Rodent baiting is one of the most common ways that pest controllers and consumers control rats and mice. There are lots of choices when it comes to selecting different types of rodent baits.
A word of caution about these types of rodent bait
This article talks a lot about the different types of rodent baits and their safety. Please remember that all rodent bait is toxic if used improperly. Regardless of the type of rodent bait, you should always follow the instructions of the product label.
You should never place rodent baits out in the open and always secure them on rods, in tamper-proof boxes, or in areas inaccessible to children and pets.
There are better options than baiting. Stopping mice and rats entering your house altogether is a much safer, effective, and eco-friendly option and may even stop the need to use any of the types of rodent bait at all.
Wax Blocks
Wax blocks are one of the most common types of rodent bait you’ll find. They are mostly paraffin wax with grains and attractant mixed in. Lower quality baits will have more wax than grain. Professional quality baits will have a higher grain content, which is more palatable to rodents.
The benefits of this type of rodent bait are that they’re cheap to manufacture, weather-resistant, long-lasting, and easy to secure in tamper-proof boxes. They can also be nailed down in roof voids, but we don’t recommend this.
Downsides of wax blocks are their lack of palatability to rats, who are often scared of new things (like bait boxes) and difficult to entice to feed. They can also melt in high heats (like in your roof), which can cause staining.
You should never place rodent baits out in the open and always secure them on rods, in tamper-proof boxes, or in areas inaccessible to children and pets.
There are better options than baiting. Stopping mice and rats entering your house altogether is a much safer, effective, and eco-friendly option and may even stop the need to use any of the types of rodent bait at all.
Pellet Baits
Pellet baits are a common type of rodent bait in hardware stores. Often sold in little boxes or ‘throw packs’. Pellet baits are basically just wax blocks in a smaller size. They are not used by professionals much, as they are very risky. In our industry, their use is mostly limited to burrow baiting.
There aren’t many benefits to using this type of rodent bait. Burrow-baiting is the only worthwhile use of this formulation.
The downsides of these types of rodent baits are mostly to do with the risk of harm to pets and wildlife. They can’t be secured on rods or wire. Rats and mice can take the bait away from a secured location and into the open, where a non-target animal may find it.
Soft baits
Soft baits are one of our favourite types of rodent bait for our professional use. They are comprised of grains and proteins with oil or fats, along with preservatives to keep them fresh. Soft baits can be a bit harder to use, but are much better in some situations than wax blocks.
The benefits of soft baits are their palatability as they don’t have paraffin wax. Rats don’t often trust new food sources and prefer to feed from only a few spots. So if you want to entice them to a bait, ditching the wax is a good idea.
Downsides of soft baits are that they are harder to use. They don’t last as long in weather and they don’t stay palatable for as long as wax blocks. We mostly use them for initial clean-out baiting when we only use them for a short time. Once the rats establish a scent in the stations we will switch to a longer lasting wax block for ongoing monitoring.
Gel baits
Benefits of gel baits include their palatability and portability. They contain only oils, grains, and proteins (similar to soft baits). Gel baits can also be placed in tiny concealed areas that larger non-target animals can’t access, so they can be deployed without a tamper-proof bait box. This can help get rats to feed if they are afraid of the bait box.
The downsides are that this type of rodent bait doesn’t remain palatable for long. It also has a potential for misuse if not placed in concealed areas.
For more information see: Rodenthor gel bait
Tracking Powders
Tracking powders are not used very often in our industry, and certainly not by consumers. This type of rodent bait is easy to use improperly and can be dangerous if you get it wrong. Tracking powders contain the bait in a powder form. They are spread over areas that rodents are travelling. As the rats and mice lick their feet to clean them, they ingest the bait.
The benefit of this type of rodent bait is that it doesn’t rely on the rat or mouse eating it. If it’s placed right, they will ingest it when they clean themselves. It can be used when you have a population that won’t feed on baits, which can happen especially on farms when they have a consistent food source in grain storage.
Downsides are the potential for poisoning a non-target animal. The powder must also be placed in exactly the right place, so you need solid evidence that the rats and mice are travelling there. This is a product that consumers should not attempt to use and is for professionals only
