rats

[chris7star]

has anyone else had any problems with rats,woke up this morning to find a rat had chewed the side & door of my shed where i keep my redfoots,thankfully never got in the shed as its fully insulated and lined, i have a second door inside but ov want to avoid them getting inside,they have tried to chew under the door,ive put a 2" bit of hardwood on the bottom of the door so its atleast 6" thick now, any idea to avoid them getting in or atleast stop them from trying

[Melanie]

I've had this problem before. The plywood will probably take care of it, but if it doesn't get rat pellets at the hardware store

[TillyTortoise]

A reliable air gun and a good aim will do the trick.

[gwenq]

Oh god, I have a thing about rats and mice. I always get field mice in my garden and one year there was one who was living in sams outside hutch. I was constantly chasing it and removing the food it was collecting and storing in there! I never leave him outside, partly because of them!

Could you not line the bottom of the door with steel sheets. I know it would be difficult to put poison down, but could you not put it in containers, leave them out at night and then lift and clean the area before the torts go out? I would have to try something!!!

Or the above reply would certainly do the trick!!!!

[NATURALIS]

Personally i've seen the damage rats can do to a tortoise in one night ( not pretty ) , at all cost's get rid of the rats because sooner or later they will find a way to get in.

[Pussygalore]

if you use poison make sure its well out of the way of squirels/birds etc and also bear in mind that a dead poisoned rat may be eaten by something else fox, badger even a dog. Hubby always used decent traps, one's powerfull to kill immediately, rat or not it still shouldn't have to suffer, the important thing though is to make sure no food is ever left lying around, rats will usually only stay if there's something to eat ie bird food etc. Feed the birds a long way from the shed.

[chris7star]

cheers for the replys,im gonna try some sheet steel on the sides today from some old roofing sheets i have left over

[tuftybunny]

i would try one of the electronic mouse/rat deterrent things first. You can get battery powered ones too. I have one in the house plugged in continuously as my next door neighbour has mice and we have floor boards so they are under the floors. Got to be worth trying that before poison just in case one of the torts manages to get to it and snacks on some.

[LUVLEE]

Why don't you use one of those plug in rat and mice deterents. I use one in my garage and they do work. A neighbour at the back of us has chickens and we ended up with mice and rats in our garage. I have a phobia which is funny seeing as I,m a farmers daughter lol but I was terrified to go in there.
Got one of those they disappeared and have never returned.
I checked and the sound waves don't effect torts. I have one in my house in the summer too but not winter as my guinea pigs live inside and obviously would effect them. Good luck hope it works

[burnt toast]

Originally Posted by tuftybunny

i would try one of the electronic mouse/rat deterrent things first. You can get battery powered ones too. I have one in the house plugged in continuously as my next door neighbour has mice and we have floor boards so they are under the floors. Got to be worth trying that before poison just in case one of the torts manages to get to it and snacks on some.

I used one of these plug in deterents in my integral garage & still had mice, dont rely on it as I didnt find it worked at all