Following up on a previous answer, another, somewhat more humain way is to get some dry ice and set it in the dinner. . . . errr, rodent's enclosure.. As the dry ice melts, the rodent will fall asleep and die from lack of 02.. . And yes, it is better to feed reptiles dead food as they can be injured trying to eat live rodents/rabbits. In the wild such prey can run and the sanke/reptile has to strike and kill quick and stealthly. In an enclosure said food has nowhere to go and will therefor fight back.