had some as pets!). Yeh, I'd rather let someone else worry about doing in my mice....and I'll just hope it was done well.

[Cazador]

Hi all,
I just wanted to sort of discourage the carbon monoxide (CO) idea because it has a really high affinity for the iron molecule in hemoglobin, and essentially binds irreversibly. That means the CO will remain in a red blood cell until the cell dies, and they normally have an approximately 60 day lifespan. Even if all the red blood cells ruptured during freezing, the lack of a functional circulatory system would prevent its release from within the mouse. There is also the distinct possibility that you might euthanize yourself while administering the CO to the mouse. Keep it safe,
Rick

[nessy]

ah, you've got a point... my bad... sorry

[abcat1993]

Woah, Rick, You're just too smart for me. So, if you use Carbon Monoxide, then you freeze it, and your snake eats it, it will get poisoned?

[CrazyHedgehog]

Yep, I think thats what hes saying..
C02 is a pure gas, the body makes it anyway..
But Carbon Monoxide (as in car fumes) is extremely poisonous!

[Cazador]

Yup. The carbon monoxide lingers for a long time and is extremely harmful. Even if you freeze your dead mice, it will be transferred to your snake.

No worries, Nessie. You might have just saved someone a bad experience by bringing it up. Cheers,
Rick

[KITKAT]

Having raised mice for sale to herpers in the past...

I froze my pinkies, up until eyes were opened. This is because they are cold blooded similar to herps until the eyes open.

Now as to humane methods... the trick is to freeze them in a way that they don't feel the creeping cold...

When you put pinkies in a bag and lay them directly on a cold surface in the freezer, they can feel the cold because it is sudden. So what you want to do is place a paper towel or two under the pinkies.

Most pinkies will be dead in less than three minutes, but I always froze mine for at least 10 minutes before opening the package and removing the paper towel.

Impact killing is not painless for pinkies because their brain is not developed enough to cut off the rest of the central nervous system. Cervical seperation (broken or pinched neck) is also not effective on pinkies for the same reason.

Impact killing can cause lesions (breaks) in the skin, and that leads to dessication during storage, as well as giving bacteria a foothold for invasion of the stored body.

So I suggest freezing as above.

[CrazyHedgehog]

KitKat thank you, that has helped! no need to build a gas chamber yet then, (and put my mind at rest!, a little)

[Cazador]

I froze my pinkies, up until eyes were opened. This is because they are cold blooded similar to herps until the eyes open.

Just to be clear, I think Kitkat was speaking figuratively since all mammals are warm blooded (endothermic). Small organisms have more surface area (skin) per unit of mass (volume), so they gain or lose heat more rapidly (like reptiles) than larger individuals do. Pinkies also lack hair and have minimal fat, so they have less insulation. This allows them to die and freeze quickly.

I won't offer an opinion on the most humane way to kill them because I think it's debatable and largely a matter of personal preference.