I'm breeding mice and African soft-furs for my snakes. So far, so good. I've been using a CO2 chamber to euthanize them, which has worked, but I want to know how to use the cervical dislocation method when I don't have the necessary supplies for CO2 or only have one or two to cull. I'm afraid to do it because it sounds easy to mess up. I'm sure I could do it perfectly on dead ones, but as soon as I tried on live mice/ASFs I'd fail and they'd be hurt and I'd be sad. So, can anyone tell me a step-by-step, or, better yet, a video? I looked on Youtube but of course there's nothing. A video, even if you had to make it yourself for me (please please please) would be fantastic.
if you already have a co2 chamber and experience using it.. then stick with that method... it is safer and more humane than breaking their neck... regardless of how many you intend to cull.
But occasionally I don't have the supplies I need to use CO2. And since I don't have a means of transport myself, it could be a week or two until I can get to where I need to go to buy said supplies. I'd like to know how to do it in case I needed to. EDIT: (a week after original post, but oh well) I gassed five African soft-furs a few days ago and one remained living but unconscious. Instead of wasting another round of CO2 on him (it's pretty expensive around here) I decided to try the pen-behind-the-head method. An added bonus was that I could try it on an unconscious animal, so if I messed up it wouldn't feel it. So I did. I messed up. Something went wrong, and he continued breathing and made a squeaking sound. I tried again, and this time it worked, the only movements were the normal leg spasms. So, yet another reason I'd love a tutorial or video.
