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dayna

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Our muscovy ducks killed a couple rats.

Tonight I went out in the dark and found a small Polynesian rat on one of my parrots PERCHES in the aviary.

Obviously I have an issue.

Snap traps not an option, I have free range guinea pigs. Poison is a partial option. I would have to tie it down to keep them from dragging it off to where rabbits, ducks, chickens, dogs, etc can get it.

Live traps would work I imagine but I am kinda weird about those.

Suggestions?
 
Some peppermint oil will deter them.

Or - and this is my favorite method - some turkeys? Visicious killers, always looking for the next victim.... :lol: ok, maybe not, but they DO enjoy hunting them!

Water bucket, string and peanut butter is a bit Inhumane, but effective.

I'd say start storing your feed differently, and clean up after just a small bit of spilled feed. Then see what you can do to make the aviaries rat proof.

All I can think of right now, *shrug*, best of luck!
 
I suggest that you purchase a "Bait Box".
You can find them on the internet,
but they are probably available through places like
tractor supply or most Feed stores. The feed blocks
are locked inside the box, they come in a small re-closeable
bucket. You must not handle them with your bare hands,
it is poison you know! I use a small plastic bag,
and turn it inside out as i remove it. I have one
in the Rabbitry and one in the Chicken coop.
Since I bought these I have not had a problem with small vermin!
[Knocking on wood] Just a suggestion.
Ottersatin :eek:ldtimer:
 
Pump up pellet gun with a red dot laser sight is always good for this kind of thing.
take_that.gif


And you don't have to worry about one of your pets eating a poisoned rat.
 
Wheels":5slmvq28 said:
Homer":5slmvq28 said:
Pump up pellet gun with a red dot laser sight is always good for this kind of thing.
take_that.gif


And you don't have to worry about one of your pets eating a poisoned rat.

yep - the first thing I thought of was .22 rat shot...or a good cat.
Oh yes, I forgot about Snake Charmers.
 
We were going to shoot them, but they only seem to come out at night and they are IN the aviary. I would never forgive myself if a shot hit something and then hit one of my parrots.

I think I'll do a bucket and string (which I HATE) and bait. I got rid of the cats because they were killing my chickens.
 
I dunno, Dayna; sounds like the ducks are doing a good job! I've known for a long time that ducks will hunt and eat snails, but I didn't know they'd hunt (please tell me they did *not* eat) rats.

Good ducks! Messy, but useful ducks! :D
 
If you do the water bucket thing, make sure that you leave enough room at the top that they can't escape. Rats are spectacular swimmers and climbers even in water. If they can 'reach' the ledge they WILL climb out and learn how the trap works.
 
It is cute but isn't that a baby? The only cute adult rats are domestic rats. :)
 
Nope, fully grown! They are only 4-6 inches from tip of nose to base of tail. They also only have 8 nipples (yeah I've done some wiki reading haha).

I REALLY like rats, have had them as pets in Alaska. So this is killing me to have to kill them. Rats are so smart, they play, they live in family groups, really really neat creatures.

However, I've heard that they can bite the toes off of parrots.... And while I love rats, I love my parrots a WHOLE LOT MORE.
 
They can bite the toes off a bird. My grandma's parakeet lost a leg to a rat. It tried to yank it through the cage and only got the leg. The noise woke her up. That rat died an ugly death.
 
Awww you have cute lil rats there. :) Here we have the great big 1 pound (literally!!!) Worf rat. Smart, yeah, mean nasty critters! They kill anything they can get hold of thru the wire. They ate the feet off our quail. One got in a friends house and killed her Amazon parrot. Broke her heart big time! He was a neat bird.

Anyway hope you never have to deal with those! We moved and we haven't had anymore problems with those.
Even though you are only dealing with the cute little ones, maybe you can keep live trapping and relocate them somewhere else. :good-luck:
I couldn't tell what kind of trap that was...is it a mult-catch trap or a single?
 
Oh my gosh, that is an adorable rat! :p

I had a rat try to pull my lovebird through the bars of his cage by his wing. Thankfully, his cage was right outside the sliding glass door to our bedroom and we heard him freaking out. Hubs and I sprang out of bed and scared the rat off.

I worked at a vet's at the time and took him in in the morning. His wing was broken and he could never fly again, but at least with antibiotics he didn't get an infection from the wound.
 
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