Cheapest way to acquire a whole load of CO2? (not for welding)

[julianf]

Rats. I used to have a pet rat. And i care somewhat about the suffering of other living things.

However, i do not want them living in my home.

I wont put down poison. You may be ok with it, but im not. I have no issue with killing them, but i wont do it with poison. (this is pre-empting people telling me to use poison - ill repeat below, just in case you miss it this time!)

Possibly, however, if i find some way to flood my suspended timber floor with CO2, that will finish them off.

What do you reckon? Again, im not going to poison them (and possibly my whippets also) Id lay a load of snap traps if i could get under there, but i cant.

Posted in the brew section, due to the fact that i fear it may need a convoluted solution.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Rats. I used to have a pet rat. And i care somewhat about the suffering of other living things.

However, i do not want them living in my home.

I wont put down poison. You may be ok with it, but im not. I have no issue with killing them, but i wont do it with poison. (this is pre-empting people telling me to use poison - ill repeat below, just in case you miss it this time!)

Possibly, however, if i find some way to flood my suspended timber floor with CO2, that will finish them off.

What do you reckon? Again, im not going to poison them (and possibly my whippets also) Id lay a load of snap traps if i could get under there, but i cant.

Posted in the brew section, due to the fact that i fear it may need a convoluted solution.

Why not do it with argon?

 

[julianf]

Id imagine it will be more expensive, however, it would be a much better tool for the job.

(for those that dont know, mammals regulate their breathing not by oxygen content, but by co2 - excess argon, and, so far as im aware, you wouldnt even notice you were dead)

 

[julianf]

Do you reckon my boc argoshield light would do the job?

ughh... and there's me watching the lpm when welding.

 

[Shox Dr]

Personally I'd use traps, if you gas them they'll stink the place out rotting

 

[julianf]

yeah, i know - i just cant get a trap under the floor

the rats are getting in via an air brick, that leads to next doors house. last time they poisoned them, they came under our floor to die!

(i had an extractor fan running for weeks)

 

[cumbriasteve]

Surely if you gassed them you would have the same problem of them dying in situ and stinking again.

Can't offer any help other than trying to find their tracks outside the houses and trap them, mate had a similar problem but managed in the end ...minus about 20 of the little devils.

 

[hotrodder]

Do you reckon my boc argoshield light would do the job?

ughh... and there's me watching the lpm when welding.

Yep, it's heavier than air and doesn't contain anywhere near enough O2 to support life so as long as there's enough of it to displace most of the air under the floor it'd turn a rat problem into a smell problem
Nitrogen should be cheaper than argon or argoshield. Painless/un noticable like pure argon but obviously more similar density to air as that's already ~78% nitrogen
Pub gases are commonly CO2/nitrogen mixes, no idea if they're cheaper than straight CO2 from other sources
Possibly a more spendy way of getting CO2 but dry ice is pretty easy to buy and 10kg of the stuff will sublimate into over 5m^3 of CO2 according to the internet. Freeze dried rats?

 

[sardine]

You are going to stay in a house that you just pumped in inert gas ?

What tools have you got, and when can we come and collect them after the funeral ?

 

[Screwdriver]

If you insist on a suicidal method, use CO instead. Carbon Monoxide is a silent killer and a byproduct of spent coal/charcoal. Have a barbecue and once the embers die down, just leave it under the floor.

Just don't blame me if it kills you too...

 

[RonA]

Not sure how you'd cope with the stench of rotting corpses but if your intent on doing em in, Nitrogen would be my weapon of choice. As we used to say when I worked with piped N2, one breath & you collapse, death follows shortly after. The HSE has some great leaflets on the hazards of pure N2.
RonA

 

[julianf]

The smell keeps getting mentioned -

I have no access to the floor. So, if they die, ill still have no access to the floor.

I have a ventilation duct, that i can fit an extractor to. There is no good option.

 

[eSCHEn]

I have a 4.5Kg terrier that can fit run through stock fencing holes. Any use?

Edit: in all seriousness, have you tried glue traps and baiting them out to them? They are utterly horrendous things but very effective. I wouldn't recommend unless you're at the last straw though.

 

[fixerupper]

That's funny my last post came up twice and when I deleted one of them , they both vanished .. In a long winded way I said If you are out in the sticks , (this is not possible if you live in a town ).. Buy an air rifle and put some bait out side and shoot the rats as they come out to feed ... I did this in house I lived in remote Scotland, years ago two or three evenings from the upstairs bathroom window... no rats

 

[Paul.]

Have you thought about the utra sonic repellent thingies, a customer of mine uses them in a food processing environment, its at the waste / effluent end of the process so the product is safe from the rats, but poison is an absolute no no anywhere on this site, these things look like little pc speakers and are supplied by one of the major pest control companies, and do seem to do the job.

 

[knighty]

terrier as above, or maybe someone with a ferret ? - there's people with ferrets that you can pay to come get rid of the rats

plus the smell of ferrets scares away rats

and being chased/killed by a predator is about as natural as you can get

 

[Parm]

That is the most stupidest idea I've heard in a long time. Yes Co2 will kill the rats by how are you going to ensure the asphixiant atmosphere only stays below the floor boards (impossible I suggest). Where will you stay while your house is full of gas and how you going to check the house atmosphere is back to 21% oxygen

Don't do it, find an alternative method

Ps I have seen CO2 used to euthanise chickens during out break of bird flue. It was pumped in to very large chicken sheds from full size road tankers

 

[Crater Creator]

In a previous house I had a rabbit warren under my garden. Small engine running with some flexi ducting out the exhaust and down a hole for a few hours - no more pesky wabbits.
I'd think if you were set on using some type of inert gas, just make sure your house above the floor is well vented, doors and windows open etc in case the gas migrates up through the floor.

 

[Shox Dr]

That is the most stupidest idea I've heard in a long time. Yes Co2 will kill the rats by how are you going to ensure the asphixiant atmosphere only stays below the floor boards (impossible I suggest). Where will you stay while your house is full of gas and how you going to check the house atmosphere is back to 21% oxygen

Don't do it, find an alternative method

Ps I have seen CO2 used to euthanise chickens during out break of bird flue. It was pumped in to very large chicken sheds from full size road tankers

Also how can you guarantee it doesnt seep nextdoor.


Unless there's food under your floor they must be finding elsewhere. Firstly you need to find that and prevent it or the rats from getting to it. Once they have no easy food, you'll find it easier to bait them.

 

[outofthefire]

Why can't you lift a floorboard to put traps down, i'd also have thought a whippet is the best weapon you've got for rats.