Feeder loose in the apartment...

I was feeding my snakes tonight, and as I was getting my pup in, I didn't give enough space. He grabbed the side of the tub (my fault) and as the snake darted, he actually knocked the rat out of the tub.

The rat then promptly ran under the unit that the rack sits on.

No casters, heavy as h*ll, and if I was to move it, I would have to move the rack (heavy) and really inconvenient.

So I blocked the spaces around the bottom of the unit so that the rat only has one escape route, and I placed a small bucket similar to the one that he was in, on its side with a food dish and water bottle in it.

I am hoping she/he will come out to eat and get comfy just long enough for me to get him/her.

I am relatively comfortable that he won't go far, in all my time of raising rats I have never had one get loose and then leave the area where the food/water/friends are...

Any pointers?

Initially I placed some bread near the escape route, and he/she has taken in. So I know the rat is mobile.

Bruce

got a cat hahahaha j/k ;)

MOUSE TRAP! The snake will eat the mouse dead if you just wiggle it a lil. . .lol.:rolleye2:

A cat isn't a bad idea. My cat takes care of any escaped mice.
For rats, I use a repeating rat trap. I had a dozen rats escape in my garage, and the trap captured them all within 48 hours.

Pfft. With Shiloh (the cat in my avatar) here a loose feeder doesn't make it much farther then a foot. It doesn't even have to hit the floor for him to have it caught, thus he spends feeding time in the bathroom meowing to be let out.

If, on the off chance I was unable to catch one, he'd have it incapacitated and eaten before I got to him, he's a quick boy.

May sound strange...but use a vacuum. One that has the hose with the tube attachment. It will have enough suction to hold the rat but not enough to hurt him. Works like a charm (as I am always chasing loose rats around the garage.

Hope this helps

i left the snake room open friday night and came home sat morning, both cats got in there and tore it up. i found one of my rat breeder cages on the floor with the top on the other side of the room. No rat to be found ( only one in it currently). searched the house and nothing. i dont know if my cats ate it as there was no blood but they are half wild cat so who knows. still havent found it.

Bruce, what I generally do when I have a loose rat (which thankfully is VERY rare) is to block of all escape routes once I locate it, except one - much as you have done. Put something dark in front of that escape route, like a small box or even a big margarine container. Then smack the floor repeatedly somewhere sort of behind the rat and in the opposite direction than the container. Most rodents feeling that loud, sudden vibration will run for cover...which should be right into the dark container you just placed there. Quickly scoop them up and there you go.

Then find a way to block that place the rat scooted in to just in case it happens again. :)

Bruce check your grocery store or hardware store they might have live traps.

Might be a good idea to have one handy in case this happen again.

check under or behind a dresser! thats where the one i lost was found last night

Thanks for the pointers, all great ideas.

I hadn`t thought about the vacuum... I have one that is just for hard wood floors and has the long arm on it. In this case the rat couldn`t be reached that way.

I did block all the routes, was fortuneate to have thick long rectangular glass shelves handy that I placed around the perimiter so that his only way out would be to go into the tub.

I tried banging on the enclosure but I think there were too many places to run . The unit/enclosure the rack sits on it 5x2x2ft. Same with a live rat, it hadn`t even occurred to me to get one, will definitely invest in one though.

We took the snake rack down, I lifted it and Jerome shooed him out with a broom. As expected he didn`t leave the unit, and was enjoying a cracker when we lifted the thing up. :)

He is in good shape and is back in with him littermates. Hoping he doesn`t impart escape information to the others!

Thanks for the help,
Bruce

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Loft Lizard

...Same with a live rat, it hadn`t even occurred to me to get one...

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Ok... maybe that should have read "live rat trap"... I think I have enough live rats already.