I have a Rat in the Shed

I think i have a wild rat in the shed. It's starting to get cold outside, and it's pretty warm in there. Not to mention its a food buffet for any wild rodents. I do all my rat breeding in the shed, and i've been noticing things just not right. Insulation getting ripped out of the wall. a mound of food in one corner of the shed. The rat droppings are huge too! What in the world do you do in this situation. Thats all i need my neighbors to start complaining that wild rats are in their house. I'll be dead!

Oh yeah i checked for, escapees and i'm pretty sure, it's not one of my rats. Everybody seems to be there, and none of the tubs are chewed!
:rolleye2:

Thanks
-Tyree

Traps, and lots of them.

And when you catch it, kill it.

And also check your feeders for mites.

Ditto that. Rat poison, lots o' traps and check your rats for any illness or parasites.

I think i just found how he got in too! gonna be tough to patch this hole up! Ahhhhh!

i guess it would help if i didn't drop food all over the floor when i'm filling up the hoppers!


wow thats a lot of rats to check! :rage::rage::rage::rage:

You could just go ahead and treat them, just to be safe.

Make sure to keep a check on the water lines. That was my biggest problem with wild rats, chewing water lines and creating floods.

I don't think it would have mattered if you didn't drop food on the floor. :P Good luck finding that rat.

I hate killing things but wild rats are not on my saving list. I would say trap it and dispose of it. I would check all your rats just to make sure nothing is wrong and patch up the whole. I hope everything turns out ok!

Get a live trap and set it free in a field miles and miles away from your house. Poison it and it could die somewhere hard to reach and you won't notice it until it starts stinking.

My concern would be that it might carry something and make my feeders sick.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by FatBoy

Make sure to keep a check on the water lines. That was my biggest problem with wild rats, chewing water lines and creating floods.

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i have water bottles! But i get your point! i gotta catch him!

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Originally Posted by Rapture

I don't think it would have mattered if you didn't drop food on the floor. :P Good luck finding that rat.

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Yea i'm sure he would have gotten in anyway!

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Originally Posted by RoyalGuardian

I hate killing things but wild rats are not on my saving list. I would say trap it and dispose of it. I would check all your rats just to make sure nothing is wrong and patch up the whole. I hope everything turns out ok!

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i think patching up the hole is going to be extremely impossible. its right by the door and rats can squeeze into just about anything!

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Originally Posted by marmie

Get a live trap and set it free in a field miles and miles away from your house. Poison it and it could die somewhere hard to reach and you won't notice it until it starts stinking.

My concern would be that it might carry something and make my feeders sick.

Good luck!

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I'm too worried about the smell because it's outside. but your right stinking, molding dead rat is not a good smell. how about when i went on a weekend trip and i forgot about the F/t rat that wasn't eaten. it was left in a bucket in the snake room and WOW! still makes my eye tear!

i saw the culprit today, and he is ugly looking! i have to catch him before he does something to my feeders! the little stinker was on MY RACK, when i opened the shed door. he ran to some insulation and i picked it up, and it was like he vanished in thin air! sneaky little turds!

How do you treat your rats for mites/lice? I saw it mentioned before to treat them as a preventative, but how on earth do you do that?

Replvr...I heard an ivomec pour on drop on there shoulders will work. Have you invested in a BB gun?

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Originally Posted by Reediculous

i saw the culprit today, and he is ugly looking! i have to catch him before he does something to my feeders! the little stinker was on MY RACK, when i opened the shed door. he ran to some insulation and i picked it up, and it was like he vanished in thin air! sneaky little turds!

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LOL! I'll bet he made you jump?

I let the Controller at work borrow my Have-A-Heart trap because he saw one in his barbecue. He brought it to work the next day to let it lose in a field behind our building and I have to say it was the cutest rat I've ever seen. Not that I'd like to have a wild rat in my house, greenhouse or garage but he was really cute.

Well ............... "Have a Heart" is not working. I think i have a heart! Anyway, He is too smart, and loves the food out of the hoppers more than snickers and peanut butter, which is insane to me, but i'm not a rat trying to survive in a shed. He has now started to chew the water bottles and has figured out that my shed has all the food, water, .......and if he could just figure out how to get in the racks, wives he could ever wish for.


So ........ i had to step it up a notch! Check it out!

http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...ductId=1390378

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Originally Posted by marmie

LOL! I'll bet he made you jump?

I let the Controller at work borrow my Have-A-Heart trap because he saw one in his barbecue. He brought it to work the next day to let it lose in a field behind our building and I have to say it was the cutest rat I've ever seen. Not that I'd like to have a wild rat in my house, greenhouse or garage but he was really cute.

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If you or anybody else for that matter saw what happened when i saw that rat, lets just say you all would look at me in a different light.

Wild Rats and My feeder rats are completely different! :confused:

i forgot to mention he's tearing up all the insulation in the shed ...... this one rat has cost me like 80 dollars already, and thats not even adding in all the food he's stealing out of the hoppers ...... he takes it all and piles it behind the insulation. I hope he doesn't call his friends!

come on electric rat zapper!

Yeah, he sounds like he's pretty smart! We had a baby rat get loose in the snake room the other night and Raul wanted to catch him but I just wanted to put the Have-a-Heart trap out. After an hour I won and we caught the little booger a day later. He was really small so I wasn't sure he would be able to trip the trap but he did. The most amazing part of this story is that another one got loose last night and I was informed that it's happened quite a few time. Seriously, what was I thinking when I agreed to his hobby?

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Originally Posted by marmie

Yeah, he sounds like he's pretty smart! We had a baby rat get loose in the snake room the other night and Raul wanted to catch him but I just wanted to put the Have-a-Heart trap out. After an hour I won and we caught the little booger a day later. He was really small so I wasn't sure he would be able to trip the trap but he did. The most amazing part of this story is that another one got loose last night and I was informed that it's happened quite a few time. Seriously, what was I thinking when I agreed to his hobby?

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They always get out when your in a rush too. never when you have time to catch'em! Your stuck now .... YOU LUUUUB YOUR HUBBY!

interesting trap lol.. i wonder how humane that thing is compared to killing rats with co2.. might be a good thing to have when you only need one rat killed..

WOW! NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY!!!!! This rat is the devil!

His newest actions:

Because of him destroying my shed and making little homes in all the insulation, i had to do some nasty cleaning today. i started picking up all the insulation and sweeping. in every corner he has stashed food. i knew he was stealing food, but today i found the mother load. He was putting food inside of centers blocks under the table in the shed, it's was pretty hard to see. i got on my hands and knees today, and they were filled to the top. after i got all of the food up (it filled a 5 gallon bucket) i started cleaning tubs.

It took me about 2 hours, but i had the place spotless. I decided to pull some feeders, and put them in a bucket in the shed. i went inside and cleaned up and started cooking dinner. i left the rats in the shed because the dog always bothers them in the buckets. i wasn't ready to start feeding, but i should of put them in the snake room to pre scent, but for so stupid reason i didn't, and thought they would be ok in the shed for about an hour or so.

i come back to armageddon! he killed each small rat i had in the tubs. he mauled them. blood everywhere and the guts and necks are ripped apart. He's a savage beast! not only is he destroying my shed, he's stealing my food, and killing my feeders! This is my fault i should have never left them in there, i had no idea this would happen.

i have to catch this guy.

i took all the food out of the hoppers today, and i'm going to have to just put bowls in the tubs to feed the feeders. when he can't find food, he'll have to go in the traps! (I hope)

That SUCKS!!! Bring in the troops fo sho.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

That SUCKS!!! Bring in the troops fo sho.

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ITS ON! i can't believe he murder 10 rats! i had some ASF rats in the other tub, he didn't touch them. tonight is the night. Imma get him!

Oh man what a little *&%$! I'm so sorry to hear that. He does sound like the devil rat. I agree no more Mr. Nice guy. I would never imagine a wild rat would do that. Did you get the rat zapper?

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Originally Posted by marmie

Oh man what a little *&%$! I'm so sorry to hear that. He does sound like the devil rat. I agree no more Mr. Nice guy. I would never imagine a wild rat would do that. Did you get the rat zapper?

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i have the zapper set up now ..... but today was the first day i removed the food from the hoppers, now there's no exposed food, he'll have to go at the peanut butter in the zapper, or the humane trap. he better hope the zapper gets him. he better pray he doesn't get caught by the humane trap!

Got her! But i'm not really as happy as i thought i would be. i feel kind of bad for her now. I'm such softee! She was pretty smart, but i'm throwing this zapper in the trash. it works, but the way i feel now is now worth it. if i can't catch'em in the humane trap i don't wanna zap them. They say the zapper is a fast kill and it doesn't hurt, but i'd rather catch and release. :(


http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...1983/photo.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...83/photo-1.jpg

Don't feel too bad. She took 10 of your rats so she'll have company in rat heaven! I'd feel kind of bad too but I'd rather her go than to have her make my colony sick or start killing them. I wouldn't throw the zapper out .. . you never know .. . she could have an evil twin.