Other ways to cull?

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

You could use CO2 from dry ice, as in this link... Commercial growers of feeder rodents use CO2 from big tanks for euthanasia. As everyone has said, doesn’t much matter for a tegu or monitor lizard, but rodent body needs to be intact to feed snakes.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?33850-Feeder-Euthanasia-the-Easy-Way-and-Humane-too

 

[Celticdragonfly]

You could use CO2 from dry ice, as in this link...

No please, don't do that.

Read this post here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hands-on-hatching-and-help.1081034/page-1071#post-18605031
It explains how that's a horrible way to die.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

No please, don't do that.

Read this post here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hands-on-hatching-and-help.1081034/page-1071#post-18605031
It explains how that's a horrible way to die.

You’re right that dry ice as a source of CO2 is controversial as it’s not fast enough at replacing the oxygen (see link below). Tanks allow a faster gas displacement, which is considered more humane and is a very common method of rodent euthanasia, which I think was the topic discussed above. Anyway it sounds like the OP is planning to use a different method for her excess birds and probably isn’t growing feeder rodents to worry about. We have a pet ball python that gets commercial, prekilled rats. Bad for both the rat and snake to feed them live.
https://oacu.oir.nih.gov/sites/defa...017_rodent_euthanasia-adult_final_1-25-17.pdf

 

[Bluemonster107]

Maybe they use something like a blast chiller? Colder and faster than a household freezer?

that is a gorgeous lizard btw.

... thank you!! He is quite the spoiled lizard for sure

 

[Kris5902]

Thanks for the info! I am reassured that the companies providing frozen rodents professionally have the feed animals gassed in a humane that isn’t harmful to their consumers. I agree completely that live feeding is a bad idea almost all the time for all parties involved.

And @Bluemonster107, he is a gorgeous lizard. I’ve always wanted reptiles but have only once been in a living position where I could reliably care for one, and then I had a roommate who was terrified of all things scaly... He paid rent, so that came before my lifelong desires. So, I reptile vicariously through others, and observing them in nature whenever possible.

 

[Bluemonster107]

@Kris5902 .... thank you.. yes, during the time he is not in brumation.. requires a bit more of my time. I work from home but if I didn’t.. there would be no way I would have as many pets as I do
And kudos to you for recognizing that for yourself and not just getting an animal you couldn’t take care of... just to rehome... so many people don’t think as smart as you

 

[Kris5902]

@Kris5902 .... thank you.. yes, during the time he is not in brumation.. requires a bit more of my time. I work from home but if I didn’t.. there would be no way I would have as many pets as I do
And kudos to you for recognizing that for yourself and not just getting an animal you couldn’t take care of... just to rehome... so many people don’t think as smart as you

I volunteered with a local reptile rescue and education group for several years in my 20’s, and am of the age group that remembers when selling a baby Burmese python to a 9 year old with the reassurance to the parents that it would “only grow as large as it’s cage allows” was fairly common. Things are much better now, but there’s still a long way to go. I will say I was sorely tempted many times as a kid.

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

Pithing: insert the tip of a sharp knife up through the open mouth into the brain. And you are trying for a quick death so could jiggle the knife around the be sure... i have done this with chickens before, not as the main killing but immediately after cutting their jugulars when butchering because I read that it can help loosen their feathers, they definitely died faster than when I just cut their throats... it didnt seem to affect whether the feather pulled out faster or not, but i was probably hiting the wrong spot in the brain, and it was older roosters, so i only did it a few times. (Most of the time i dont pluck anyway, I skin.)

Doing it like this would give you a fully intact bird though. I know theres better instructions either on this site or just googling it on how to kill birds this way.

Edit to add found this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/butchering-using-a-knife-to-the-brain.1273368/
And a quick search brings up lots of good stuff theres even videos on youtube

Beautiful lizard by the way

 

[Bluemonster107]

@Little Jerry Seinfeld ... yea.. just cutting the dang head off seemed easier .. lol
But thank you for the “other option”... I will have to go google that just to see how it’s done.
And thank you ... my little dinosaur makes me smile

 

[CoturnixComplex]

@Little Jerry Seinfeld ... yea.. just cutting the dang head off seemed easier .. lol
But thank you for the “other option”... I will have to go google that just to see how it’s done.
And thank you ... my little dinosaur makes me smile

Yeah, pithing is probably the MOST humane if you can instantly destroy the brainstem the first try every single time.

I'm not that talented, so I'd rather have it be very humane every time as opposed to extremely humane when I get it right and not at all when I don't.