Rats in the roof?

[Tapster]

 

Hi,

 

After dark, I can hear animals running up and down in the roof space of our outdoor workshop (between the plasterboard ceiling and the roof tiles). It sounds like rats.

 

They can't be there in the daytime because they'd die from the heat (Phuket).

 

I presume this is a problem. Am I correct?

 

If I need to get rid of them what is the best way.

 

Cheers.

[Denim]

Don't use poison. Kills them but they die in inaccessible place and decompose leaving a bad smell for a long time.

I had the same problem. Used spring loaded traps. Killed about 7 over a period of a couple of weeks. With traps, at least you know where the trap is and can easily dispose of the ones you kill.

[lemonjelly]

My roof space is full of them, but they're the lesser of 2 evils as they keep the centipedes away. 

[Tapster]

So, are rats in the roofspace at night a problem? 

 

Presumably, it's too hot under the tiles (in daytime) for them to nest. 

 

I'm sure I heard gnawing for several minutes one night. Will they cause damage? 

 

Do they have to be killed or not? 

Edited January 2, 2017 by Tapster

[Crossy]

Killed or discouraged, they can do a lot of damage to your power wiring and possibly cause a fire not to mention the droppings being a potential health hazard.

 

Can you access the roof space to install traps?

 

 

[bankruatsteve]

Try getting some of the glue plates (Makro, Tesco, etc. all have them) and just put on the floor of your work shop with a fish head in the middle.  They are not poisonous so don't have to worry for the dogs and cats.  In the morning you will have a plate full of mice although likely not dead yet.  Try to pluck them off and bag up if you want to try to re-use the plate but NOT an easy thing to do.

[lopburi3]

This is a catch and release culture so the traps are a much more acceptable method.

[oldcarguy]

I never caught anything with the Thai bought catch and release traps , and the quality is iffy

 

But I got some all metal "snap" traps in Chinatown that would probably take off your finger , and they have worked well ,

 

and the Thai glue traps are nice and big so the rat cannot drag it away easily ,

[bankruatsteve]

Have you ever seen a Thai catch and release a fish - no matter how big?  :)  The thing with most traps is that they only catch one at a time.  I've had times where the entire family (like 6 rats) will climb onto the glue plate.  Whatever.

 

[lopburi3]

They fish for food and eat the fish - most do not eat mice.

 

Actually we did catch 2 in one go last week but agree it is normally one at a time (but hopefully that is all you need - you can reload and get another the next day).  We have found these traps to be very reliable and if you load with something the mouse wants they will get trapped.   And many Thai we are aware of do catch and release into vacant areas rather than kill.

[grollies]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

They fish for food and eat the fish - most do not eat mice.

 

Actually we did catch 2 in one go last week but agree it is normally one at a time (but hopefully that is all you need - you can reload and get another the next day).  We have found these traps to be very reliable and if you load with something the mouse wants they will get trapped.   And many Thai we are aware of do catch and release into vacant areas rather than kill.

Agreed, we've caught a few rats with these traps, they work pretty well with bait and let them out a couple of km away.

[Tapster]

@Crossy

 

I cannot access the roofspace properly without removing the ceiling. 

However, using a mirror, I can see into the space, from the the eaves and I could place spring traps into that space and retrieve them by a piece of string accessible from outside. 

 

You mentioned discouraging the rats. How might that be done, short of killing them? 

[Crossy]

Naphthalene (moth) balls are cheap and readily available, they seem to discourage most wildlife (not just moths).

 

A few in a cloth bag should discourage the beasties (and anything else that fancies setting up home). You will need to replace them regularly for continued protection.

 

 

[Morch]

Traps and glue trays both work, just leaves the issue of disposal - not everyone up to it, and some (like Mrs. Morch) suddenly recall their Buddhist beliefs. If Traps, go for the sturdier ones, or the trapped rat will bounce around making a racket. Same can happen with the glue trays, but either way - at least you'll know something got caught.

 

There are several kinds of available poison, some cause the poisoned rats to feel thirst, search of water and die outside. The downside is that corpses can still smell, disease a possibility and more dangerous for pets.

 

We had partial success with mothballs - worked fine for us, didn't impress the ones at MIL's house. Having a source of light is good as well.

 

Cats seem to keep rat population down, and we had one that was all for being let inside the roof space and hunt.

 

Currently we have bats, which makes rats a fond memory - much harder to get rid off, it seems.

[Tapster]

@Crossy

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll try the mothballs first, then large spring traps if necessary. No poison, because we have cats and I've lost one in the past, due to rat poison. 

 

The cats caught a rat last week, but they can't get into the roof to hunt them there. 

 

@Morch

 

Bats are cool. What's the problem? 

[Morch]

33 minutes ago, Tapster said:

@Crossy

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll try the mothballs first, then large spring traps if necessary. No poison, because we have cats and I've lost one in the past, due to rat poison. 

 

The cats caught a rat last week, but they can't get into the roof to hunt them there. 

 

@Morch

 

Bats are cool. What's the problem? 

 

Mainly their droppings, which wreck havoc on part of the ceiling, and do not smell all that nice. Then there's them flying and navigation skills - overrated. Bump into walls, screen doors and whatnot. A couple croaked in the roof space, wasn't a thrill getting up there. Didn't realize they were legion by then.

[eyecatcher]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

Naphthalene (moth) balls are cheap and readily available, they seem to discourage most wildlife (not just moths).

 

A few in a cloth bag should discourage the beasties (and anything else that fancies setting up home). You will need to replace them regularly for continued protection.

 

 

Yes that's exactly the method I use because I dont have access to my ceiling void but I can launch the naphta balls from a small hole.

Our problem is the burmese squirrels, lovely little things and I dont want to kill them. They are more active from March onwards though, I think they are hibernating now to some extent.

 

I have some success with the moth balls, and they are multi purpose, none of the insects, cockroaches, ants like them also.

 

Can get them easily in any supermarket, failing that you could swipe some from your favourite urinal.

 

and to agree with other posters dont use the pink pellets, they are great at killing but bear in mind for the following 4 days you will have the most horrendous smell to cover up. very difficult to find the dead rat and when you do it'll  test your skills at retrieving with two long sticks...horrible horrible job to do

[Crossy]

UB40 have the solution:-

 

 

[bankruatsteve]

Don't know much about UB40.  Would Bob Marley work as well?

[4evermaat]

I can vouch for the glue traps. Tesco branded hard plastic glue traps can be gotten 2 pack for 32 baht. Place bait in the middle of glue plate like fruit, small cooked meat, or peanut butter is supposed to be particularly attractive.

You might need to put some double-sided tape or slip resistant mat underneath to keep it in place in an open area. At the price of 16 baht a piece, no need to reuse them. You can buy glue and attempt to spread it yourself, but it gets quite messy and time consuming.

Snap traps are effective, but you can potentially hurt yourself or a kid if they accidentially set it off. The cage catch/release traps are 1 per catch, and you need a good quality one.

Do not underestimate how fast they can breed up and eat through just about anything with enough time.

[jak2002003]

Get a pet python.

[TonyBB]

We've had a rat problem in Rawai (Phuket) for years.  I tried finding and blocking all possible entry points from outside the house, like electrical conduits, but we kept having the problem. Dealt with it by using traps, as others have mentioned.  But just recently I discovered an entry point I had previously missed and sealed it, and for last few weeks or so, no little footsteps in the ceiling at night. If you're persistent and find all the ways the rats can get in, it can pay off.

 

What I recently found was an opening where air con tubing comes into the house. It's a bundle of aircon tubes from 3 compressor units, with tape wrapped around the whole bundle. It looked like a perfect seal where it went in the house. But I pulled off the tape, found a big space between the individual tubes and I could shine a flashlight into the hole in the wall. Rats could crawl up through this tape-encased bundle and into the wall!

[r136dg]

Catch & release traps for me. They like peanut butter sandwiches (lol). Put a small dab on a tiny piece of bread for baiting the trap.

Glue traps work also, but watch out, they have a lot of fight in them & they're literally fighting for their life. Than ya have to kill em. I wasn't comfortable with that whole scenario. 

It's amazing what they can climb & openings they can fit through.

Good luck!

[4MyEgo]

On 04/01/2017 at 1:12 AM, 4evermaat said:

I can vouch for the glue traps. Tesco branded hard plastic glue traps can be gotten 2 pack for 32 baht. Place bait in the middle of glue plate like fruit, small cooked meat, or peanut butter is supposed to be particularly attractive.

You might need to put some double-sided tape or slip resistant mat underneath to keep it in place in an open area. At the price of 16 baht a piece, no need to reuse them. You can buy glue and attempt to spread it yourself, but it gets quite messy and time consuming.

Snap traps are effective, but you can potentially hurt yourself or a kid if they accidentially set it off. The cage catch/release traps are 1 per catch, and you need a good quality one.

Do not underestimate how fast they can breed up and eat through just about anything with enough time.

 

I can also vouch for the glue traps, caught 2 with 2 traps, forget trying to reuse them, cheap enough to buy more, just the other day I opted for the blue poison, very effective, lifted the manhole the other day because haven't heard anything up there for a while, and the stench of something dead was awful, suffice to say I had to put on a mask, get a torch and a plastic glove and bag, now we have a large single story house with suspended ceilings and there is not a lot of room to move via single steel beams and where the walls meet, and I am no tightrope artist, but by the time I found the rat I was exhausted, fortunately for us we have a lot of ceiling space so I could stand a lot of the time, almost through up when I found the rat.

 

In my opinion I would stick with the glue traps because as someone else said, finding the farkers is another thing, especially if you have limited space up there. 

[Kinnock]

Yep - as previous posters have said, glue traps are the most effective method, but unfortunately they also catch Gecko's/Ginjoks.  Check you don't have 'Gallort' squirrels first though. 

 

Rats are commuters (mice tend to live in one place) so the the best fix is good rat proofing.  They are persistent and have sharp teeth, so steel netting over entrance areas is a good idea.  They also have good 'new object reactions', so adding netting, traps or anything new into their environment will discourage them for a few days, giving you a chance to complete the proofing without shutting them in.

 

If using poison bait - put in a protected bait station (or a strong plastic tube or pipe) to keep the poison away from other animals.

 

The OP also asked if they are a problem.  They can eat insulation off wiring and they carry diseases (Weils Disease in their urine) so I'd not want them in my house.

 

Good luck!

[grollies]

@Kinnock

Agree, thats why I don't like the glue traps catching ginjoks and tukgers.

 

No to poison bait because of my cat and dogs eating dead rat.

 

Catch and release traps or sprung mousetraps.

 

Ratproofing around the house, keeping chicken and fish food in dustbins with secure lids, bury dead chickens (or give them to the neighbour), fish & chicken bones, good housekeeping will encourage them to the neighbours house for an easier meal and bed.

[JamesP]

Yeah, use glue traps if you're a heartless person and want to torture the animal instead of killing it quickly.

 

Glue traps are terribly cruel and disgusting. The person who said they'd "pluck" them out gives me the absolute creeps, you do realise they're still alive on them and if you do that, you're bound to pull off skin or even a leg, right?

 

And just how do you kill a glue-trapped rodent? That's also another issue the people who recommend glue traps seem to be evading - because trapping it with such a trap is only one half of it. You still have to kill it (it's likely to be alive).

 

Or... you could use a trap that can kill it quickly. No mess, no torture... both better for you and the animal in question.

[grollies]

14 minutes ago, JamesP said:

Yeah, use glue traps if you're a heartless person and want to torture the animal instead of killing it quickly.

 

Glue traps are terribly cruel and disgusting. The person who said they'd "pluck" them out gives me the absolute creeps, you do realise they're still alive on them and if you do that, you're bound to pull off skin or even a leg, right?

 

And just how do you kill a glue-trapped rodent? That's also another issue the people who recommend glue traps seem to be evading - because trapping it with such a trap is only one half of it. You still have to kill it (it's likely to be alive).

 

Or... you could use a trap that can kill it quickly. No mess, no torture... both better for you and the animal in question.

They're OK for flies though

[Tapster]

OP here!

 

Thank you for all the options and pros and cons.

 

Definitely no glue traps for me. 

How do you kill them afterwards, as JamesP said:

 

....so I thought of dropping a very large paving stone on them, perfectly horizontal, for even death distribution!

 

....or taking an axe to them in a horrible parody of ISIS.

 

• No, I'll finesse them out with mothballs.
• If that doesn't work, or if they come back soon afterwards, I'll block the eaves with some sort of metal mesh, on a very hot day when no creature would be under the roof if it wanted to live!  Thus there would be no smelly deaths in the roof space.

Job done, I reckon!

 

Thank you for your expertise!

 

 

 

[Morch]

1 hour ago, JamesP said:

Yeah, use glue traps if you're a heartless person and want to torture the animal instead of killing it quickly.

 

Glue traps are terribly cruel and disgusting. The person who said they'd "pluck" them out gives me the absolute creeps, you do realise they're still alive on them and if you do that, you're bound to pull off skin or even a leg, right?

 

And just how do you kill a glue-trapped rodent? That's also another issue the people who recommend glue traps seem to be evading - because trapping it with such a trap is only one half of it. You still have to kill it (it's likely to be alive).

 

Or... you could use a trap that can kill it quickly. No mess, no torture... both better for you and the animal in question.

 

And just how do you kill a glue-trapped rodent? That's also another issue the people who recommend glue traps seem to be evading - because trapping it with such a trap is only one half of it. You still have to kill it (it's likely to be alive).

 

A couple of ways to go about it - place poison in the bait, rat is glued and dead. Otherwise, a bucket of water works as well. There are no "nice" deaths, but these beat chopping or squashing as in the OP's last post. I really hate rats, so less issues with killing them, as long as its not too gruesome.

 

What I don't get, though, is the "catch and release" thing. That's either inflicting them on someone else or begging them to come back.

 

About Geckos...the larger variety don't seem to think much about sharing roof space with rats (could be just my experience), and the smaller ones (I like these), occasionally leave a tail or a limb, but not often.

 

The squirrels, yeah...they're too cute to hurt, even if they're a bad news for the garden.