Blasted Rats.........I think !!

[Viraba]

Hey Guys,
You may remember my previous photos of the 3 r/fronted yellow turqs. Well they'r e OK however, I've had to move them away from Mum & Dad as the parents have just hatched another 2 chicks and Dad was getting agro about them being around.

Due to a lack of larger avairy space I placed these guys in temporary quarters of a large 'tiel cage (approx 750 x 750 x 900 ) The other night I disturbed a rat climbing along the rafters near their cage and all three were lying low on the cage floor. After a better look the next morning I noticed that 1 of them had wounds around the neck/ head area and was very docile. All's well at the moment but I have a couple of questions:

1) Would rats attack these guys even though they're in the cage and of adult size ?

2) OR.......are they starting to have a go at each other given that I've moved them to smaller quarters ??

I suspect the first......ie rat attack... if this is the case should I be doing anything in regards to limiting the chances of infection ( creams or powders ??) or just let the bird fight it himself. He's eating OK and still getting into his fruit/ vegies etc and the wounds were a little swollen and red but have now settled down.

What do you think ??

Cheers
Viraba

p.s...........now on broadband and this site fairly flies when loading !!! Well done John, I can even get on to the chat room now !

[lovemytiels]

Hi Viraba, Sorry to hear about your birds. Sounds to me if the birds were at the bottom of the cage they were scared senseless. As to who did the damage rats or each other it would be hard to say. The birds could have done it to themselves if they were scared & started flapping around the cage madly, hence the injuries. For any injuries to birds my avaian vet recommends putting Betnadine on the injuies to stop any infection straight away. If it is a bit red & swollen but they are still eating then hopefully infection hasn't set in but get that Betnadine on it ASAP. Poor little buggers, mice are bad enough but rats yuk. Do keep a close eye on them though & if they don't get better get them to your avaian vet to check them over as rat bites are even nastier than mice. Hope the get better soon. Cheers Anna

[Viraba]

One to the good guys !!!!!!!!! exit 1 rat this morning....who know how many more to go

The bird that was injured has made a good recovery so far but is still a bit 'jumpy' if you walk past the cage at night. Don't blame him........ugly looking things.

Does anybody have a good rodent protection routine that they'd like to share with us ?? I've been using poisons to get to the areas behind cupboards and ceilings but really don't like doing that. Has anybody had any success with those 'sonic' type repellent devices ??

Cheers

Viraba

[lovemytiels]

Hi Viraba, good to hear the bird is making good recovery. Have you got something to cover the cage at night time, as this will calm the birds down. Don't blame the poor thing from being jumpy as I would be too. We had a mice infestation & all we could too is rotate the different brands of bait around as the nasty little critters get use to the 1 bait. I think we are finally winning. we also found that if we make sure the area where they cages are have no food around it & take the seed out at night time, it deters these nasty little buggers as they are looking for a free feed. Just perserve & if you see the rat, have a shovel ready to bang it on the head Cheers Anna