Devastated...found two babies dead!

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peasinapod

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Maybe you could put flour, soft sand or soft earth around the enclosure, so every animal that gets near it would leave tracks, this could help identify what animal did it.

I do not know if this works. :/

So sorry about your babies!
 

sunshine_hugs

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peasinapod said:
Maybe you could put flour, soft sand or soft earth around the enclosure, so every animal that gets near it would leave tracks, this could help identify what animal did it.

I do not know if this works. :/

So sorry about your babies!


I like this idea. We actually have bags of sand sitting in our yard right now! Perfect. We'll still set the traps, but this could help identify the predator, and set appropriate traps.


Jabuticaba said:
So sorry for your loss. I feel awful for you and your torts. They were so beautiful.


I just read the other posts and you mentioned possums, in the area. They can cause serious damage and they will kill small animals. When we lived in Brazil, our chicken coops had to be covered as well as lined with chicken wire, so the possums couldn't get in.




Hmm...I know we have possums nearby, as I've seen them in our mango trees. All of our fruit trees are done producing right now, so maybe it's a hungry possum.
 

animalfreak

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I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am to hear that. I'm a huge animal lover and hearing this was just terrible. I hope you find the culprit and the rest of your little shelled friends are okay! So sorry! And don't blame yourself it will just make matters worse!
 

sunshine_hugs

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animalfreak said:
I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am to hear that. I'm a huge animal lover and hearing this was just terrible. I hope you find the culprit and the rest of your little shelled friends are okay! So sorry! And don't blame yourself it will just make matters worse!


Thank you so much. The rest of my little guys are still coming inside at night. We have more traps set tonight, with meat as bait, so we shall see.

I'm also a huge animal lover, and feel guilty for setting traps to kill an animal that was just doing what comes natural....BUT I can't have anything hurting my torts...it's also my job to protect them.

I'm trying to move on from blaming myself, but it's difficult not to. I still feel that I should have prevented it somehow. :( But thank you...maybe it's just part of the grieving process.

I'm just so thankful to be able to share on here, as most of my real life friends think I'm a little nuts when it comes to my tortoise love...hahaha. I think it's something you can't understand until you love a tortoise (or several of them). :)


charleylilley said:
I'm so sorry :'( good luck to you and rip r & g


Thank you.
 

animalfreak

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sunshine_hugs said:
animalfreak said:
I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am to hear that. I'm a huge animal lover and hearing this was just terrible. I hope you find the culprit and the rest of your little shelled friends are okay! So sorry! And don't blame yourself it will just make matters worse!


Thank you so much. The rest of my little guys are still coming inside at night. We have more traps set tonight, with meat as bait, so we shall see.

I'm also a huge animal lover, and feel guilty for setting traps to kill an animal that was just doing what comes natural....BUT I can't have anything hurting my torts...it's also my job to protect them.

I'm trying to move on from blaming myself, but it's difficult not to. I still feel that I should have prevented it somehow. :( But thank you...maybe it's just part of the grieving process.

I'm just so thankful to be able to share on here, as most of my real life friends think I'm a little nuts when it comes to my tortoise love...hahaha. I think it's something you can't understand until you love a tortoise (or several of them). :)


charleylilley said:
I'm so sorry :'( good luck to you and rip r & g


Thank you.



I wouldn't let the traps get to you too much because having owning one before myself tortoises do become your pride and joy!! I don't think people know how much personality a tort can really have! :p
 

sunshine_hugs

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We caught something!! I'm not sure if I'm supposed to continue to post on this thread, or start a new one.

We had several traps baited with meat last night, and caught something in the trap that we set exactly where I found Riddle eaten. It appears to be a mouse, but could be a baby rat...I don't know much about these things. I did take pictures, but not sure where to post, as the mouse / rat is dead and I don't want to upset anyone who's not expecting to see a dead animal.

If it is a mouse, maybe it could still be the culprit, as it wanted the meat in our trap (I don't think this is common for a mouse). So, it's still possible that Riddle died from another cause, and the mouse fed on her (I can't see a mouse actually killing her)...and then maybe Gruffalo fed on her and was poisoned or something.

Size wise, this could be what ate Riddle. I'm not satisfied enough to return the other torts to their pen. I will continue to set traps for a while, and see what happens.

I'm also reworking their pen. I've pulled up all the weeds / plants incase there was something toxic in there, and I'm redoing their sleep box. Even once I do put the rest of the torts back in their big pen, I will probably continue to bring them inside at night for a while.

Just wanted to share the news. :)
 

sunshine_hugs

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I will definitely still be keeping the traps out. We have mouse traps, rat traps, and my gardener put out live traps for possums (might sound gross, but they eat them here).

Here's what we caught....





I can't help but to feel bad for killing it. It was the size of a mouse (about 4" not counting the tail), but I can't tell if it's a mouse or baby rat.
 

sissyofone

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I do believe thats a rat. Its a bit big for a mouse. Imo And i feel the same way about killing anything. But i understand that sometimes, you just half to. :(
 

diaboliqueturtle

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I'm so so very sorry for your loss :-(
I'll add my 2 cents in that I lost 3 babies to a rat, and it went about it the same way you described, going for the soft parts. The rat was right there so there's no question as to who the culprit was.
On feeling guilty about setting traps, I feed pinkies to my red foot and every time, I have a thought about my lost babies. Not sure exactly what that says about me though...


But it's part of the food chain too. They wouldn't hesitate to eat baby rats or mice if they came across a nest. Of course, none of that takes the pain of this loss away. 20 odd years later I still get teary eyed over them.
 

sunshine_hugs

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sissyofone said:
I do believe thats a rat. Its a bit big for a mouse. Imo And i feel the same way about killing anything. But i understand that sometimes, you just half to. :(

Good to know. And I agree, it just has to be done. Next time I'll try to get my hubby to empty the trap though. :p


diaboliqueturtle said:
I'm so so very sorry for your loss :-(
I'll add my 2 cents in that I lost 3 babies to a rat, and it went about it the same way you described, going for the soft parts. The rat was right there so there's no question as to who the culprit was.
On feeling guilty about setting traps, I feed pinkies to my red foot and every time, I have a thought about my lost babies. Not sure exactly what that says about me though...


But it's part of the food chain too. They wouldn't hesitate to eat baby rats or mice if they came across a nest. Of course, none of that takes the pain of this loss away. 20 odd years later I still get teary eyed over them.




Thanks for your input. Sorry you had to lose babies the same way...it's awful.

I worked on their pen all day. I let the yearlings back in there to graze, but only while I was in there with them (it also doubles as my herb / veggie garden)....they are hating the small bin they're in. We're getting the supplies for a secure (solid walls) sleep box, so hopefully I'll be able to at least put the yearlings back soon.
 

Yvonne G

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I think rats have smaller ears than that. And they have a more sinister-looking face.
 

SANDRA_MEISSNEST

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Dont feel sad,look u lost 2 babies. And u can loose more if u dont kill the one who did it.
So keep doing what u doing
Sent from my ZTE N9120 using TortForum mobile app
 

WillTort2

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Info from About .com

The Tale of the Tape for Common Rat and Mouse Adults:

Norway Rat: Heavy and Thick body, weigh 11 ounces or 300 grams
Roof Rat: Light and Slender Body, weigh 7 ounces or 200 grams
House Mouse: Small Head, Small Feet, weigh 0.5 ounce or 15 grams

Snout Shape of Common Rat and Mouse Adults:

Norway Rat: Blunt
Roof Rat: Pointed
House Mouse: Pointed

Ear Size and Hair of Common Rat and Mouse Adults:

Norway Rat: Short, Dark Hairs
Roof Rat: Large, No Hair
House Mouse: Large, Some Hair

Tail Coloration of Common Rat and Mouse Adults:

Norway Rat: Dark Above, Pale Underneath
Roof Rat: All Dark
House Mouse: All Dark

Fur Color and Characteristics of Common Rat and Mouse Adults:

Norway Rat: Brown with Black Shading, Shaggy Coat
Roof Rat; Grey with Black Shading, Smooth Coat
House Mouse: Light Brown with Grey Shading
Shape of Common Rat and Mouse Adult Feces or Droppings:

Norway Rat: Capsule-Shaped
Roof Rat: Spindle-Shaped
House Mouse: Rod-Shaped

Daily Food Requirements of Common Adult Rats and Mice:

Norway Rat: 1 ounce or 28 grams
Roof Rat: 1 ounce or 28 grams
House Mouse: 0.1 ounce or 3 grams

Nest Locations of Common Adult Rats and Mice:

Norway Rat: Burrows, mostly
Roof Rat: Walls, Attics, Trees
House Mouse: Stored material

Litter Size and Frequency of Common Adult Rats and Mice:

Norway Rat: 8-12, 7 Litters per Year
Roof Rat: 6-8, 8 Litters per Year
House Mouse: 6-7, 8-10 Litters per Year

********************************

My guess would be the Roof Rat based on description above. There could be other varieties of mice and rats also.
 

Kim444

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While I do understand your need to capture whatever it is that killed your torts, even if you trap and kill 5 rats, who is to say more won't appear. All it takes is one night without a trap and it could happen again. Can you section off a place to leave them overnight with a protective cover, like metal screening. I know rats can't chew through metal.
 

Irish

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You have a good heart. I am more callous; when it comes to vermin roaches & ants-they all must die. Mice are dumb. Coming back to the same spot expecting food again fits but that is true of many animals. I think you should keep the traps out. Rats or mice- where you see 1 there are plenty more. Wood is not much of a barrier for them. Fortify methodically.
 
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