A Warning About Rats Even INDOORS

[nootnootbu]

I have had a horrible tragedy. I want to share my story so that some other people's tortoises might be saved.

This week, a rat, or possibly multiple rats, came inside my home and attacked my tortoises. My little Russian Tortoise died in the attack and one of my redfoots died shortly after, despite veterinary intervention. I have one redfoot left fighting for his life, and one with a minor injury that's expected to recover.

Please understand, there were no signs of rats in my home. No obvious chewing, no rat droppings. This happened suddenly, without me even knowing rats had come inside. There are STILL no obvious signs other than the brutal attacks on my animals. Of course, I have taken measures to remove the rats now, but it's too little, too late for my lost babies.

Going forward, I will be keeping all of my tortoises in enclosures with wire mesh lids, to prevent anything like this happening again. You think about providing this defense for outdoor tortoises, but you never expect your indoor tortoise enclosures to be susceptible to predators.

I'm devastated by this sudden and unexpected loss. I hope nobody else has to go through this.

 

[Tom]

I have had a horrible tragedy. I want to share my story so that some other people's tortoises might be saved.

This week, a rat, or possibly multiple rats, came inside my home and attacked my tortoises. My little Russian Tortoise died in the attack and one of my redfoots died shortly after, despite veterinary intervention. I have one redfoot left fighting for his life, and one with a minor injury that's expected to recover.

Please understand, there were no signs of rats in my home. No obvious chewing, no rat droppings. This happened suddenly, without me even knowing rats had come inside. There are STILL no obvious signs other than the brutal attacks on my animals. Of course, I have taken measures to remove the rats now, but it's too little, too late for my lost babies.

Going forward, I will be keeping all of my tortoises in enclosures with wire mesh lids, to prevent anything like this happening again. You think about providing this defense for outdoor tortoises, but you never expect your indoor tortoise enclosures to be susceptible to predators.

Thank you for sharing this. Many of us have experienced this. Sorry for your loss and I hope your injured one survives.

I don't like open topped enclosures, so I prefer to use closed chambers instead of wire tops on open tables, but both accomplish the same which is protecting the tortoise from this sort of thing. After you get them covered, then all you have to worry about is ants. Those damn fire ants...

 

[nootnootbu]

Thank you for sharing this. Many of us have experienced this. Sorry for your loss and I hope your injured one survives.

I don't like open topped enclosures, so I prefer to use closed chambers instead of wire tops on open tables, but both accomplish the same which is protecting the tortoise from this sort of thing. After you get them covered, then all you have to worry about is ants. Those damn fire ants...

Yeah, we have fire ants too, but thankfully only outside, and the obvious hills make them easy to poison.

The only ants that come inside my home are the sugar ants, and luckily they don't bother the torts.

I will probably eventually upgrade to closed chambers, though I worry even those are susceptible to a rat chewing in.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

Rats are terrible.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I have had a horrible tragedy. I want to share my story so that some other people's tortoises might be saved.

This week, a rat, or possibly multiple rats, came inside my home and attacked my tortoises. My little Russian Tortoise died in the attack and one of my redfoots died shortly after, despite veterinary intervention. I have one redfoot left fighting for his life, and one with a minor injury that's expected to recover.

Please understand, there were no signs of rats in my home. No obvious chewing, no rat droppings. This happened suddenly, without me even knowing rats had come inside. There are STILL no obvious signs other than the brutal attacks on my animals. Of course, I have taken measures to remove the rats now, but it's too little, too late for my lost babies.

Going forward, I will be keeping all of my tortoises in enclosures with wire mesh lids, to prevent anything like this happening again. You think about providing this defense for outdoor tortoises, but you never expect your indoor tortoise enclosures to be susceptible to predators.

I'm devastated by this sudden and unexpected loss. I hope nobody else has to go through this.

I experienced the same issue in my garage. It is truly horrible.

 

[nootnootbu]

I experienced the same issue in my garage. It is truly horrible.

I had no idea I needed to worry about this inside, or I would have done better. I feel really awful about this. Franklin, the Russian, was my first ever tortoise and the one that sparked my love of torts.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I see rats on my security cameras every night. They use the powerlines for a freeway and come down into the yard via fruit trees and palm trees. I've also seen a few rat carcasses from rats that my Redfoot have chowed down on during the night.
However, I've never had a rat bother with any of my tortoises or I'd have traps set every evening.
I wonder if it's the type of rat or just the abundance of other foods.
I did notice a lot more activity the week my wife fed my group some corn on the cob. I'm not doing that again. And I don't leave out any OTHER food that any rat might like.

 

[nootnootbu]

I think fully adult red foots are pretty safe from them. They often see rats as prey instead of being scared of them. Though I think there is a post on here somewhere where an adult redfoot had the fronts of their legs chewed up by rats. My poor red foots are juveniles though, and didn't have a chance. And my poor Russian was a tiny boy, about 4 inches.

I do think this is a very large rat that is the culprit, but I have not caught it yet. I tried rat sized sticky traps and it just carried them off! I'm going to try a live trap and/or snap traps. I've already put out poison, but it doesn't seem to be taking it.

 

[wellington]

Wow, that's scary they got in your house. Rats don't scare me, but in my house, I may have burnt the house down lol.
So very sorry this happened, how horrible for all of you.
I have rats that gets in my chicken coop.and tortoise shed. I think because there is always food of some sort in both areas, the rats have never bothered my tortoises.
I think that's the trick, if there is a possibility of rats. Yes, it draws them too, but, I think because of the heated shed in winter and the fact they can dig their holes where it doesn't rain in them, they would show up anyway.

 

[Tom]

I think fully adult red foots are pretty safe from them.

Sadly, this is not correct. They will chew up 150lb sulcatas that are sleeping at night. Why the tortoises don't simply smash them or move, I will never understand.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

Sadly, this is not correct. They will chew up 150lb sulcatas that are sleeping at night. Why the tortoises don't simply smash them or move, I will never understand.

It's the same thing with chickens. During the day the chickens will tear them to shreds at night they will let rats chew their legs off.

Horrible little things!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I think fully adult red foots are pretty safe from them. They often see rats as prey instead of being scared of them. Though I think there is a post on here somewhere where an adult redfoot had the fronts of their legs chewed up by rats. My poor red foots are juveniles though, and didn't have a chance. And my poor Russian was a tiny boy, about 4 inches.

I do think this is a very large rat that is the culprit, but I have not caught it yet. I tried rat sized sticky traps and it just carried them off! I'm going to try a live trap and/or snap traps. I've already put out poison, but it doesn't seem to be taking it.

Be careful with that rat poison. Any creatures that might make a meal of a poisoned rat will also be potentially poisoned.
Traps are the way to go.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I had no idea I needed to worry about this inside, or I would have done better. I feel really awful about this. Franklin, the Russian, was my first ever tortoise and the one that sparked my love of torts.

I'm in southern California and all the palm trees and their fruit subsidize the rats. I'm nor sure how they transferred their hunger to baby tortoises. Once they do, it's now a 'normal' part of the diet. They got in my lower attic. I set off about 24 bug bombs in that closed off space, that worked. The garage I used traps, and my cat nailed two. I love my cat.

 

[EveryDay1027]

Rats are absolutely terrible beings. They are relentless, as mentioned, especially during the night hours! I am very sorry to hear of this happening, especially out of the blue, with no signs of any rats until that day. What sized wire mesh generally is safe to use for lids (I was thinking a 30 x 30 mesh from here - Wire Mesh )? After reading this story, I am going to cover all enclosures TODAY! asap. We are getting pelted with rain here in NJ, and I know that stirs up pest activity.

I am sorry for your losses - but truly appreciate the post as a warning.

 

[TammyJ]

If at all possible, all enclosures should of course be rat proof. With large outdoor enclosures, this becomes a challenge!

 

[LudusPlus]

So sorry this happened

I don't have a garden at the moment (I have a small balcony) but this makes me terrified to ever make an outdoor enclosure because I live in a very rat infested city. Even when I lived 30 mins out of the city center I'd see rats every single day in and out of bushes, and I see them now on my way to work every day. Almost every house I have rented here has become victim to mice infestations, too.

Luckily my indoor enclosure is closed, and I think when I upgrade I'll keep it that way.

Again, so sorry for your loss and I hope your other tortoise pulls through ):

 

[nootnootbu]

Rats are absolutely terrible beings. They are relentless, as mentioned, especially during the night hours! I am very sorry to hear of this happening, especially out of the blue, with no signs of any rats until that day. What sized wire mesh generally is safe to use for lids (I was thinking a 30 x 30 mesh from here - Wire Mesh )? After reading this story, I am going to cover all enclosures TODAY! asap. We are getting pelted with rain here in NJ, and I know that stirs up pest activity.

I am sorry for your losses - but truly appreciate the post as a warning.

I use the type that is also called "hardware cloth" the holes are too small for them to get their heads through. I used to use it to build rat cages when I kept fancy pet rats, so I know it's rat proof. I have not had any pet rats for many years now, but they do make lovely pets. I hate what happened, but I can't bring myself to hate rats, at least not the domestic ones.

 

[nootnootbu]

So sorry this happened

I don't have a garden at the moment (I have a small balcony) but this makes me terrified to ever make an outdoor enclosure because I live in a very rat infested city. Even when I lived 30 mins out of the city center I'd see rats every single day in and out of bushes, and I see them now on my way to work every day. Almost every house I have rented here has become victim to mice infestations, too.

Luckily my indoor enclosure is closed, and I think when I upgrade I'll keep it that way.

Again, so sorry for your loss and I hope your other tortoise pulls through ):

If you do build an outdoor enclosure just make sure to use wire mesh that is metal they cannot chew, with holes too small for them to get through.

 

[nootnootbu]

An UPDATE for anyone interested.
My two injured red feets are still hanging in there. The less injured one is nearly fully recovered. The badly injured one still has a ways to go, but he is able to move about on his own and is back to eating again.

I have been giving them carrot puree in their warm water soaks. Does anyone know of anything else that might help speed healing that could be added to their soaks? Any other vitamins or anything that would be safe for them to drink/absorb?

 

[Megatron's Mom]

An UPDATE for anyone interested.
My two injured red feets are still hanging in there. The less injured one is nearly fully recovered. The badly injured one still has a ways to go, but he is able to move about on his own and is back to eating again.

I have been giving them carrot puree in their warm water soaks. Does anyone know of anything else that might help speed healing that could be added to their soaks? Any other vitamins or anything that would be safe for them to drink/absorb?

Non flavoured Pedialyte is good.