What is the easiest way to kill feeder mice so I can feed them to my snakes

When I had my snakes I found it easier not to kill them but to stun them by hitting them against a door or a cabinet, just something to make them spasm enough so that the snake knows they are still alive but so they can not attack. Sounds brutal, but my 4 snakes all love the food I feed them, and no scratches or bites in 7 years.

It is both cruel and inhumane to freeze live mice. Please buy them already frozen, and thaw properly. This is the recommended way to feed snakes now as it greatly reduces parasite infection and it also protects the snake from injury from the rodent.

It is actually risky to feed live mice to snakes because the mice will defend themselves by biting your snake, so it is very wise of you to want to feel dead snakes. Try buying the frozen mice, they're very inexpensive and come in many sizes. Also, if you have small snakes that cant eat a whole one, they are easy to cut up.

If u have them, set some mouse traps & set some bait, carefully. They will be attracted & the trap will set on its tail & it will be stuck. Then, quickly, put the trapped mouse in the tank by setting it free, but in the tank so the snake can eat it whole. Then, if the snake does not bite, take the mouse trap out quickly. You might get injected with its venom. So, try to put on a rubber glove & the fangs will be stuck. Quickly take the glove off & grab the mouse trap & glove out of the tank. But first, poke the snake with a stick to get the snake off of the glove.

smart move, ive seen some nasty bites on snakes from mice or rats. theres a couple ways to do it. u can slam the head against something & break the skill, but thats a lil rough. what i do is i break the neck. get a pencil (or ur finger) & place it right behind its ears, right on the neck, then grab the base of the tail (as close to the body as u can) & give it a little tug. when u hear a small crack, it is dead. it will twitch for a couple seconds because of the reflexes in the nerves but its still dead. then when it stops, it is safe to eat! good luck! its a little wierd the first couple times

To quickly & humanely kill a rodent:
-Hold the tail in ur right hand.
-Using a screwdriver or similar object, pin its neck tightly to a table with ur left hand.
-Sharply pull back on the rodent is tail while holding the head firm
This will dislocate the neck & kill it instantly if u r quick & firm. DO NOT FEED LIVE RODENTS TO YOUR SNAKE AS OTHERS HAVE SUGGESTED!
Unlike whacking them on the head (which does not always kill them the first time), there is no blood with this method.
Do not simply stick live mice in the freezer. They take HOURS to die. Have some compassion for the prey.

Do not feed them crickets as someone in a previous post said.They DON'T eat crickets. He will perfer & do well with live mice..If u do not want to feed them live then put them in a plastic bag & stick them in the freezer.. They will slowly go to sleep & die..This is how they do it at petstores..You can buy them frozen also..but I am assuming u have a few on hand.. When u r ready to feed the snake, leave the mouse in the plastic bag (water tight) & put it in warm water for a while.. The mouse should be warm & squishy but not hot!! Or frozen in the middle. When I fed my ball python F/T (frozen/thawed) I would hold the mouses tail with plyers & wiggle it in the snakes view.But I warn you!! Do not do this if you're jumpy because when the snake stricks, if your'e jumpy, u will hit the snake with the plyers as they fall from ur hands.lol.I've seen it happen..

Some have said that mice will turn & defend itself when in a cage. First of all..most snakes do not ''chase'' the mouse down.. They will SLOWLY creep up on the pray & when the prey is in sticking range he catches it off gaurd & strangles it. Snakes usually get hurt when they r fed either to small or to large of live pray. I have had my ball python for 2 yrs & only fed it F/T twice.. He has NEVER so much as been scratched.. Mice that r captive breed do not realize the snake is a predator.. In fact, I have watched a mouse go right up to my snakes face sniffing around then as soon as he started to turn away the snake got him..Give it the appropriate size food & he wo not get hurt..I promise!!!

The easiest way to them would be to freeze them, even though its not the quickest way. I know a guy who kills his mice by holding them by there tail and wacks the mouse against the side of his cage. Thats too bloody for me and inhumane.

I think it is horrible!!! imagine the mother has just had her babies and off they go 2 the stomach of a discusting evil snake that doesnt even care about u just killing food and anything in its way!

These cute harmless animals blood is on yr hands. =[

The way i do it it right when i get home i put them in the freezer. I kept mine in the box they came in. Then whens its time to feed my snake, i pull the box out & open it. then i get a heat lamp & warm them up. I tried putting them in hot water(in bags of course), but they got got kinda wet, & he do not seem to like them wet. I get a little plate & set it in his cage. He seems to know what is happening & looks out. Then i just put them on the plate & he eats them. I thank that pre-killing them is a good idea too. I would feel terrible if my snake died that way. Anyway i hope this helps!

The frozen mice are good, just thaw them in some warm water and ''jiggle'' them in front of the snakes, but if you prefer the ''live'' mice then you can put the in a brown bag and well... smack it against something hard but MAKE SURE YOU KILL THEM WITH THE FIRST HIT, that is what the guy at the pet store did with mine, the pet store may kill the for you too,

Good luck

mouse trap

i agree with ''something_horrid's'' frozen mice r a great thing. thats all we used at the reptile store i worked at. we had long tongs & we would thaw out the frozen mice until they were room temp, put them in the tongs, & dangle the mouse in font of the snake. the movement will catch their attention & they should eat it. frozen is much better than live because it is dangerous because the mice can bite & scratch even kill. yes snakes r natural born hunters but not in a cage. in the cage the mouse can not run away like they would in the wild therefor thy r forced to defend themselves to try & live.

I'd always heard snakes would not eat dead mice. I think the zookeepers drug the mice so they're asleep when they feed them to the snakes there, but they are still breathing and alive so the snakes are still interested in them.

Yay for not feeding live, you're right about the snakes getting bitten. Some have been killed by mice. And it is kind of sad to hear the mice squeak & cry as they die.

Anyway

You could always buy frozen mice. Kind of weird to open ur freezer & have a baggie of mice fall out, but it is cheaper & u do not have to do the killing yourself.

But, if u do not what to buy the frozen kind, just buy a bag of dry ice & a bucket. Put a bowl or glass of water in the bottom of the bucket & put the dry ice in the water. Then, drop the mouse in the bucket (NOT the dry ice) & let it inhale the fumes. It should die in a minute or two.
That is as humane as u can kill them

Just feed them live; snakes like live mice more than dead mice and it will be a lot of fun watching your snake gobble up a mouse.

umm they are snakes and natural hunters, they will be ok. you can try making them go into mouse traps or even put them in the microwave if you want to give your snakes a warm meal! try crickets if you are afraid of them getting bit!

Frankly, your snakes will prefer them live. It can be tough convincing a snake to eat a dead mouse.