Rats In The Roof

[murni]

We have rats in the roof. They never come down to the house, apart from getting in the air con units. We used humane traps baited with cheese, chicken etc but they were not interested. Resorted to poison but again no interest. Have any of you had the same problem and if so how did you resolve it?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[ThailandBert]

The glue traps you get from the 7/11 are very effective. Every time I had seen signs of rats I have placed one out and it has been there the next morning firmly secured.

[murni]

Sorry ThailandBert but I think that is an even more cruel death than poison & just can't do it.

[hedonist44]

You evidentially have an outside Thai style kitchen or your leaving food out somewhere else in your house that they are getting into. There is no food source up in the attic and they must come down to eat. I've the same problem in my place and the sticky pads work great. Put them out at night before going to bed anywhere near to where you have food or eat and you should get lucky. It's not good to poison them as they will go back up to attic and die, then you're next posting on TV will be concerning a terrible smell you have coming from somewhere in your house that you must get rid of:) Good luck..

[murni]

No, we do not have an outside kitchen, we are both from the UK and have a UK type kitchen There is never ever any food left out & all work surfaces are wiped down last thing at night. As I said, I cannot use the pads, even my husband doesn.t feel theyare very humane.

[meatboy]

there must be food getting into your drainage,eg.bits of rice going down the sink,a neighbour of ours had the same problem i found where they were running,and checked the pipe from the kitchen there were bits of rice and bits of other food in there aswell.find the source of entry and bait it with the pink tabs of rat poison,if you think about it why are they not eating what you put down is because there is enough elswhere.have you got a cat.

[Naam]

Have any of you had the same problem and if so how did you resolve it?

no Thai kitchen, no crumbs or food stuff anywhere but we had for more than a year rats in the attic. caught dozens (plural!) with the glue traps. now since more than 1½ years not a single one.

[Naam]

Sorry ThailandBert but I think that is an even more cruel death than poison & just can't do it.

perhaps a sign in rat language "no rats!" will help?

joke aside... i am an animal lover and i agree that the common glue traps are a horrible way to kill an animal. but in our case we ran out of options.

[murni]

In order to access our kitchen outlat pipe they would have to walk 7m up the road as it emptys into a covered ditch & anyway I am most careful not to let bits go down.

I am still hoping someone will come up with an alternative to the glue traps buut thank you all for your advice

[hedonist44]

The options/alternatives have already been given to you, unfortunately for you they are not what you want to hear and I can respect that.

Sounds like you'll need to contact a professional exterminator and discuss the issue with him to see if they can suggest a way to solve your problem in a manner acceptable to you. Good luck.

[Riley'sLife]

I thoroughly agree that the sticky trays are not ideal. However, there are no other alternatives that work effectively and in every scenario the way these trays do.

Instant painless death is what is required for the rat.

So, here's how to do it using the tray:- Place the tray inside a plastic supermarket bag with some food in the centre of the tray, Cut a couple of thin flexible branch -three or four inches longer than the bag is wide-, and place these inside the bag to form an arched roof to the bag, so that the upper part of the bag doesn't stick to the tray - use a folded banana leaf on each end of the flexible branch to prevent the ends piercing the bag.

Now you need to find something to squash the rat. We use a large shovel. A single whack does the job and then it's all in the trash. When hitting the bag it's worth mentioning that it should be hit from the sealed end of the bag. Hitting from the open end could cause the bag to burst open. Slightly collapsing the bag before the whack will help target the exact position of the rodent in the bag and result in a one-whack-kill.

The rodent will suffer some stress by being stuck to the tray, but this suffering can be minimised by whacking as soon as possible. I don't like the idea of the animal being stuck for days until it eventually expires and the above seems to deal with this.

Of course, if you are Buddhist all will be forgiven if you then eat the rodent!

Edited September 26, 2012 by Riley'sLife

[Tywais]

Just noticed this trap setup at our office. Looks homemade though and a 'bit' rusty.

[xen]

As a suggestion ,what about putting a snake like a python up in the roof . I don't know what your family will think though as most Thais are petrified of snakes but we used to do that in the Northern parts of Australia. Instead of watching the jing- joks play on the ceiling you can listen to the battles happening in the roof. Will not have a rat within coo-ee of your house within a week or so.

Edited September 26, 2012 by xen

[Nienke]

There seems to be a Thai herb or shrub that mice do not like. It doesn't kill them, just keeps them on a distance. I haven't tried it out yet. But it's in the make at my staff's mother's house in Mae Hong Song, and hopefully arrives at my place soonish. I'll give an update on the effectiveness in a month or so (I know doesn't help you much now)

I forgot the name of the herb. Will ask her to write it down for me, so i can't write it here.

Also, at the Good Health shop near Suriwong Bookcentre, they sell a herbal spray that mice and rats dislike. I think it contains eucalyptus and camphor. It works fairly well, not super.

[fatfather]

We had rats under the roof as well, in a Thai style country house. Verry annoying.... One night I saw a snake going up there and the problem was solved. First the rats disappeared and then the snake. Worked well for me without doing anything than being patient.

Fatfather

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect App

[ignis]

Just noticed this trap setup at our office. Looks homemade though and a 'bit' rusty.

40 baht form the hardware stores. I have 2

The next problem with this type is the older Thais in my Village then put the cage with rat inside out in the sun for it to slowly die..

Appears here they are all called Rats, seen many rats but in almost 9 years only had 1x rat in my house, mice much smaller, that is a different matter, as soon as i see one then within the next 2 days put down 2 Pizza tray glue type [2 trays in 1 pack] normally next morning = 2 bigger ones and 4 or 5 babies., last week was 7 on one tray and 5 on the other... this happens about every 5 - 6 weeks..

Lived out in the sticks in Portugal and UK, always had lots of mice so no different here.

Why do they go in the roof ?. another amazing question, here in the Village here are 63 houses, all 3 or 4 bedroom detached houses, 3 are empty, across the road the house has been empty for 6 years, 3 weeks ago there was a Alligator on the roof !!!!!!!! how and why it got up there is a question., ? We do keep the men for the area Town Hall busy as often get Alligators in the Village, couple of times Cobra's

Edited September 27, 2012 by ignis

[stevef]

if you can find were they are entering seal these areas with expanding foam and wire wool they have to chew through the foam and wire wool to get in and in doing this they ingest the foam and wool which expands within there stomach and poisons them not the nicest way but it wotks and once you have done it the holes are sealed to prevent any further infestations

[bkk_mike]

One alternative nobody mentioned is the electronic pest away devices that you can plug in. (they make a noise outside of the range of human hearing, but apparently like having noisy neighbours to the rats).

They seem to work OK, but you might need several depending on the size of your property, especially as high frequency noise doesn't travel well through walls.

Edited September 30, 2012 by bkk_mike

[Bung]

I tried the plug in electronic thing, didn't work. The best is to piut one of those traps in there, Just a bit of bread will have them caught. I tried the glue things but found it a hassle to get rid of a dead rat and the glue pad plus there were bits of insulation in it's droppings. Obviously as it got stuck it resorted to any food source - in this case my wiring - and ended up with bare wires in my ceiling. Not good. the traps are humane, secures them and all you have to do is drive down the road and let them go in the bush.

Also make sure there are no trees touching your house as that is an easy way for them to get into your ceiling.

[ignis]

One alternative nobody mentioned is the electronic pest away devices that you can plug in. (they make a noise outside of the range of human hearing, but apparently like having noisy neighbours to the rats).

They seem to work OK, but you might need several depending on the size of your property, especially as high frequency noise doesn't travel well through walls.

Got one, no good, drives the dogs crazy.. must be in-range of dogs

[Tywais]

One alternative nobody mentioned is the electronic pest away devices that you can plug in. (they make a noise outside of the range of human hearing, but apparently like having noisy neighbours to the rats).

They seem to work OK, but you might need several depending on the size of your property, especially as high frequency noise doesn't travel well through walls.

Got one, no good, drives the dogs crazy.. must be in-range of dogs

The problem with them is the mice/rats use ultrasonic sound to communicate and it just sounds like a 'brother' to them. Also did try it at our lab and was good for a couple of days before they just got used to it.

[murni]

Thank you for your suggestions, as I said the humane traps were of no interest to them, so we had to resort to the poison. It has worked and hopefully we will not get any more.

[overherebc]

Thank you for your suggestions, as I said the humane traps were of no interest to them, so we had to resort to the poison. It has worked and hopefully we will not get any more.

Bit late to join in this one, but if your problem is getting rid of the rats when they are stuck on the mats then you can stick then in the back of your pick-up, or whatever, drive them a long way away and then cover them in cooking oil. It takes about 20 minutes to soften the glue and they can can go away and clean themselves up.

However, remember that almost everywhere on the planet you will always be at most 20 metres from a rat so you might use a lot of fuel.

[worgeordie]

These rats that go into your roofs, are not the brown or black rats that

live in sewers, they are tree rats,like to live in palm trees ect, they come

in our roof every rainy season,other times they dont bother.

What is worrying is they can chew the electric wires and must be responsible,

for many house fires in Thailand,I use the glue traps,have no mercy for them

place the stuck rat in plastic bag,hit with spade,into the garbage,they invade

my space they are going to get trouble.I am an animal lover,but rats are not

not one of them.,would you still want to cuddle one after it burnt down your house!!!

regards Worgeordie

[Putu94]

We live in the country, so also mouses and rats

The best way is to use the trap and put them back in the surrounding area (that is what we do) the nature ,snakes etc will do there job.

No glue, No poison if you use poison you will have the problem that you not find them, later when it starts to stink

A other way is to buy a flute and play the good melody ,

see Pied Piper of Hamelin.

[Putu94]

What is worrying is they can chew the electric wires and must be responsible,

for many house fires in Thailand,I use the glue traps,have no mercy for them

place the stuck rat in plastic bag,hit with spade,into the garbage,they invade

my space they are going to get trouble.I am an animal lover,but rats are not

not one of them.,would you still want to cuddle one after it burnt down your house!!!

regards Worgeordie

Animal lover ?

You should take care of your wires !!! that can be simply done with pipes

Rats/mouses will come back anyhow

so your solution

[transam]

Only thing that worked in my ceiling was glue, got them all. Not nice but better than you and yours being infected with something. Do not leave the glue where cats may be able to go.

[chiang mai]

Decide if you love animals or if you want the rats out of your roof, you can't have both.

[Putu94]

This way ?

or this way, both are good !

Besides in many countries glue is forbidden

Edited November 6, 2012 by Putu94

[muddycocker]

You might try chocolate spread or peanut butter in the traps.