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Old 07-03-2016, 12:28 PM   #1
SugarFairy123
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Exclamation Rats !!PLEASE ANSWER QUICK!!!

How can you tell if there are rats (or mice ) in your house and how can you catch them / get rid of them humanely ? And can they harm a hamster (who lives in a barred cage)? I've heard of it happening before ..... Please answer quick !
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Last edited by SugarFairy123; 07-03-2016 at 12:42 PM.
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Old 07-03-2016, 03:31 PM   #2
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Default Re: Rats !!

Hi SugarFairy, don't panic. You can tell by finding droppings usually. Look in dark cabinets and drawers. If you think you see droppings look around for the mouse hole. It might be chewed, or it might be a gap in the plumbing.
To humanely catch you can either get a humane trap or use a bucket trap. Just beware that mice can jump surprisingly high so the bucket must be quite deep. Try googling humane mouse traps I recall seeing a clever one using a soda bottle but I don't remember now how it worked.
What is the bar spacing on your cage? If it is 7mm you should be fine. If it is 1 cm and you are seriously worried about a pest problem, you could mesh it.
What makes you think you have a problem?
Good luck.
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Old 07-03-2016, 04:36 PM   #3
AlfredHam
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Default Re: Rats !!

You'd know if you had rats, their pee smells so bad! And they'd be chewing their way through your food cupboards lol! We have doormice in our walls (we can hear them) they've never been a problem though
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Old 07-03-2016, 11:06 PM   #4
MCHamster
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Default Re: Rats !!

Rat droppings are about raisin-sized whereas mouse droppings are similar in size to hamster poo.

A rat could try to get to your hamster through the cage bars as rats can hunt smaller animals like mice but I would think that hamster-appropriate bar spacing will be too narrow for rats to do this.

Humane rat and mouse traps can be purchased online fairly cheaply, or you may know someone who has one that you can borrow.
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:15 AM   #5
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Rats !!

Hi - we've had both mice and a rat once. Yes a mouse could get in a hamster cage if the bar spacing is bigger than 7mm. We put these traps down for mice. They work virtually instantly - puts the mouse to sleep within seconds and they die while asleep. I know that sounds horrible, but often there can be a lot to catch. We've usually found them still in the trap or very nearby (so at least they don't crawl off and die under floorboards and smell).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rentokil-PS...rds=mouse+trap

The one time I found one of these pushed out of place with no mouse in it or nearby I suspected a rat, and we put a rat trap down and caught it (the give away was an apple that had been taken from the fruit bowl on the table and was half eaten behind the sofa!

We got one of these for a rat and it also works with mice but obviously you need to not let your hamster out in the room with one of these around. It also kills instantly so is reasonably humane.

Smearing a bit of chocolate spread at the back does the trick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pest-Stop-P...words=rat+trap

It's not cheap but very effective. You need big batteries for it. You just tip them out next day (possible without looking) and re-set it and keep doing it till you stop catching them.

We only had the one rat which had got in from outside and had to block up a hole in the wall. Mice can be quite big families though. At this time of year you often get field mice coming in.

Anyway - I'm afraid we just went the elimination route. I did try humane traps once but it took a while to catch anything - some of them were clever and flipped them open, and they can actually die of fright if trapped in them overnight anyway. Plus it takes a long time to catch them all that way.

Those are the only two effective methods I've found. It's why Charlie is in a cage with 7mm bar spacing. If a mouse did get in the cage it could pass on Tyzer's disease. Don't panic just now though - you could move the hamster cage to the bedroom maybe for now and set traps (depending on where you think the mice are coming out). It's not always easy to see droppings or see signs of them but you can often hear banging noises in walls and scratching noises. Sometimes the only sign we've had is finding something chewed that's on the floor, especially near the kitchen bin.

If it's a rat they do make a lot of noise and banging in the roof or walls and will often steal food a mouse couldn't get in its mouth (eg an apple).
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:20 AM   #6
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Rats !!

I seem to remember you have an Alaska cage which has 1cm bar spacing. The options would be to mesh the cage as piebald suggested, or move your hammy into a bin cage or glass tank. But if you think the bedroom is ok and no sight or sound of anything there, then for now you could just move the cage. Even when we've had mice I've never seen any sign of anything anywhere near Charlie's cage (even though there was hamster food spilled on the floor in front of it once - they seemed to find plenty of other things. But it is possible so best be safe.

You can get those Rentokil prebaited instant ones in hardware stores (even in our small market town) so you should be able to get some quite quickly. If you're really concerned then maybe get a Samla bin and mesh the top as a short term solution. If you were thinking of upgrading, something like the Barney cage would be good. (It's what I have) - has 7mm bar spacing. I have a few cable ties in a couple of places where the spacing is slightly bigger than 7mm. Or a meshed Zoozone 2 would be a good option too (about the same price as a Barney and the top needs meshing anyway )
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Old 07-08-2016, 12:49 PM   #7
SugarFairy123
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Default Re: Rats !!

Thank you everyone ! I just found the packet of hamster food and the packet of bedding chewed open and scattered everywhere but I haven't even found one dropping . And no bite marks in the wood . We thoroughly checked the whole place and didn't seem to find anything suspicious, thankfully. And just to double check , I scattered some of Minnie's favourite snacks around and left them there to see if anything would take them and fortunately nothing did . And I can't really tell if there is a bad pee smell because Minnie always takes care of that (even though I spot clean her cage every day ! )So i'm guessing Minnie had a go at it while she was free ranging maybe ? Anyway I just wanted to say thanks for your replies
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