rats in garden - affecting rabbits?

For the past fortnight my mam has seen a rat running around the garden occassionally and I've just seen him this morning. He comes quite close to the run and could get inside if he tried, but he didn't come close and have a look which I think he would have done if he had found food in the run before.

After Honey had to be put to sleep about 8 weeks ago my rabbits were mourning and being quite miserable, I was quite worried as it lasted about 6 weeks. It seemed to get better then worse again, could they now be staying in their hutch because of the rat?

I don't want to get the rat blokes out to kill the rat because I've kept pet rats for years and this little rat looks really well and healthy, but we're going to have to get him 'removed' aren't we?

pet rats are totally different to wild rats as they carry allsorts of diseases , I would definately get rid of it. As I took some guinea pigs in last year whose ears had been chewed off by rats

deffo get rid of the rat. My aunty lost 3 of her shed rabbits to rats I live near a railway line so we have to be extra careful with making sure food etc isnt left lying

kayj said:

pet rats are totally different to wild rats as they carry allsorts of diseases , I would definately get rid of it. As I took some guinea pigs in last year whose ears had been chewed off by rats

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Wild rabbits are totally different to pet rabbits but I can't see many people on here supporting "getting rid" of them :?

Firstly, you can target the ones in the area with humane traps. Make sure you release the rat a couple of miles away, and try to do it in an area that they're likely to set up home in - somewhere with lots of trees/bushes, near a stream/pond which will give them a water source.
Secondly, you need to stop what's attracting them. Wild animals will only live where life is easiest - if there's a food and water source, and somewhere safe and warm to sleep, they'll like it and want to live there!
It may be something like a bit of spilt food from the rabbits, rubbish bags left out, food put out for the birds etc - try to eliminate every possibility, even talking to neighbours if they feed the birds.
Cut back any overgrown bushes or plants, to get rid of hideyholes for nests or boltholes. If you have a shed they could burrow under, try blocking it up or putting broken glass underneath it to deter them - just note that if you block it up you'll need vents or mesh or something so you don't completely eliminate the airflow that will be preventing damp in the shed. Ditto to decking or anything they could live under. Mothballs are supposedly a deterrent to rats too.
In the meantime, you could provide a bit more security to the buns by an extra layer of mesh over the hutch door and run, so that noses can't get bitten by a curious rat, cover the corners (anywhere a rat can get it's teeth in to chew) with mesh or metal, and feeding pellets/fresh food during the day rather than the evening, as rats are less likely to be out and about in daylight. If the run is just on grass, I'd consider laying mesh underneath it too to stop rats digging in

If you go and get the rat 'disposed of', you'll only get the same problem once a new set of rats find whatever attracted the first lot.

Wild rabbits are totally different to pet rabbits but I can't see many people on here supporting "getting rid" of them

Maybe not but that is a whole different topic and we have our own opinions on those issues, I don't agree with poisoning them that is for sure. Apparently there as been a huge increase in rats since the councils introduced the green boxes for reycling or that is what was on the local news where we are.

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Yeah serious rats are so disease ridden try to get rid of it humanely or think about taking your buns inside as things like this may always occur in the future. We had a rat in the garden once my dog chased it round the garden haha

kerry-123 said:

We had a rat in the garden once my dog chased it round the garden haha

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Would it be funny if your dog was chasing wild rabbits? :?

kerry-123 said:

Yeah serious rats are so disease ridden try to get rid of it humanely or think about taking your buns inside as things like this may always occur in the future. We had a rat in the garden once my dog chased it round the garden haha

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Rats aren't really any more disease ridden than other wild animals - leptospirosis (Weil's disease) is probably the one most associated with wild rats but this disease isn't just limited to rats - foxes, mice, hedgehogs, squirrels, rabbits amphibians and livestock (and more) can all carry it , and it can be passed on in water too (from the urine of any of the above)
Wild rabbits are more of a risk, with myxi and VHD to pass on.

I think there was a bit of confusion over wild rabbits and wild rats, I only mentioned a wild rat

Thanks for the info. Since my parents got an allotment they have really neglected the garden so being overgrown could have contributed as you said. We're going to fix up the run and make it more secure too, some of it is covered by that chicken wire with larger holes so we're covering it with 1cm holed wire over the top.

I would try a humane trap or 2 in the garden. or if you have a very tall bin you can set the min trap up. Ive done this when i had wild rats in my house and caught 2 :shock:

Yeh cutting back bushes etc.. helps, making sure no bun food is left out and the rabbit area is swept and kept as clean as possible.

If you have cat litter tray or can knows any one who uses one you can tip the dirty contents round your garden to deter them also.

neeshkabeesh said:

I think there was a bit of confusion over wild rabbits and wild rats, I only mentioned a wild rat

Thanks for the info. Since my parents got an allotment they have really neglected the garden so being overgrown could have contributed as you said. We're going to fix up the run and make it more secure too, some of it is covered by that chicken wire with larger holes so we're covering it with 1cm holed wire over the top.

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Sorry didn't mean you had, I was just comparing how people on here would react if it was a wild rabbit people were suggesting you "disposed" of

The family I work for has no food sources but still get rats they have 4 humane traps and catch about 3 or 4 rats a week still, they live near an old cemetry !!!

Don't poison rats, as the poison then enters the food chain.
We have rats in our garden, but they don't seem to disturb the bunnies. Their enclosures are rat proof (we know this as the rats were burrowing under but never getting in). We have now stopped the burrowing under as well.
I don't see how you can get rid really, as they will always be around.

I had rats in our garden, and our neighbors garden, I thought at first it would be okay but then they got more and more and then braver and braver, coming up to the house, getting into the pens with the bunnies, and their hutches, the bunnies started freaking out, and I honestly thought they would start biting them, humane traps never worked, they were too clever, I hate the idea of killing any animal and I couldn't cope with it, but it got so bad I wasn't going to risk my bunnies either, so we called a professional, and he cleared the garden and our neighbors garden for us, it didn't cost much, I never had to be a part of it. Sometimes the health risk becomes to high, and if it would have carried on we would of been over run, and my rabbits would probably be dead, so sometimes you just have accept what needs to be done, and get it done.

Help! Rats and mice have moved in!

I have three house Bunnies, One is a year old and the other two are only 9 weeks, i recently noticed rats in the garden after the bird food and now it seems thay have found thier way inside the house along with what can either be small rats or mice but the larger ones are huge! This morning whilst petting my Bunny i heard something huge scrambling around under my book case. I REALLY dont want to poison them as I dont agree with causing any kind of suffering to any thing at all but i am very concerned for my beloved pets.
I heard that peppermint oil is a deterent if positioned near the places and areas they go to... has anyone any ideas at all? Im starting to panic. They havent hurt my bunnies so far but Im guessing it could just be a matter of time.
There is no where visible to suggest an entrance or exit for them either so i cant block up what i cant see.
Help!!!

The best way of 'getting rid' of rats and mice is to remove anything that may be attracting them - whether that be food stored in open bags, bird food, containers in the garden with water in them, a nice warm compost heap to sleep in etc... Rats in particular are creatures of habit and tend to use the same routes around your garden, using the same sources of food and water - so if you remove these, they will move on. More often than not if you don't remove the things that are tempting them, more will keep on coming. Prevention is better than cure as they say

neeshkabeesh said:

I think there was a bit of confusion over wild rabbits and wild rats, I only mentioned a wild rat

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Nope you didn't confuse anyone I don't think Someone just seemed to find it funny that their dog was chasing a rat around their garden and I honestly just wondered if they would laugh if it was another wild animal thats generally considered cuter and not diseased, like a rabbit