Habitat - Outdoor :: Dead rat found in my pond

[brewcrew70]

Today I found a dead rat in the pond, at the bottom, with it's mouth open and teeth showing. I have "lost" 4 turtles in the last month. All were about 4-5 inches. It was a mystery as why they have been disappearing, until this morning. Last night I thought something was weird because my dog never came in to sleep in his bed. I think he was guarding the pond and eventually drowned the rat. Tomato plants have been knocked over and broke, so I know he was around the pond. How do I protect my last turtle. Should I bring it back indoors. Should I put out some poison or traps? This is quite frustrating. These rats may have chased off other turtles that I had in the past. I never could understand why they would leave. They must have been eaten. We love these turtles and was considering getting another one, but I felt like a terrible turtle owner, so never did. Now that I know the source of there disappearance how can I protect them. Anyone have some ideas as what to do. I also have 100's of guppies swimming around in there. Come to think of it, my goldfish or koi have also just disappeared. I thought the turtles ate them. Please help me resolve this issue.

[jenaero]

Rats can do a surprising amount of damage to turtles. Opossums, cats, racoons are also dangerous. I've even heard of large birds/hawks taking turtles out of ponds.

Several members on this forum have outdoor habitats. If you search a bit you'll find pics and get some ideas on how to make yours predator-proof.

I wouldn't use poison in case your turtle accidentally happens upon it.

Sorry for your losses.

[brewcrew70]

Thank you for the help. We also have 2 cats. But I am sure they are not the culprits. After more investigating the area around the pond, there is 2 paw prints, not my dogs...too small. My cat was doing it's job and drowned that rat. I have been praising the dog all morning with special treats and lots of good boys.....lol. I did try to search for pics to predator-proof my pond, but with no luck. The pics I did find here are amazing!! The only ones I found to be predator-proof are indoors.
I don't see how it's even possible to keep a rat away, expect traps. Maybe an enclosed area where only a rat can get it. Or even if the trap happens to be the cat.
The cat worked only 1 out of at least 3 times, but I'm sure the rats had a few more escapes. Keep in mind this rat was not a small rat. It was the size of a 16oz bottle of water and prob very fast.
It really angers me knowing how these turtle died. I hatched these 4 from incubation. My wife and I named them after a famous turtle movie TMNT. I'm not about to let these things take 1 more turtle.

[marisa]

I wouldn't use poison, because even if your turtle doesn't ingest it, another animal probably would, and any animal that found it and ate it would also be poisoned.

I've kept my turtles out in stock tanks for a few summers now, and at night I cover the tanks with screens. If your pond is built into the ground and you can't use screens, pond netting would at least help dissuade predators. Fences help, but rodents can get into some very small spaces. Having the surface covered by plants like water hyacinths would give your turtle places to hide.

Sorry to hear you lost your turtles.

[turtletex]

Sorry to hear about that. Remedy tho- Im a night owl, a damm good shot, but very expensive!lol