With a lot of rats in homes today, it doesn’t hurt to consider using salt to kill rats, and of course, you can indeed use salt to kill rats.
This method of getting rid of these rodents may not be the easiest, but it is effective, and the best part is that it is safer than using poison and will not harm your pets if they consume it since it can be treated immediately.
We will discuss how to kill rats with salts, how to get rats to eat salt, and helpful tips to know about killing rats. So if you have a question, you should read this guide to find an answer.
Are Rats Attracted to Salt?
Rats are not picky eaters and will be attracted to leftover food. Some of this leftover food will contain salt, and a rat will feed on it, so yes, rats are attracted to salt. They are also attracted to grains, sugary snacks,
In addition to salt, rats will dwell in any place that stinks or is untidy. They are drawn to your pet’s food, their waste, garbage containers, untidy barbecues, leftovers, unripe fruits and nuts, and bird feeders. Rat are not picky eaters, so it takes a lot to invite them to your home or yard.
Check Out: Why You Should Feed Flying Squirrel
Does Salt Kill Rats?
You have to admit, killing rats using salt sounds strange because there is no way a rat will walk up to a large amount of salt and swallow it whole. But there are people out there that can verify that this theory is true.
But before using this method, you should know that using this technique to get rid of rats is one thing. Getting these rats to eat salt is another. So while this method may work out, it will prove to be a difficult task.
What are the Benefits of Using Salt as Rat Poison?
One of the benefits of using salt to exterminate rats is that it’s cheap. Salt can easily be gotten from any store close to you, and most homeowners already have a bag or jar of salt seated in their kitchen.
Another benefit of using the salt method is that it is not very dangerous for your pets. When you use poison, there is a chance that one of your home pets can run into the bait and eat it. At least if your pet consumes salt, it won’t do the amount of damage poison would.
How Does Salt Kill Rats?
The human body doesn’t function well when a lot of salt is consumed; the same goes for rats. The salt ions build faster, and the effect is immediate given the small size of a rat.
Salt poisoning these mammals can cause extreme dehydration, kidney problems, and death. It can also cause gastroenteritis and inflammation to them; suffice to say, the effect of excess salt in a rat body won’t be pretty.
Because the presence of excess sodium in a rat body causes a frenzy, water is being drawn out from the cells to keep the body stable; this strips its body cells of water.
Excess salt can also make the kidney filtration process difficult. With all of these symptoms, the only way a rat will die is if it does not drink water after consuming salt, and this is not something homeowners can always control.
Find Out: Can Foxes Climb Trees?
How Much Salt Must Rats Consume to Die?
For salt to successfully kill a rat, it has to be in a large amount. You may need 70 grams to 75grams of salt to kill a rat. But you can always go past the limit and use about 80 grams of salt.
If you plan to use 80grams of salt, then you should consider using one kilogram of bait. This way, the rat won’t suspect that there is a lot of salt in the bait.
Bait with a strong smell that can mask the salt should be used; you should not raise their suspicion by making the salt visible or allowing them to smell it.
How Long Does Salt Take to Kill Rats?
After a rat consumes a large amount of salt, it may take some time for the effect to hit. But within 18 to 24 hours, the effect of the excess salt should have done its work and left the rat dead.
However, there is one scenario where salt may not kill a rat. If it takes 18 to 24 hours for the salt to kill a rat without it taking water, it may have consumed some amount of water within that time. So a rat will die only if it doesn’t take water 18 to 24 hours after eating salt.
How to Get Rats to Eat Salt – Kill Rats With Salts
A rat wouldn’t just swallow a pile of salt sitting on your kitchen floor; that is why you need to get rats to eat salt. Things get interesting in this part because the only way to get a rat to eat a lot of salt is by disguising it in a lot of bait. This can be done using salt and cheese or salt and rat chow.
Lots of salt + cheese
Growing up, you have probably watched cartoons and other animations that show a predator trying to hunt down its prey using bait. A good example is tom and Jerry. And although cheese is not a rat’s favourite food, it will eat it because it is not picky.
Cheese is used to disguise a large amount of salt because cheese emits a strong smell, and like most animals, rats possess a strong sense of smell. The cheese masks the smell of salt with its strong smell making a rat unable to tell if salt is present.
So for this method, you would want to take blue cheese that smells and add a lot of salt to it (about 70 grams to 80 grams). Taste your cheese to make sure it is harsh enough before dropping it as bait; you should add enough cheese to disguise the salt.
To work effectively, you need to deprive rats of water and any other leftover food, cover all water sources and see that your sink is dry.
Closing all other doors and trapping them in a specific room is a good idea.
This prevents them from running off in search of water. You can also use other food items like fish or bacon; you must not limit yourself to cheese.
Rat chow + lots of salt
Rat chow is a complete lifecycle diet manufactured to enhance growth, reproduction, lactation, and maintenance in rats; this meal is mainly made for lab rats.
To prepare this formula, you will need about 930 grams of rat chow and 80 grams of salt. After measurement, mix the rat chow with milk and then add salt to the mixture.
You have to mix this formula well to prevent salt from concentrated in one area and minimal in other areas. Just like we mentioned earlier, you should deprive rats of access to a water source.
Helpful Tips to Know About How To Kill Rats With Salts
You will find most of these tips very useful on your quest to get rid of rats using salt, as they will make your work easier and effective.
- Don’t give rats access to water; keep every water source locked up or closed. This will enrich their cell and kill the effects of the salt in their body.
- If you aim to kill more than one rat, you should not use this method in a closed area. This is because you will not kill enough rats, and the smell of these rats when they are dead will be great. The best spaces for this can be a store or a stable; outdoor spaces are not excluded.
- If you are dealing with many rats, you will want to add something to back up the salt. A few drops of poison will do, or some traps laid around. However, distance your pet from this bait and trap to prevent them from getting affected. If the population of rats is not very high, then there is no need for supplements; just salt will do.
See This: 9 Possible Reasons a Wild Rabbit is Sitting in One Place
Conclusion: How To Kill Rats With Salts
With rats destroying your possessions and foodstuffs, you want them out of your house and yard.
They are also carriers of diseases, which can be bad for your health and the health of your kids and pets. But using poison can be dangerous, especially for your pet; the better alternative is to use salt to kill a rat.
You will need to mix a lot of salt with cheese or rat chow; this way, rats don’t smell the salt. This method works by causing them dehydration and kidney failure, so you should deprive rats of water after eating salt.
When dealing with multiple rats, you should consider using this technique in an open space to prevent the strong smell; supplements like poison can also be added to the salt mix to facilitate the death of these rats.
Helpful Links
- Can Foxes Climb Trees?
- Can I Shoot a Possum in My Backyard
- What Sorts of Food Does Backyard Lizard Eat?
- Can You Eat Squirrel From Your Backyard
- Do Skunks Climb Trees or Fences?
- Can Possums Climb a Wall or Fence?
We trust this article helped you know why you should use dawn dish soap deer repellent. You may also want to check out If Dawn Dish Soap Keep Deer Away?
Thanks for taking the time to read our article, and we hope you find it helpful. Would you mind leaving a comment below if you have any suggestions?
Kindly reach out to people by sharing this post on social media.
If you liked this article, then please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
