Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: Lablover2004 on August 08, 2005, 07:46:26 pm
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I just finished reading how rodents love to get under the spas, Oh no, what do I do???????????????/
I don't want mice or rats ( I HAVE seen RATS, this IS atlanta)
The spa is going in my back yard how do I keep rodents away??????
Please, please advice. Now I am not so sure I did the right thing by buying this tub.
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Awwwwwwwwww no... and Hotsprings is the ONLY manufacturer to not address this problem... :-/ Sorry...
Just kidding....you'll be fine! ;D
Steve
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We use and recommend Fresh Cab which is a potpurri that farmers use to protect their equipment over the winter. It does the job. We have it at www.portablespas.com
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Awwwwwwwwww no... and Hotsprings is the ONLY manufacturer to not address this problem... :-/ Sorry...
Steve
Dont forget Beachcomber! They don't have it either.
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The spa is going in my back yard how do I keep rodents away??????
Please, please advice. Now I am not so sure I did the right thing by buying this tub.
Talk to your dealer about how well the spa is designed for this and take precautions where necessary. The equipment compartment will need to vent hot air somehow but you need to be sure any openings have a metal mesh screen in place and if not you'll need to do so. Be there when they deliver it so you can see underneath and get a good look to see if there are any entry points for your furry little friends. Mice only need a hole about the size of a nickel to get in.
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I wouldn't worry about the mice. The Sumatran has a rodent screen that fits flush up against the door. There is also a metal screen over the pump shroud vent. These are the only two areas where vermin could access the spa.
Terminator
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Thanks everybody for your suggestion.
Steve you are too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!
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buy a cat.
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I don't think a cat is that great at mousing all the time.
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I don't think a cat is that great at mousing all the time.
Hot Spring offers an optional cat. It lists for $450.00 and is warrentied for 5 years.
Other manufactuers claim to have cats as good as hot springs, but I'd be very careful when shopping around. (espcaily in CO. There's this one guy taking gerbils and adding on so called Whiskers and a longer tail claiming it's a better cat....but he's nut)
Remember. Pet Test! Pet Test! Pet Test! ;)
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Hot Spring offers an optional cat. It lists for $450.00 and is warrentied for 5 years.
Other manufactuers claim to have cats as good as hot springs, but I'd be very careful when shopping around. (espcaily in CO. There's this one guy taking gerbils and adding on so called Whiskers and a longer tail claiming it's a better cat....but he's nut)
Remember. Pet Test! Pet Test! Pet Test! ;)
Speaking of pet testing...I have a rather interesting story I'd like to share with the class.
My yellow lab seems to come into the tub room when we are either cleaning or topping the water off on the tub..he'll stand there perched on the top step waiting for an invitation to jump in the tub..and I keep telling him "NO! you get in that tub and I swear I'll casterate you and your dad!!!!" Of course I never mean it..I'm an lab faniatic I'd never hurt him nor the other two! But...anyway I was laying in the lounger of the hot tub yesterday staring off into space when I hear "Woof!!" and low and behold here was Remington standing at the door looking like "Please mom! Let me in just once!" I gave him that look like oh hell no! and what should he do now...but lay down with his head proped up on the screen door looking like he lost his bone to another dog! anyway..that's my story my yellow lab wants in the hot tub..and Mommy is being mean and won't let him come play!
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Hot Spring offers an optional cat. It lists for $450.00 and is warrentied for 5 years.
Must be a full-foam cat that circulates 24/7 :)
Actually I recently had a mouse(?) eating my garage door wires. I was unsucessful at trapping and bought a "Mouse Away" package at my spa store. Put it in the car that I have stored in the garage and no more mice.
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mouse away? Despite having 2 cats , in the winter my sheds get *infested* with mice (one of the problems of being in the woods) and I am hestitnet to use posions. What is Mouse Away? I just googles it. Does it work? For prolonged periods? Anyone have actual long term experience?
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It's mostly peppermint but extremely strong smelling. It works for at least 4 days :) hopefully a lot longer but only time will tell. The package says that it must be replaced when the odor runs out but how often I don't know. It also says for spa and pool equipment compartments, cars and boats. If I had a problem in my shed I'd try it.
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I tell our customers to put a plastic tray full of mothballs or moth crystals.
Use plastic so moisture won't damage it, and also so you can spot chewing. Rodents love the pcv plumbing and fittings, so if you spot chewing on the plastic tray you'll know you have an active problem.
The mothballs and crystals go away over time, so check them regularly.
Some of our customers report that this works.
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I've had no luck with moth balls. The only effect was my lawn tractor now smells like my grandmother's attic.
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I have a Schnauzer....they love rodents.
Dick
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I have tried mouse away. Kept it in the equipment compartment all last winter. It seemed to do the job. Before that I used moth balls. Right now I have dryer sheets scattered throughout. I also keep mouse poison packets in the compartment at all times. I saw signs of mice during my first winter and have been trying different solutions since then. They all seem to do the trick.
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Other manufactuers claim to have cats as good as hot springs, but I'd be very careful when shopping around. (espcaily in CO. There's this one guy taking gerbils and adding on so called Whiskers and a longer tail claiming it's a better cat....but he's nut)
;)
That's a good one.
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Now I'm scared!!! I just read this thread. I don't know that I'm all that worried about mice and rats (we do have them) but what about bugs/insects and such? Is this a concern?
You know in Florida it's the bugs, the bugs, the bugs!!
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personally I would be more concerned with the mice and rats, they can inflict horrible pain on the hot tub, but insects, I don't know how much damage they could do.
I guess maybe bees could make a nest but that would be the only thing I would think of.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh the problems
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bugs, bugs, bugs...... oh yeah.. I spent 11 years in FL, mostly the panhandle, but 2 years just north of st pete. some of the bugs there can carry away the mice, so its a 2 fold problem.. ;D ;D
on a serious note, I have a caldera niagra, and noticed wasps crawling under the edge of the tub earlier this spring. I broke out the caulking gun, and ran a small bead all the way around the perimeter. haven't had a mice issue, yet.....
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Thanks, obi wan....that's good advice.
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When I was looking into an inground pool vs. the spa, the pool salesman told me above ground spas in Florida are bad with rodents and termites. HS advised me to add 2 mothballs to the unit i was looking at. I know my jacuzzi is completely sealed and has no wood, so I think I am safe. I can't imagine how mice could enter the spa's interior, although i could see ants squeezing through the cabinet panels I guess.
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Well, actually I believe there is wood in that Jacuzzi as part of the structure but it does have the ABS bottom.
Here's what my brochure states on the Marquis:
DuraBase is formed from a solid sheet of high-impact, textured acrylic that won't fail or need repainting over time. It's steel reinforced to provide solid support and protect yuor entire spa base from nicks, dents, water damage, and PESTS.
I think we're both ok.
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I used to find lizards in my tub all the time. I never got in without turning on the light and checking first. Yep, they were dead but they still aren't anything I want to step on.
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As long as the base in not wood, I am less nervous. HS uses a pressure treated wood on their base that i know won't rot, it's the termites that worry me.
I believe in colder climates, the warmth of the spa would be attractive to rodents and snakes, but I'm not sure about tropical climates. Mr. Hair would probably know, as he seems well versed on apropriate climates regarding spa temps, but I haven't heard from him in a while. ;D
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As long as the base in not wood, I am less nervous. HS uses a pressure treated wood on their base that i know won't rot, it's the termites that worry me.
I believe in colder climates, the warmth of the spa would be attractive to rodents and snakes, but I'm not sure about tropical climates. [Mr. Hair would probably know, as he seems well versed on apropriate climates regarding spa temps, but I haven't heard from him in a while. ;D
That guy was a goon thats for sure. A legend in his own mind!!
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Sure hope Rattlers dont get into mine here in Arizona.
Hate snakes
Dick
SemperFi
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I had a cottonmouth in my garage a few weeks ago that got upset at me and lunged at my leg before I beheaded him with a shovel. My community is on a lake and lots of woods were cleared so it's only natural for them to relocate, just NIMBY.
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YIKES...the littl bugs I can handle but NOT snakes and especially the deadly ones!!
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OH my gosh,
a COTTON MOUTH?????????????????????
I think I would be dead from the fright of seeing it.
we have Copperheads here in Georgia but Praise the Lord I Have never seen one, hubby has but not me, well okay I did see a dead one in my driveway, my sister ran it over.
Hmmmmmmmm getting me thinking I hope snakes cannot get into my hot tub
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Copperheads can be nasty as well. Cottonmouths are aggressive which sets them apart and I've been told you have about an hour to get to the hospital if you're bitten by one before your throat will swell up to the point you'll suffocate.
I'm a little surprised nobody has brought up brown recluse spiders who love to hide in dark warm places, like inside attics and I would assume spa pump housings. If bitten by one, the muscle and and tissue around the bite needs to be cut out by a doctor.
This sure is off topic from relaxing subjects like wateralls, stereos, and clear bubbly warm water washing away the day's stress.
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ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAH WE have brown recluses here in Georgia too,
Maybe I should become a recluse and hide in my house, forget the damn spa.
ALREADY I AM GETTING AGGRAVATED by the thought of these unwanted critters
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I've been told you have about an hour to get to the hospital if you're bitten by one before your throat will swell up to the point you'll suffocate.
I'm a little surprised nobody has brought up brown recluse spiders who love to hide in dark warm places, like inside attics and I would assume spa pump housings. If bitten by one, the muscle and and tissue around the bite needs to be cut out by a doctor.
Not necessarily. A friend of mine was camping on an island at Lake Caddo. His boat came untied and floated off. While trying to retrieve it, he was bitten by a Water Moccasin on the leg. He had fever and chills through the night but was OK by the morning.
I was bitten by a Brown Recluse spider on the back of the leg. I had a small round scab for about 6 months, then it healed up and there is no scar. My best friend was bitten by one on the forehead and his did the same way. I think some people are more sensitive to the venom and those are the ones who have trouble. :P
Terminator
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I had a cottonmouth in my garage a few weeks ago that got upset at me and lunged at my leg before I beheaded him with a shovel. My community is on a lake and lots of woods were cleared so it's only natural for them to relocate, just NIMBY.
Alright that's IT!!! you all are fired!!!!!!!!!!!! Snakes (I can't even say the word without cringing or shivering) are NOT one of my fav animals in fact...between the rattlers here in Wyoming and the stupid field mice..I've decided to move...into a plastic bubble!
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My friend found a bear in his spa. Opened it up one day, flip the cover back and bam! There it was. Horrible. Horrible. BE CAREFUL WHEN OPENING THE SPA. You never know what you will find.
DId I type" Bear"? Damn. I ment to type 'Beer." Pabst Blue Ribbon. Must remember to fix that before I post as not to cause unnecessary fear among tub owners.
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My friend found a bear in his spa. Opened it up one day, flip the cover back and bam! There it was. Horrible. Horrible. BE CAREFUL WHEN OPENING THE SPA. You never know what you will find.
DId I type" Bear"? Damn. I ment to type 'Beer." Pabst Blue Ribbon. Must remember to fix that before I post as not to cause unnecessary fear among tub owners.
You are a MESS drew a total mess..you know that right?
BTW did you notice...I'm at 502 posts...where's my crown!?
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Pabst Blue Ribbon is pretty scary Backpains. Pretty Scary, indeed.
I thought you'd want the crown when your reached 461. ;)
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First she wanted a rubber ducky, now she is wanting a crown. What next?
Just teasin' ya backpains. ;D
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DREW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YOu are a pranster!!!!!!!!!!!,
now because of this any critters I FIND IN my hottub are being sent to YOU!!!!!!!
expect UPS delivery of critters, any day now
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Ship them to my office in Westminster CO.
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You know Drew, over on Doc's site Vermonter was telling the story of a bear trying to get into his tub. Seriously! Vermonter lives in Vermont (imagine that)! Apparently the bear to a chunk out of his cover!
And BP, you can't get your crown before I get my tiara for 1000!
Oh that's right, Chas posted my tiara. Never mind!!! (I'm still the Princess of Quite a Lot!)