Help, I think we have a rat infestation!

[Natsku]

What can we do to get rid of them besides rat poison? (as Maria would probably eat it )

 

[Harveysmum369]

There are traps you can get hun.xx

 

[cherryglitter]

yup traps!

 

[Natsku]

But I think they are in the walls, how do I get them out of the walls to go in the traps?

 

[rwhite]

If they're in the walls, that's tricky. It may be worth getting a quote from an extermination company? x

 

[Natsku]

Oh great, hoping it wouldn't have to come to that. Maybe thats something the landlord is supposed to take care of.

 

[marley2580]

You could always get a man with a dog?

 

[TattiesMum]

Even if it seems like they are in the walls (which is quite possible) they will still have to come out for food ... have a good look around your walls/back of cupboards etc to see if there are any holes that they might be coming out of. A rat, even an adult one, can squeeze through a hole about one inch high - they are incredibly 'squishy' ... mice can fit through really tiny holes and would sound like rats in the walls because the cavities amplify the sound, so it may be that you have mice rather than actual rats.

Also have a good look around your kitchen for any droppings ... If you see either than that is the place to place your traps

Or you could get a cat .... often just having a cat in the house will send rats/mice looking for new homes

 

[Natsku]

Seen no sign of them downstairs at all, no droppings or grease marks or anything like that, no holes in the cupboards or anything. I just hear them in the walls, thats all. If they do come out it must be upstairs (upstairs is only used for storage) but don't know where they would find food there

I really want a cat so maybe I can persuede OH that we need one.... (he's allergic though )

 

[leahsbabybump]

we have these little plug in devices all round the house sends out ultrasonic sounds and scares them off we never had rats but we never seen um either the were £30 for 3 plugs

 

[maryp0ppins]

we have these little plug in devices all round the house sends out ultrasonic sounds and scares them off we never had rats but we never seen um either the were £30 for 3 plugs

Thinking of getting these, do they work for mice too? We get mice every winter.

OP I might just put out some rat poison at night and move it to a high place during the day when your lo is up and about.

 

[leahsbabybump]

^^ i imagine they work my grandadhas had them plugged in for years his repell against roaches aswell as rats and mice mine just do rats and mice. Neither of us as seen a rat or mouse since we had umplugged in
i had mice in my old flat they are vile :-@ we poisened um i walked down hall way one day and one was just laid there dead :-/ needless to say i ran off screaming for Oh lol he was laughing at ne but urrgh they are mingin rnt they i wouldnt be able to cope with um every winter i would make OH let us move lol or just get a cat mum has a cat and she never gets mice or rats grandad once when he was a miner bought a cat to get rid of the mice and rats she did her job bless her they never got um again while she was alive thats when they bought the plug in things when kizzy died

 

[cookielucylou]

You can buy humane traps and release them somewhere after. I don't agree with poison as it isn't humane and can harm other things.

 

[kmumtobe]

If you're renting (you mention landlord) then it should be something they deal with, we had exactly the same and ours had traps put in. We had a cat and it never dettered them, a little group of mice maybe, rats no. You need proper rent o kill services they're very hard to get rid of yourself and like to tell all their mates! I feel for you ive been there, one ran across the lounge one evening gives me the heebiejeebies just thinking bout it! Hope you get sorted x

 

[Boothh]

Those plug in things are great we had mice a few years ago when I lived with my mum, we put flour around the place we knew they were coming out every night and within a few days from thenflour being covered in footprints it went to none x

 

[Natsku]

Had a look at the plug in things today, they're really expensive here so gonna try and order some online instead. OH thinks they're mice not rats, so thats a bit better as mice are cute

 

[summer rain]

I think its very unlikely to be rats; its very rare for rats to infest inhabited homes, although I don't generally like the idea of using poison-it was the only thing that worked for us in our old house. We got this special type of poison which is like a blue playdoh in a sealed plastic box which has a tunnel and a little 'house' bit inside where the poison is, it would take breaking open the box to get the poison out but just to be on the safe side we put them under/behind extremely heavy pieces of furniture at the back where LO couldn't reach-ie bookcases or sofa or behind the cooker. You can also put them outside as even pets/other animals cannot get into them-and they are weatherproof. The mice took a couple of weeks to take the poison but they must've got hungry as they ate all of it, out of all 6 boxes we had-and as far as we could ascertain there were only 2-3 mice that came in-each box is supposed to kill . Needless to say they did not return nor did any of their little friends/family. xx