diff --git a/src/core/bot.rs b/src/core/bot.rs
index 1c04f64..2261265 100644
--- a/src/core/bot.rs
+++ b/src/core/bot.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ impl EventHandler for Handler {
         let http = ctx.http.clone();
         let http2 = ctx.http.clone();
         let gid_clone = self.guild_id;
+        let pool_clone = self.pool.clone();
+        let ctx_clone = ctx.clone();
         tokio::spawn(async move {
             // SAFETY: startup delay 2s - not in command path, lets cache fill, no jitter needed (one-shot on boot)
             tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs(2)).await;
@@ -49,6 +51,47 @@ impl EventHandler for Handler {
                         warn!(error=%e, "ensure_forum_channel failed");
                     }
                 }
+                // Orphan reconciliation: purge DB rows whose channel/thread no longer exists
+                let tickets =
+                    crate::feature::ticket::service::count::list_tickets(&pool_clone).await;
+                let mut purged = 0;
+                for (cid_str, gid_str, opener) in tickets {
+                    if gid_str != gid.to_string() {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    if let Ok(cid) = cid_str.parse::<u64>() {
+                        let cid = serenity::all::ChannelId::new(cid);
+                        if http2.get_channel(cid).await.is_err() {
+                            let _ = sqlx::query("DELETE FROM tickets WHERE channel_id=?")
+                                .bind(&cid_str)
+                                .execute(&pool_clone)
+                                .await;
+                            let _ = sqlx::query("DELETE FROM ticket_claims WHERE channel_id=?")
+                                .bind(&cid_str)
+                                .execute(&pool_clone)
+                                .await;
+                            purged += 1;
+                            warn!(channel=%cid_str, opener=%opener, "orphan ticket purged");
+                            // Log to ticket-logs without transcript (manually deleted)
+                            let _ = serenity::all::ChannelId::new(1509503717127356446)
+                                .send_message(&http2, serenity::all::CreateMessage::new().embed(serenity::all::CreateEmbed::new().title("⚠️ Ticket Manually Deleted").description(format!("Ticket <#{cid_str}> (opener <@{opener}>) manually deleted — transcript unavailable.")).color(0x00ED_4245)))
+                                .await;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                if purged > 0 {
+                    info!(purged, "orphan tickets reconciled");
+                }
+                // Presence: watching N tickets
+                let count =
+                    crate::feature::ticket::service::count::count_tickets(&pool_clone, gid).await;
+                ctx_clone.set_presence(
+                    Some(serenity::all::ActivityData::custom(format!(
+                        "watching {} tickets",
+                        count
+                    ))),
+                    serenity::all::OnlineStatus::Online,
+                );
             }
         });
         if let Some(gid) = self.guild_id {
diff --git a/src/feature/ticket/handler/create.rs b/src/feature/ticket/handler/create.rs
index ee58e63..5d385bb 100644
--- a/src/feature/ticket/handler/create.rs
+++ b/src/feature/ticket/handler/create.rs
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ pub async fn create_ticket_channel(
             CreateChannel::new(&name)
                 .kind(ChannelType::Text)
                 .category(ChannelId::new(SUPPORT_CATEGORY))
-                .permissions(overwrites),
+                .permissions(overwrites)
+                .rate_limit_per_user(5),
         )
         .await?;
     if let Some(pool) = service::pool() {
diff --git a/src/feature/ticket/service/count.rs b/src/feature/ticket/service/count.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da20956
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/feature/ticket/service/count.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+use sqlx::SqlitePool;
+#[rustfmt::skip]
+pub async fn list_tickets(p: &SqlitePool) -> Vec<(String, String, String)> {
+    let _ = sqlx::query("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS tickets (channel_id TEXT PRIMARY KEY, guild_id TEXT NOT NULL, opener_id TEXT NOT NULL)").execute(p).await;
+    sqlx::query_as::<_, (String, String, String)>("SELECT channel_id, guild_id, opener_id FROM tickets").fetch_all(p).await.unwrap_or_default()
+}
+#[rustfmt::skip]
+pub async fn count_tickets(p: &SqlitePool, g: u64) -> i64 {
+    let _ = sqlx::query("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS tickets (channel_id TEXT PRIMARY KEY, guild_id TEXT NOT NULL, opener_id TEXT NOT NULL)").execute(p).await;
+    sqlx::query_scalar::<_, i64>("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tickets WHERE guild_id=?").bind(g.to_string()).fetch_one(p).await.unwrap_or(0)
+}
diff --git a/src/feature/ticket/service/mod.rs b/src/feature/ticket/service/mod.rs
index 82942f4..68c0e6a 100644
--- a/src/feature/ticket/service/mod.rs
+++ b/src/feature/ticket/service/mod.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 //! Ticket service
+pub mod count;
 pub mod forum;
 use serenity::all::{ChannelId, CreateAttachment, CreateMessage, Http, MessageId};
 use sqlx::SqlitePool;