getting rid of rats???

[princessparrot]

i've discovered that rats have been getting into the aviary that i was going to move a pair of princesses in

i just wanted to know what the safest way to get rid of them would be before i move my birds in.
im just worried about using poison baits and stuff, cause i dont want my babies to accidently eat some nor do i want them taken by rats

im just not sure what to do, cause i dont know where they're getting in cos the floor is cement, and they have been climbing on the wire and stuff

how do i safely get rid of them

[avinet]

Rats can be a problem - I occasionally get them around but I also have two cats who tend to keep the garden under control.

The first thing is to work out how they get in the aviary - rats are very good at squeezing through small gaps to look around the aviary very carefully. A suggestion is to take a torch to the aviary at night and see if a rat is in the aviary and if so,where it gets out.

My preference since you don't have bird sin the aviary yet would be to put down rat bait. I have found that mixing the bait pellets in with some lorikeet powder, which the rats seem to love, means that the bait gets eaten along with the lori food. After you are satisfied the rats are gone and the gaps are fixed, then the floor can be given a good clean and hosed out to remove any trace of poison.

cheers,

Mike