If you’re searching for the best poison to kill rats and mice quickly and effectively, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compiled a list of the best rat and mouse poison to eliminate your unwelcome new pets. First, we’ll explain the most common ingredients in rat and mouse poison, which ones are the most effective, and how rodenticide kills rodents.
If you want to consider other options for getting rid of mice in or around your home before looking at the best rat and mouse poison, check out our articles on how to get rid of mice in your attic or how to catch a smart rat.
Best Mouse Poison and Rat Poison: The Basics
How Rodenticide Kills Mice and Rats
Most rodenticides available on the market today are types of anticoagulants. Anticoagulants prevent the production of vitamin K, which is crucial for helping blood clots. Without this vital vitamin, the rodent will start bleeding internally, which eventually leads to death.
Rodenticide can kill all types of rodents, not just mice and rats. Be careful of your placement of baits if you don’t want any squirrels, chipmunks, or other kinds of rodents to be affected.
Types of Rodenticide
Some of the most common ingredients in rodenticides include bromadiolone, bromethalin, cholecalciferol, and diphacinone. Bromadiolone and diphacinone are the anticoagulants discussed above. However, bromethalin and cholecalciferol work to kill rodents in a different but equally effective way. The products we suggested below contain these ingredients, which are proven effective at quickly killing rats and mice. The best rat and mouse poison available to non-professionals typically takes a couple of days to kill the rodents, so you should not be bothered by the rodents after a maximum time frame of two weeks.
Different types of rodenticides differ in how much is required to be lethal to rodents. Products that rely on rodenticide ingredients such as warfarin, chlorophacinone, and diphacinone need multiple feeds to be destructive. Therefore, a rodent must return to and ingest the bait multiple times to be killed. On the other hand, as their name suggests, single-feed baits are lethal after just one meal by rodents. However, EPA guidelines stipulate that only certain types of rodenticide are available to residential consumers (non-professionals). Even if your own DIY rodenticide use doesn’t work, don’t lose hope because professionals have access to methods that you do not.
Top 5 Best Rat and Mouse Poison
1. JT Eaton Bait Block Rodenticide
Pros
- Attractive flavor for rodents
- Effective for killing both mice and rats
- Low chance of secondary poisoning
- Lasts for 12 months after opening
- It comes with a 1-year limited warranty
Cons
- Requires feeding each day for 5 to 7 days
- It doesn’t come with a bait station.
This bait block comes in a rodent-attracting peanut butter flavour. This rodenticide utilizes the active ingredient of diphacinone, an anticoagulant lethal to rodents. This poison takes around 5 to 7 days to kill a rat or mouse. Additionally, the ingredients used in this rodenticide provide a low chance of secondary poisoning. So, if another animal eats the poisoned mouse, they have a meagre chance of also experiencing the lethal effects of the poison.
2. Contrac All-Weather Blox
Pros
- Weather resistant
- Lethal after one day’s feeding
- Low chance of secondary poisoning
- Typically starts providing results within a week
Cons
- It doesn’t come with a bait station
The trusted rodenticide uses the active ingredient of bromadiolone. As one of the market’s best rat and mouse poison products, this ingredient kills mice and rats after just one feeding. However, some sources report that groups of mice or rats are more likely to learn to avoid single-feed baits. This bait is weather-resistant so that it can be used indoors or outdoors with the correct placement. This may be the bait for you if you’re looking for a quick solution to a small rodent problem.
3. Farnam Just One Bite Pellet Packs
Pros
- Lethal after one feeding
- Kills multiple types of mice and rats
- Typically starts providing results within a week after feeding
Cons
- Can take a few days for rodents to display interest in the bait
Farnam produces a variety of highly-rated rodent-control products. Most of their products also utilize the ingredient bromadiolone, which kills rats and mice after just one feeding. These pellet packs are one of their more popular products, but they also make effective bait chunks in multiple sizes.
4. D-Con Corner Fit Mouse Poison Bait Station
Pros
- It comes with a bait station
- Resistant to tampering by children or pets
- Reusable and refillable
- Lethal after one feeding
- It can be used indoors and outdoors
Cons
- No antidote exists if accidentally ingested
This product comes with one bait station and 20 bait refills. Each bait refill can kill multiple mice or rats, so you likely won’t have to buy more refills than the ones already provided. Because this product already includes a bait station, it is much more resistant to tampering by children or pets. Additionally, this bait station can be placed indoors or outdoors and fits perfectly in corners, which mice often travel along.
Unlike the previous baits on this list, D-Con uses a non-anticoagulant rodenticide (cholecalciferol). There’s no antidote for this poison, so avoiding accidental ingestion by people or animals other than the targets is crucial. This bait should kill rodents with one feeding, but it may take one to two weeks to exact its lethal effects.
5. Tomcat Bait Chunx Pail
Pros
- Can kill anticoagulant-resistant rodents
- It starts killing rats and mice in just two days after they eat the bait
Cons
- Not weather-resistant
- It doesn’t come with a bait station.
- No antidote exists if accidentally ingested.
Tomcat’s Bait Chunx Pail uses a different active ingredient than the other baits on this list. Specifically, Tomcat makes this bait with bromethalin, a single-dose non-anticoagulant. So, it uses a different method to kill rodents than the other baits, but it’s just as effective. This particular product comes with 4 lbs of bait and may be especially useful if rodents bothering you seem anticoagulant resistant, making it one of the best poisons for killing rats and mice.
