Rats hiding in Oven !! Please Help
Hi guys !
I’ve found myself in a bit of a tricky situation with my two female rats, Coco and Lola.
I’ve had them about a week and they are both relatively friendly and will sniff and touch my hands, but don’t like being picked up, especially Lola.
Last night, I was taking them out to put in their carrier crate while I clean the cage and Lola escaped and ran under the oven in the kitchen.
She was poking her head out and I was trying to lure her out with treats, but couldn’t get her out far enough to pick her up.
Eventually, I ended up moving the oven and couldn’t find her. I looked behind the back oven panel and saw a glimpse of her inside.
Again, I tried luring her out but nothing was working, so I moved the cage with coco and treats inside close to the bottom of the oven. I also slowly turned the oven on its side so that the bottom was exposed. A few days ago, I saw her actually be able to get into the cage from the outside by wiggling her body through the bars, but she’s never gotten out of the cage from the inside.
I left the cage next to the oven overnight, thinking she would wiggle back into the cage to get treats and rejoin Coco, but when I woke up this morning COCO HAD ESCAPED AND WENT INTO THE OVEN TOO.
There is evidence both of them were out in the kitchen bc there are food crumbs and a tea towel on the floor. I called for them and put some treats near the entrance of the oven, and both of them poked their heads out 😭😭
They are trying to take treats from my hands but not coming out far enough to grab them bc the bottom of the oven space is so tight.
If anyone has had a situation like this, please let me know what you ended up doing. Should I just wait until they come out again at night or should I call an oven technician to open the panels at the back and take them out ??
I know I need to add some additional wire on the cage so that they can’t both get out. Right now, I’m just worried about getting them both out because I think they think the oven is their new home 😭