House mouse problem - any ideas/ experiences?

[lauraboara]

Have a house mouse living in wall cavity. Very keen to get to guinea pig food and bird food(in a sealed plastic containers now!). Guinea pigs live indoors and I have 2 children also so cannot really continue with mouse in house. Disease risk etc. Planning to seal up various holes in wall but need to deal with mouse first.

Not keen on traps that kill or poison at all. Humane traps have so far been completely unsuccessful in catching mouse/mice. I know that some people use a plug in device that emits an electronic pulse to deter mice BUT presume this would also drive guinea pigs wild? Any useful tips of how to deal with this safely? Thanks.

 

[*Nibbles&Nugget*]

Those plug in devices do work but they upset guinea pigs a lot. My friend used one and her piggies were running into the cage walls, it was horrible. My best advice would have to be the humane ones baited with peanut butter or cheap chocolate, we caught one in our house like that. Unfortunately the poor little thing was so frightened it actually died anyway. Aside from that seal any sort of food sorce, they can nibble through plastic bags and fit through holes the size of biro. They are crafty little .

Hope you can sort this problem soon!

Amy
x

 

[MargaretB]

We used to have mice before we had a new kitchen and my OH made humane traps which worked very well and we took them out to the woods to release them. Peanut butter always worked well. I think if you make sure any food is sealed in plastic containers, then they will probably leave once they realise their food source has dried up. They don't actually carry disease although if you have young children then for hygene reasons you would have to make sure that they didn't touch the droppings or contaminated food stuff etc. I don't mind them. I think they're sweet.

 

[SophRuss5]

Hi, house mice can actually carry diseases and as they are incontinent pretty much wee as they walk! It's best to fill holes and get a humane trap, chocolate works as the best lure!

 

[Hanwombat]

We currently have house mice under our floorboards, last summer they were actually in the bedroom, we tried non killing traps for months and didnt work so sadly in the end we had to use humane traps :/

 

[Pepperdog]

sadly the quickest and most effective way to get rid of mice (or rats) is a combination of poison and traps baited with apple sauce (the runnier the better and yes coated on the poison). But you must be sure that the mice dont get into the pigs at all as they could excrete the poison which will also harm the pigs. I have never found humane traps to be effective and they will come back inside or their neighbours will take over where they left off.

Block any gaps with wire wool - they cannot chew through this, reduce down their access points so you can effectively manage where they come into the home and set traps near skirting boards (as they will run here mostly rather than open spaces). I tried peanut butter which had worked but mine got fussy, tried the apple sauce, the cheap asda stuff worked fine and within 2 weeks all gone. I always had their food in tubs but not the waste, that is now in a lidded bin.

Have had this problem twice and twice have rid them quickly with traps (second time as they were not in with the pigs, with bait too and it was much quicker). The first time they were eating out the pigs bowls, I put peppermint around the outside the pen which detered them and removed the bowls of food last thing at night (they still had hay and water though). Funnily enough the second time they didnt even go in the pigs room, it was something else that brought them in, since resolved.

And yes they do carry disease and wee were they walk as they mark their territory, not very nice really

 

[TAN]

Unfortunetely I only have houdini mice who can get out of traps - the best bait I have found is a piece of squashed snicker or twix - sqeeze it on hard because it is the tugging action that sets the trap off - you do have to release them over a mile or 2 away from the home or they just find their way back.

 

[Mother Hubbard]

Bearer of bad news. Humane ones don't work, you have to work fast.

Poison and kill traps are the only way. I didn't want to do it but had no choice. It was resolved in a matter of days.