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I have my rodent trays outdoors where wild rats can steal their food. The food simply sits on top of the wire mesh and the captive rodents eat it through the wire. What do you outdoor rodent breeders do to prevent theft from wild rats? Thanks in advance.
BTW, the trays are cement mixing tubs for the rats and kitty litter trays for the mice.
Personally I'd live trap the wild rats and use them as feeders. I suppose there IS some risk of disease though. Otherwise set out rat poison or move the racks inside.
Quig
Here's a simple solution that I came up with to take care of that same problem.
Cut a board to go from front to back or side to side of each tray. Cut the board about 1/16 - 1/8 inch longer than needed so it can be wedged in place.
Cut a piece of plywood or heavy board the length & width needed to cover the feed area, fill up the area with feed & place the board over it. (See photos below)
When I built my rack I ripped 2 x 4s in half so each tray's frame extends 1 1/4 inch above the screen. After putting a decent layer of feed in my feed area the 3/4 inch OSB board I use as a cover still sits within that frame, making it harder for wild/stray rats to lift it up & get to the feed. You can always weight the cover board down with somehting.
With a 1:3 ratio of rats, and their babies, I only have to refill my trays about once every 5 days or so.
Yell if you've got any questions.
Take care!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American
the darn wild rats then chewed through the edges of my tubs to get at the food.
IMO the best solutiong is to enclose the tub racks in a larger enclosure. Could be a frame with hardware cloth. Anything that will keep the wild rats away from the rack(s) to start with.
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Thanks,
Dave Colling
www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders 
lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats 
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