Consequences of rats?

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carvoir

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We have had guinea pigs for about 9 months now (got 2 as babies), but we have recently moved house and we have rats in the garden. For the first few weeks I didnt' worry, but now I am thinking they are getting into the hutch and run. How can I tell? Do the poos look different? Would the guinea pigs be distressed by this - again how would I know? When I go out to them they seem much more squeaky than previously which I have taken as a sign of contentment to see me, but now I am wondering if they are trying to tell me something is amiss. I am not hugely intune with animals and we have the guineas for the children, but I have grown quite fond of them and obviously don't want any harm to come to them, but also not really sure what signs to look for should a rat be getting in and bothering them.
If a rat is getting in - is this a cause for concern - would it bite them and pass on diseases which in turn my children be then exposed to?
 
Welcome to the Forum!

It is a concern rats getting in to a hutch as they can kill piggies. Their poops are different @Squeakz will be able to tell you what a ratty poop looks like. Is your hutch on legs? If it is straight on to the ground it might be worth putting a false floor on it. This is what I did with my old hutch. I don't have a piccie of it but basically it was a piece of waterproof ply a bit larger than the hutch then a piece of floor insulation covered with a waterproof membrane then another piece of waterproof ply on top of that which the hutch sat on thus making it impossible for any rats to burrow underneath. I got the waterproof ply from jewsons (they cut it to fit) and my OH acquired a piece of floor insulation from an offcut (he works in the building trade). If you can't get hold of floor insulation just a couple of layers of waterproof ply will do under the hutch. Is your hutch predator proof? You could also put down rat poison just make sure your piggies DO NOT go anywhere near it.
 
Hi, I have kept rats before. Their poo is smaller than piggies but has rougher edges. GP poo is almost always smooth sides and rounded ends.. almost factory formed pellets, but rat poo has rougher edges. What a strange expertise I have !
 
Rats will chew through wood to get to food, they chewed up my run to the point where I nailed on metal strips to stop them getting through. So they dug underneath it instead.
Now I keep my pigs indoors so rats are no longer an issue but when the piggies were in the garden or the shed, rats were my constant enemy.
 
Thank you Betsy for your suggestion on keeping the rats out - we will do that this weekend. Thank you MikeC24 - I have carefully checked the poo and so far I can't find anything unfamiliar. Fingers crossed it was a one off - worrying if they chew through wood though - we haven't anywhere to keep them indoors so we have to win this battle.
 
MikeC24 said:
Hi, I have kept rats before. Their poo is smaller than piggies but has rougher edges. GP poo is almost always smooth sides and rounded ends.. almost factory formed pellets, but rat poo has rougher edges. What a strange expertise I have !
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Haha! Your special topic on Mastermind! :D
 
carvoir said:
Thank you Betsy for your suggestion on keeping the rats out - we will do that this weekend. Thank you MikeC24 - I have carefully checked the poo and so far I can't find anything unfamiliar. Fingers crossed it was a one off - worrying if they chew through wood though - we haven't anywhere to keep them indoors so we have to win this battle.
Click to expand...
How did you get on putting in your false floor?
 
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