I went into my aviary yesterday and was happily cleaning all the poo out of the trays.(lol) when i noticed a pile of sand in the corner behing my nursery cage when i went to check it out i noticed a huge hole so we proceded to lift up a couple of pavers to find a massive weaving tunning dug from one side of the aviary to the other!!! Im am unsure if it is mice or rats the whole would have been big enough to fit a medium rat maybe? In anyones experience do rats and mice dig big wholes so that they fit through comfortably or do they squeeze through? Because if they squeeze through i have one *** of a rat on my hands! Also do they come every night? They didnt touch my birds thank god because i have some little beautiful yf's and i would have been devastated if anything happened to them.

secure your aviary, because it will only be a matter of time before they are in causing havoc.

I haven't had rats yet (thank god!!) but i believe their tunnels are just big enough for them to scurry through comfortably.

 

I hope you get rid of them before they cause any problems

The digging will be rats as it is their way to dig tunnels. Mice just squeeze through gaps and dont need tunnels. You may find the rat is now inside hiding somewhere as once in they tend to hide behind cabinets etc. If its near your nursery cage and you have youngsters you will have to move them. Rats are smart and can get into cabinets and kill chicks and take eggs. Time to go in amd move things and search for the rat or rats. There is never just one

Edited July 27, 200816 yr by KAZ

Mice have tiny holes the size of a 10-20c coin... It would have to be a rat, although mine didn't dig into my aviary they did nest in a pile of foliage litter out back, they like to keep their body touching something at any one time, hence why they scurry along walls and so on.

If a rat head can fit through the hole, then so can it's body, so i'd say you're facing rats... Get an exterminator out like I did, worked a treat

Yes Missy;u you sure do have rats as stated move everything you have check behind and under all you can if you need any help not that im able myself but im sure i can arrange my son or daughter to help out

MATE!!!!!

 

ARGGGGHHHHHHHH - Hows it going do you need me over?? I'll bring the shovel

Hi

Alot of my birds died from mice/rats. They eat the seed and their droppings are toxic to budgies. I put rat traps around the out side of the avairy and cemented inside, That stopped the rats all together.

I thought that the aviary was secure as i had laid pavers that are really heavy down and of course the only gap there is and the rats find it!!!! I cleared everything out yesterday and didnt find anything on the ground there is nothing for them to hide under so hopefully they are not still in there! It is hard because i have dogs so i dont want to poison them incase my dogs eat them! I am going to get some more cement and fill the hole in. I have brought my babies inside so they are safe i am going to lay some traps tonight abd see what happens . Thanks for all your replies -especially Dodger & Neat -I might take you up on that shovel offer neat!

I thought that the aviary was secure as i had laid pavers that are really heavy down and of course the only gap there is and the rats find it!!!! I cleared everything out yesterday and didnt find anything on the ground there is nothing for them to hide under so hopefully they are not still in there! It is hard because i have dogs so i dont want to poison them incase my dogs eat them! I am going to get some more cement and fill the hole in. I have brought my babies inside so they are safe i am going to lay some traps tonight abd see what happens . Thanks for all your replies -especially Dodger & Neat -I might take you up on that shovel offer neat!

 

 

No Problem Missylu you just look after then birds good idea to take in the babes for a bit keep and eye on the lutino hehehehehehe and dont for get the pictures of the others so glad it look okay though

I just went out for another double check and i found a mouse??? It would be around 6 months if that? Could it have been doing all the digging?I hope that all it is! I have set the traps. I will keep you updated!

Yep... I had mice in my aviary. We found tunnels leading into the soil under my pavers. Then, the little things would squeeze though the small gaps between the pavers. The tunnels were quite big... Dad and I thought it was a rat or something BIG!!! But it was a family of little brown mice. Good luck with them. It sounds like a bub so you're bound to have Mum, Dad and lots more babies. I set traps and got rid of them pretty quick.

Must be more than one mouse....better set some traps tonight and see what you catch :hap:

Must be more than one mouse....better set some traps tonight and see what you catch :hap:

 

 

I was covinced that it was a rat so i brought a rat trap! Its huge i dont think i will catch any little mice in there? It is enough to scare them away though.

You mean you own birds and not a single mousetrap ? :hap:

You mean you own birds and not a single mousetrap ? :hap:

 

 

Yep and proud of it! Untill now! I have only seen one baby mouse and have never seen any evidence of it ever again in 2 years!!!! Again until now! Oh well i hope to get rid of it/them and keep it that way. I might just constantly have one of those catch and release traps set up just incase they ever come back?

Last night i set the rat trap and cought 2 mice in it! Yuck! But atleast they arnt harassing my budgies! I am sure there will be more to come.

Way to go missylu keep up the good work but get some mouse traps lol bunnings have some great ones

Great news on your catches. I am so relieve to hear that its probably just mice. I hope you catch them ALLLL

Great news on your catches. I am so relieve to hear that its probably just mice. I hope you catch them ALLLL

 

 

Me too! All night i had thoughts of what the rats would do to my babies if they got in..... But i am HAPPY that it is only mice i will buy some little mouse traps now hopefully i dont have any more because even though they are discusting it is still sad when you catch them.

I feel the same way, a few years back dad put a mouse trap in the safety door compartment of my old aviary and it caught a mouse, but by the rear end, when i got in there to feed the birds the poor thing was alive but with a snapped spine, i set it loose and it dragged it's back half which was all blue/purple/red along and looked so helpless and patheticly sad I ended up crying and backside up vomiting in the garden it made me feel that sick and guilty

I feel the same way, a few years back dad put a mouse trap in the safety door compartment of my old aviary and it caught a mouse, but by the rear end, when i got in there to feed the birds the poor thing was alive but with a snapped spine, i set it loose and it dragged it's back half which was all blue/purple/red along and looked so helpless and patheticly sad I ended up crying and backside up vomiting in the garden it made me feel that sick and guilty

 

 

Ohhhhh thats horrible! I think that is like the worst case scenario with a mouse trap! well when i went out today there was one stuck in the trap and another about a metre away just dead on the floor with no obvious signs of it too being hit with the trap unless it died of fright or a broken heart? What other methods is there though? You can catch them alive but then you have to either let them go or drown them anyway? I cant poison because of the dogs and the birds.

The dead one you saw nearby could have been due to a neighbours poison for mice.

With the exterminator i got in we had to deal with mice in the lovebird aviary aswell as rats attacking my cabinets.

He informed me that the bait he used can't kill my dogs unless they ate half their body weight.

All baits were put out of reach of animals and even if they did get them they wouldn't be killed.

For the mice he stuffed a piece down their little holes and they've all totally disappeared and the holes have not come back again once they were covered.

You need to becarful too, that your neighbours aren't using Baits ..... Best bet is to get thoses traps that Dave said " TOM CATS" and if they are still alove - doubt it though then drown them in water, Yeah they a little animals too but i am sure you'd prefer your birds to he healthy and Alive!

I dont think the neighbours have poisoned them because i was talking to them the other day and he asked me if i had had any mice problems and i said no i have only seen one and he said he hadnt seen any so????? I will put it down to a heart attack. Thanks libby i will see how they go if there is a constant flow of them i will consider a exterminator.I think the main reason they have come out is because next door to me is a vacant block and they have recently excavated and there was lots of trees and weeds so they were probably living in there.