Rat Proofing

Attention: This post is not about rat extermination, but caring for your home pet rat (yes, there are people out there that have such pets like hamsters, rats, mice, etc, lol) and this is a guest post written by one of my good friends Lary who runs a pest control guide website.

All rats love to roam and run outside from their holes or cages. What you have to do is to assign the area for them to run and play and make sure that your home is rat proofed. The rat proofing is same as child proofing, so that rats can not chew those items which are very expensive and even some of them risky for them too.

For rat proofing it is important to remove traps or poisons from your house. You have to cover all the wires because rats love to chew wires, television wires, compact disk player wires, telephone wires, speaker wires, and keyboard or mouse wires, actually any wire where they can reach. To prevent wire from the rats you may duck tape around wires because duck take is sticky and rats don’t like to touch duck tapes stick to rat’s teeth. Electrical tape are not effective here because they are not enough sticky to prevent it from rats. Even PVC tubes or vacuum tube may also use to prevent wire from the rats. Use screen to your which has no holes so that when you open your window then rat may not be able to get out.

Rats love to make hole or hide themselves in blanket which hang on the floor so take care and push that part of the blanket which spread on the floor so that you may not accidentally put your leg over your rat. Put all your medicines, pills, perfumes, lotions, soap, glue, and all other such type of material far from the reach of rats because they are curious and they each and everything where they may reach and specially those items which have some sort of smells. Always keep the toilet seat cover so that your rats didn’t jump in. Cover up all the gaps and wholes of your house so that a rat may not able to go outside of the house. To train a rat you may use spray bottle. Suppose if your rat is chewing something which you don’t want then hold him in your hand gently and push to the opposite direction and spray the water on them and said NO. By regularly doing this they get to know that when you said no then it means not to chew that thing.

Using plexi glass or cardboard blocked off those areas where you think that your rat should not go. Make specific area for rats and try to train them to move in that area only. For this training you may take use of spray bottle. By making specific area it become easy for you to clean that area and your rat will also safe from accident. Doors which are opening outside shut them immediately after using it so that no rats will run away. You may also use pepper in spray bottle water and spray that water on the curtain, carpet and also on furniture to prevent it from rat chewing. Always put your clothes out of reach from rats because rats love to make there nest and chewing up the piles of clothes. Don’t leave those items on floor which rats love to chew such as paper items, stuffed animals, clothes and toys.

Other animals such as cats and dogs may hurt your rats and your rat may also hurt hamsters and mice too. Try to put towels or small rugs under all the rat areas so rats don’t urinate on carpet. You may wash and change it whenever it is needed. Plants which you have in your home make sure that they should anti toxic, because rats love to chew plant’s leaf and even never use toxic fertilizers or plant chemicals. Never put garbage can in reach of rats because they love to jump over there and it may be possible that they hide themselves in bottom of the can and you just don’t know that they are in there. If wood trim is used in your house them it may be possible that the rats may chew them also. Remote buttons and mobile buttons are there favorite place to urinate and even to chew so always keep these things out of reach from the rats. So these are the simple steps of rat proofing.

Regards,
Peter Gryzunichu
Rat Extermination for Beginners