Rats in the roof

[davejonesbkk]

Sorry, not sure if this is the right forum to post this in but I have rats in my roof and no idea what to do about it.

It/they have been there about a week now, we only know this because at night we can hear it scampering across the roof, I mean the roof above the bedrooms upstairs btw, or the attic/loft area I guess and not the outside roof. They sound like they could be quite big but I guess that could be just the sound being amplified when they move about? Anyway some nights they are back and forth and sound like they are running very fast and lots of other commotion, last night I had to bang on the ceiling with a broom to make them stop.

Any ideas on how to get rid of them? There's a sort of door/hole with a cover in the bathroom ceiling for getting up there but Ive never been up and Im also pretty sure you can't just walk around up there as there is no structure for that in the ceiling.

Im thinking maybe some rat/mice traps then? Where to buy them and where to set them? I will need to dispose of the bodies after I guess too.

thanks

also, there is no evidence of them venturing outside of the roof area, Im pretty sure they have come in from outside via trees or something like that

[Eclipse]

Rat Glue or something similar.

Easily available from Tesco. BigC etc.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Eclipse

[Crossy]

Rat glue works well, but is not for the squeamish

Conventional spring and live traps are available, look in your local hardware store, take photos off the net with you if you don't have a Thai speaker.

[davejonesbkk]

Rat Glue or something similar.

Easily available from Tesco. BigC etc.

The-Best-Mousetrap.jpg_200x200.jpg

OK so thy get stuck to the pad and then the next day I have to kill them myself? Whats the best way to kill them?

[lopburi3]

The cage type rat trap is available everywhere and allows human (Buddhist) catching and then release in vacant lots. A little fish or any waste meat will attract.

[Eclipse]

Rat Glue or something similar.

Easily available from Tesco. BigC etc.

The-Best-Mousetrap.jpg_200x200.jpg

OK so thy get stuck to the pad and then the next day I have to kill them myself? Whats the best way to kill them?

They will be dead already.

Just chuck it in the bin.

[eyecatcher]

I have a similar problem but live in a rural area.

If you are in a rural area there is a good chance they are squirrels and chipmunk.

I can only assume the snakes keep the rat numbers down.

Things to try that dont involve having the most disgusting smell of dead rats.;

Try to ascertain where they are getting in and if it can be sealed.

If you have an access hatch you can throw a handfull of camphor balls up there....the same as they put in the gents urinal.

The smell is too strong for them and they will stay out.

This is good solution and effective. Then repeat after a month until they have given up visiting you.

Option 3 i hear having a cat is a good deterrant again it must be the smell of the cat that keeps them away.

I have had a few cat/rat fights in my roof and possibly cat gecko fights. Very noisy very annoying.

I have realised if a cat can get in the roof the problems disappear.

However when i see the chipmunks playing around on my trees its preferable to destroying them. Win win.

[davejonesbkk]

Rat Glue or something similar.

Easily available from Tesco. BigC etc.

The-Best-Mousetrap.jpg_200x200.jpg

OK so thy get stuck to the pad and then the next day I have to kill them myself? Whats the best way to kill them?

They will be dead already.

Just chuck it in the bin.

Really? How does it kill them?

[Eclipse]

Probably heart attack from being stuck.

[meatboy]

if they are rats find out how they are getting in,but i would have a guess they might be a few tookay's,they live under the roofs of anywhere and its easy for them to crawl under the tiles.in the morning before it gets light go outside with a torch and check around the facia boards they hang about outside till it gets light. and listen for their call.

[wayned]

I live in farm country and they are part of the deal. I use live traps shown in post #5 I bait them with the cheap filled cookies available in Tesco, big jar 99 baht, one cookie for the trap, three for me. I have three positioned around the house. I also throw rat poison occasionally on the drop ceiling and have never had a smell from dead mice. The critters that come in my house are not rats, they are field mice a lot smaller than a rat. When I spent some time in the Philippines I had rats, the size of a small cat!!!

[keeniau96]

Wifey has the the rats & mice detail and she uses the glue pads. Have to check for bodies else or the smell will tell you anyway. She serious Buddhist so gives me the glue pad with stuck on mouse (rarely rats in our house). I put that in plastic bag, tie it off and dump in garbage bin out by the curb.

[regedit]

Rat Glue or something similar.

Easily available from Tesco. BigC etc.

The-Best-Mousetrap.jpg_200x200.jpg

OK so thy get stuck to the pad and then the next day I have to kill them myself? Whats the best way to kill them?

They will be dead already.

Just chuck it in the bin.

Really? How does it kill them?

Roof-space is usually hot - if you leave them on a glue pad or in a trap for a few days they will literally toast... Never used a glue pad but traps are effective with banana or ham as bait. Never killed them - always taken them for a long ride and released them in the wilds somewhere (to find some snakes as friends). You need to find out how they are getting into the roof space and close that off or their friends and family will follow.

[Mooner]

If u catch them with the glue you can pour any cooking oil or coconut oil over them and it will release them.

Do it all the time. Don't like them but don't want to kill them.

[fasteddie]

You sure they're not squirrels?

[Bobsuruncle]

I just moved into a house 3 weeks ago and I have rats in the ceiling and have used both the spring loaded trap as well as the sticky glue traps with peanut butter as bait. Both traps have been effective so far. I've caught 6 rats in 12 days, 3 in each type trap. And these are definitely rats and not mice.

The spring loaded trap tends to kill them immediately but the glue traps keep them stuck to it but still alive. I have no problem killing them, I just use a pair of pliers and squeeze their heads flat before pulling them off and deposing of them.

If you throw dead rats in the garbage can and they sit in there for more than 3 days in the hot sun before the trash truck comes to empty it, you're going to have a wonderful smell every time you lift the lid. You might want to bury them deep in your garden for nitrogen or package them up to send to your favorite person (not recommended). I pull them off the traps and toss the used trap in the garbage. You might be able to reuse them but there is usually less glue now that the previous rat has squirmed around in it for 6 to 8 hours trying to escape, so I toss them and buy more.

I like the yellow box that Tesco sells with the animated rat on the front. They are square in shape as opposed to the round ones so that I can get them right into the corners and they already have a small hole in the edge where I like to tie a piece of wire and anchor them to a ceiling joist so that they don't carry the trap away if only one leg is stuck.

I check the traps once a day, usually in the morning as they are active most of the night and not much during daylight hours.

Good luck with getting rid of whatever it is in your ceiling. As others have mentioned check for branches that are leaning up against your house and cut them back. I've seen more rats in areas with oil palms than any other type of vegetation although rats will find a way no matter what the vegetation as long as there is an access hole for them to climb into in your attic.

[Gary A]

We had rats in the attic. You could hear the pitter pat of little feet at night. I wanted to poison them but my wife was afraid they would die up there and stink. I decided that it wouldn't hurt the cat to let her up there for at least one night. I tried to coax her down the next day but she didn't want to come down. I put a bowl of water up there for her and let her be. I think it was the second night when the noise woke us up. I really didn't know that rats could squeal that loud. The cat must have eaten the rat or rats because there was no smell. The cat wanted to stay up there longer and finally wanted to come down after the third night. No problems since.