rat problem

Archie'obrian · #1 (**permalink**) 01-01-2009, 01:46 AM

Hi first time user

We have been keeping rabbits and guinea pigs together in outdoor hutches,over last two three weeks we have spotted a couple of rats running back and forth from some woods at the back of our home,we put the animals indoors at night but out in hutches with runs during day time.today found one of the guinea pigs dead and looked as if it had been attacked!wondered if the rats could have done it and would they go for the others?keen wildlife lovers so can't use poison!any advice welcome

seamusagleann · #2 (**permalink**) 01-01-2009, 02:11 AM

hi archie welcome to wab and a happy new year!! i take it there are wounds on the guinea pig if so what size are they? i',ve kept guinea pigs too and left them outside in the summer ,taking them inside in the winter . outside they too were at the mercy of a thriving rat colony in a nearby river ,but i never had a problem!! , but then again i could not be certain that a rat would not atempt to do it. it would only be one rat ,contrary to belief they do not hunt in packs . as for the guinea pigs i don't keep them anymore .....i now keep ,wait for it!!! ...yes rats!!

Jez · #3 (**permalink**) 01-01-2009, 02:29 AM

Just a thought. How about watching out for the Rat/s? see where it/they come & go and place some food out for the Rat away from you Guinea Pig runs! I do this for squirrels to keep them from the bird feeders. You can buy humane traps but the problem you may face is once you release it back into the woods somewhere, the likely hood is it will probably end up back in your garden at square 1, and that then becomes a tedious & pointless chore doing the same thing over and over. But if it knows there's a little food to be had it could well leave the runs alone, and could save you the time of setting up a trap and having to trappes into the woods all of the time to release it/them. As I say it's just a thought!

Archie'obrian · #4 (**permalink**) 01-01-2009, 10:57 AM

Happy new year to all!

Thanks for the replies,the guinea pig was healthy and wound free and was with another one and a rabbit, also we have a few bird feeders so there is plenty of other food, just seen two swim across my pond(6ftx7ft)where we keep fish? Help!

Kayleigh · #5 (**permalink**) 01-01-2009, 12:03 PM

Hi Archie happy new year to you..and welcome to WAB..

Guinea pigs and rabbits shouldn't be kept together the rabbit is most likely to have killed the guinea pig rather than a rat..
We had rabbits and he used to kill mice by stamping on them..

demicav · #6 (**permalink**) 01-01-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Hi Archie happy new year to you..and welcome to WAB..

Guinea pigs and rabbits shouldn't be kept together the rabbit is most likely to have killed the guinea pig rather than a rat..
We had rabbits and he used to kill mice by stamping on them..

Yes that's right. It's not advisable to keep the two together. Although some may get on ok this is not the case for many of them and a Rabbit can injur a Guinea pig quite badly with their back legs. Many people are not aware of this though and even some pet shops house them together. I would certainly think this is a possibility for your Guinea although I'm sure a wild Rat would attack if the opportunity came up.

Kayleigh · #7 (**permalink**) 01-01-2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demicav

Yes that's right. It's not advisable to keep the two together. Although some may get on ok this is not the case for many of them and a Rabbit can injur a Guinea pig quite badly with their back legs. Many people are not aware of this though and even some pet shops house them together. I would certainly think this is a possibility for your Guinea although I'm sure a wild Rat would attack if the opportunity came up.

Yes but a rat would leave an external injury like Seamus said...
A rabbit would cause an internal injury..