Question about rats (not pets)

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Maggie:-)

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
166
So last week something had gotten Into our cabinets and eaten our cereal and popped our juice boxes. We thought was a mouse until I discovered a couple poops and realized it had to be a rat because the poop was no tiny mouse poop. Well I was in my cellar tonight doing the laundry and I saw a rat.
I'm completely freaked out and don't know what to do. I have no problem with pet rats but wild rats are not okay. I am so scared of them spreading disease around my house. I normally wouldn't want to kill any animal but I need these things out. They are very smart and avoiding any traps that would catch them.
I am worried sick about my chinchilla. I keep thinking its going to try to eat her food and attack her or somthing crazy and it's really freaking me out.
As far as I know it(they) have not been in my house,just down in basement and in cabinet.(must have found a hole from basement to cabinet)
I do have a cat. And everyone seems to think he is not doing his job.
But it's really just not his thing,he lives with a rodent and he knows she is my pet so I think he probably just thinks hey they got more of those things lol.
Either way I don't want him to get a disease or hurt by one of them so I'm happy he shows no interest in catching them. I think his scent could be why they haven't come in the house. I tried scooping his litter box and putting the poop and pee down in the basement to scare them off but that didn't work either.
Someone please tell me something!!
I am also pregnant and going to have baby soon. This is just not the stress I need right now.
 
Do you have anyone else in your household that would put out traps? That would be my next move if I were you.
 
Yes they did put out traps but nothing is catching them. They seem to be too smart. They ate the peanut butter and don't set off the traps.
 
I have no idea what they are called or where to get them (sry), but they have traps that are like a cube shape (3D) but more rectangle then square. Its fully enclosed with a piviting door on the front. That way when something walks into it, it cant get out unless its opened from the out side.

They are easy to use and non lethal. I used em successfully myself a few times.
 
Sorry, but in the last 30 years or so I've only seen caged pet rats. Rats are vermin you need to get rid of ASAP. Try google and see what you come up with. I would not let my chin out of the cage while you still have them.
 
I've tried everything while feeling very bad about trying to kill them lol.
Sticky glue traps,poison,snap traps. They don't fall for any of it. I just don't understand it. And I don't know how the got into basement.
Everything in my basement is now contaminated.
I am having nightmares and losing sleep over this.
I let my cat come in the basement with me for a little yesterday just to get his scent down there but it didn't help. I saw the rat after.
And I really don't want my cat near them anyways.
And my poor Maggie I'm constantly checking her. I am out of here if one comes in the house. All the food has been removed from the cabinet they got into so why won't they just leave. There is no food in my basement and there never has been.
 
I guess because the recent cold weather must be why they came in. But I would think they would leave after not getting food. I read that dog poop can attract them? I have a dog but his poop gets scooped up and my barrels all have covers on them. I feel helpless at this point. We put peanut butter on the trap and it gets eaten off and the trap doesn't even go off. I thought for sure the sticky paper would get them but nope.
 
If you're dealing with Norway (brown) rats their nest/burrow is close to your house, they typically stay within a 150 to 200 foot radius of their burrow. Check your yard for any food like open trash containers, garden debris, dog feces, etc. or water sources.
Look around the foundation of your house for any burrow openings. If you have a patio or porch check around the base or under those for evidence of rats. When we were seeing rats in our yard the pest control person found that the rats' burrow was under our neighbor's concrete patio, we live in a townhouse so our yard is in the 150-200 ft radius. Our neighbors have a small dog they leave outside most of the time so it was her food, water and feces that attracted the rats. I was totally grossed out when the pest control person said that rats eat dog feces.
The rats tunneled into our yard for additional openings to their nest. He found an entrance into their nest under the gas meter which is at the corner of our house, one under the fence about 10 feet from the house, and another one under the metal window well of our basement window.

I didn't want a rat hole at the foundation of the house (under gas meter) or in the window well so the pest control person said we could fill those in with tight packed dirt but to check the area every day to see if they had been dug out again.
In the window well we packed a mixture of rocks, dirt and dry cement as far in the rat hole as possible then dug a 6 inch deep 3 inch wide trench along the length of the well and filled it with cement. The rats didn't or couldn't reopen that hole. However, we had to refill the hole under the gas meter 4 times before they stopped re-digging it.

Our neighbor didn't have openings next to the foundation of their house so they left the openings around their patio open. Bait traps were placed close to each opening in our yard & the neighbor's.

The neighbors stopped leaving the dog's food dish out all the time and picked up the feces twice a day instead of once a week.

It took a couple of months of setting traps and disposing of dead rats before we no longer saw evidence of rat activity. Then we packed all the openings and as much of the nest we could get to with a dirt and dry cement mixture.

The pest control person also checked the outside and inside walls and around the doors and windows for any cracks larger than 1/4 inch. Luckily he didn't find any that large. He said it's best to cover openings with metal as rats will chew thru foam sealers. A hole can also be stuffed with course steel wool and then covered with either concrete patching or a foam sealer for insulation and to make it look better. Pay particular attention to where pipes come into the house and around the dryer vent if it is close to the ground. If you have siding on the house check along the bottom for any gaps. Keep in mind rats can squeeze thru very small holes.

If you have any thick vegetation like shrubs or vines around your house thin them out and trim back any that are touching the house. Don't store anything against the house, keep a couple feet out clean of everything including leaves so you can see if there is rat activity and cuts down on places for them to hide.

Inside the house check the walls, around windows and doors for any cracks or openings. Remember that anything larger than 1/4 in. should be filled.
Just like outside, pay particular attention to where any pipes come into the house. Check all cabinets for holes/openings especially under the sink, kitchen and bathroom. Have someone get on the floor to look along the baseboards and under cabinets for holes or rat droppings.

The pest control person also told us to keep an eye out for rats in the future. Once rats have nested in an area it's common for more to move it later.

If you don't see results, i.e. dead bodies, less evidence of rat activity, please call in a professional. You need to get rid of the rats ASAP.
 
Addicted- thank you for all of that info. I will use it. I heard it in the wall in the kitchen that has to be where the are getting in. I did ask someone to check for holes and was told there wasn't any. I am going to have to do it myself Tomorow.
 
I have no access to ferret poop? Shouldn't they be afraid of my cats poop just as much of ferret poop? Because they are not. I had put the cat poop in basement and brought cat down with me and saw one a couple hours later. It is the only one that has been seen. It was a very dark brown and it was on top of the Christmas decorations that no one wants to put up now.
At this point killing them is not an option they need to be gotten rid of. My neighbors did cover up the opening to there porch about a month ago now that I think about it and I never knew why,maybe they had rats getting in there?
 
We only deal with rats down in our barn, so I am of no help. Hubby goes in with a pellet gun at night and picks them off one by one... We can't set out traps/poision due to the horses/cats/chickens etc that we keep in the barn.... Obviously shooting them with a pellet gun won't help in your house.


I have heard of people using a "water trap" method for the rats and that it works... Have never tried it myself...

This the "humane" version. To actually kill the rats they say to put a few inches of water in the bottom so they will drown.

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-homemade-humane-rat-trap-bucket-5007882.html?cat=6
 
Last edited:
I've dealt with these guys on and off in the barn. If you put traps out, put them on the path you see the rat traveling, usually up against the wall. Same with poison. If you can't tell where the rat is going, get a blacklight and check about, the urine trail will glow brightly.

You can set up one of those water traps, but in my experience you need a taller bucket because the big ones can jump out of a 5 gallon bucket half full of water. You can avoid this by putting a collar on the bucket so they can't jump strait up the side, but I've never caught one like that. Just mice. My neighbor catches them in a 50 gallon drum with cat food in the bottom.

99% of cats won't touch a rat. Cats won't bother the green bait either. Rats do not like mothballs, so if you find a hole and it keeps getting dug out throw some of those down there before you fill the hole back in.

Good luck! :))
 
Thank you. I am going to get moth balls tonight and put around outside of foundation until I get someone to block off holes.
 
Peggy-- if you read the link the "humane method" is for them to fall into the trap and they are then released. She is looking for a lethal method, and that is the "drowning" method or to put poision bait at the bottom of the pail.

*edit--- actually I think when I glanced at it there was no mention of anything lethal on the website. If there was, that's mistake :) But they call it "humane".
 
Back
Top