Oops, extra "pet" rat, non-fatal expulsion options?

March 14, 2007 10:48 PM

What to do about an extra "pet" rat. We have two domestic rats who get a bit of freedom (out of the cage for ~ 1hr per day so there is a risk of temporary escape). But now an extra rat has come into the house. Previously I've used poison to get rid of rat visitors (we live next to a creek so they're pretty common round about) but I'm reluctant to do so in case one of the pets escape. Any suggestions on how to proceed? The two pets are called "Dotty" and "Stripey" btw so we've christened the visitor "Hidey"
posted by singingfish to home & garden (15 comments total)

You can try a humane trap like Hav-A-Hart, but eventually you'll have to find the holes he's using to get inside and block them with steel wool and spackle or caulk or he (and his friends and family) will just come back.

If he can get in that way, your pets can get out, too.
posted by dilettante at 11:04 PM on March 14, 2007

You buy a reasonably cheap live capture trap and if catches the wrong rat, you release it with rat-oriented apologies and reset. Speaking as someone who once owned a couple of dozen rats, they might consider it a unique form of rat entertainment.

Not sure how much luck you would have completely rat-proofing your house in a high rat population, either for ingress or egress. I had a rat escape outside and a couple nights later heard it thumping around my attic twelve feet off the ground. They climb almost as well as squirrels and squeeze into holes a lot better. But if a pet rat likes you, they'll probably come back for the easy treats. Or hell, maybe it's the companionship and love.
posted by mdevore at 11:14 PM on March 14, 2007

Seconded: you can trap-and-release the extra visitor, but his kin will probably pick up where he left off eventually.

If you want to try and solve the problem, you should try and figure out how he's getting in, and seal it off.

Eliminating whatever they find most appealing about your house (food supply, probably) may also make them disappear. I've lived in places with rat and/or insect issues, and keeping the kitchen uber-clean (like sweeping after every food-prep, not keeping any food out on counters, no unsealed food except in fridge), and taking out the garbage each and every night (even when it's not full -- I know, I'm going to hell for my plastic-bag consumption), seemed to do a lot to make my place less appealing.

Be aware, rats can come in through drains (including, allegedly, ones with filled U-bends, though I've never seen this) and almost comically tiny openings if they're sufficiently motivated, so you may have to get creative when cutting off their means of entry.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:14 PM on March 14, 2007

I'll second the have-a-hart animal traps. We have used them extensively in our yard with much success. Basically, everything dilettante said is on the ball. If you have holes in your house, you will get more visitors. Right now you are seeing one. But where there is one, there might soon be many. Find the holes and plug them quickly.

Also, when you let your pet rats run free, keep them in an isolated area that you are fairly sure is safe from other animals. Rats are social and the last thing you want is the problems that might come from your pets interacting with a wild animal.
posted by quin at 11:18 PM on March 14, 2007

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that out occasional wild rat visitors are coming in opportunistically through the odd open door. I knocked the (once rather high) mouse population in the house by blocking all entries a couple of years ago.
posted by singingfish at 11:40 PM on March 14, 2007

Kadin2048: "Be aware, rats can come in through drains (including, allegedly, ones with filled U-bends, though I've never seen this) and almost comically tiny openings if they're sufficiently motivated, so you may have to get creative when cutting off their means of entry."

My friend's boyfriend woke up in the morning a couple of weeks ago to find a dead rat in his toilet. The seat was closed.
posted by loiseau at 1:39 AM on March 15, 2007

Tie a long thread of fishing line between a collar on one of your pet rats and some static object. Let the pet rat roam around the appartment until it disappears through the hole the wild rat is entering via. Retrieve pet rat. Block hole.
posted by roofus at 2:32 AM on March 15, 2007

can't you adopt Hidey, too?
posted by matteo at 2:41 AM on March 15, 2007

When they first arrived, there was an accident where one of the rats got left in the dolls house for a few hours. I can assure you that they have absolutely no interest in escaping whatsoever.
posted by singingfish at 5:03 AM on March 15, 2007

Not to derail, but I've always been curious whether people who own pet rats poison non-pet ones. I guess they do. Does it give you pause at all? I seriously don't mean to moralize or pass judgment - I'm just curious.
posted by walla at 6:53 AM on March 15, 2007

walla, I don't have pet rats, but my sister does and I think they're great. I wouldn't hestitate for a second to kill a non-pet rat trying to get into my place. They're disease-ridden pests that pose a health hazard and can wreck all kinds of stuff with their teeth.
posted by Dasein at 8:38 AM on March 15, 2007

You could go with a more natural solution and buy a pet snake...
posted by allkindsoftime at 8:57 AM on March 15, 2007

I knocked the (once rather high) mouse population in the house by blocking all entries a couple of years ago.

We did this to keep mice out a while back, and a year later they'd managed to break through one of the same spots again...determined little bastards.
posted by dilettante at 12:32 PM on March 15, 2007

walla: I have a bit of a rat phobia as it happens, which seems to have been cured mostly by getting some pet ones :-). Tempramentally the pet ones are really rather like mini dogs rather than yucky disgusting things that live in the sewer.
posted by singingfish at 1:26 PM on March 15, 2007

Snap-trap and keep the pet rats in the cage for a couple of days. Easy!
posted by crabintheocean at 7:23 PM on March 15, 2007