A List of Rat Poisons That Won’t Harm Pets 

Can You Kill Mice With Salt?

Rat infestation is one of the biggest challenges for all homeowners. If you keep dogs and cats, you should look for rat poison that won’t harm pets. Most people wonder if it’s possible to kill mice with salt. Strange as it may sound, the answer is yes! You can kill rats with salt. This article will discuss how to get rid of rats in the yard without harming pets. Let’s begin.

Salt

Mouse Poisons Safe for Pets

Although rat poison is the most effective way of eliminating rats, it can harm other pets in your home. Therefore you should look for rat poison that won’t harm other animals. You can kill rats with salt other than poison. The amount of salt used to make pet-safe mice poison is small, but it works perfectly well. The 2% grain-to-salt ratio is the optimum ratio to kill mice with salt.

According to research, mice can take a day or less to die after consuming sea salt. However, they need to consume around 80 grams (2.82 ounces) for them to die. 

Rats cannot survive with more than 75 grams (2.65 ounces) of salt in their bodies. This amount of salt causes intense neurological damage, such as deafness, blindness, and general weakness. 

To worsen the matter for the rodents, any excess amounts of salt get consumed quicker because they have small bodies. So the negative impacts of the salt will take effect quite fast.

A Recipe for Natural Rat Poison

You will likely have rats in your yard if you keep goats, chickens, dogs, and other livestock. With other animals around, you need to find rat poison with natural ingredients which won’t harm your livestock. Using poison risks your livestock as they may consume the dead mice. 

Finding a non-poisonous rat poison is not easy. Luckily we have discovered a homemade rat poison that can come in handy. Our mousse recipe below is simple and safe for all your animals. The key ingredient in this recipe is salt, which dehydrates rats and mice to death. 

Kill Rats With Salt: Natural Mice and Rats Poison Bars

Time: 35 minutes

Serving Size: 8 servings

Prep time: 5 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Equipment Needed

  1. One big bowl
  2. Hand mixer
  3. Baking sheet
  4. One egg

Ingredients

  • Sweet feed for mice, 2 cups ( snow peace, peace, or any other bird seeds)
  • ⅓ cup of table or sea salt
  • ¼ or ½ cup of peanut butter

Directions

  1. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. The amount of peanut butter you will use will depend on whether it’s stiff, loose, or runny. 
  2. Add a little water for the dough to clump together.
  3. Flatten the dough out on a piece of baking paper on a baking sheet. Make it half an inch thick.
  4. The next step is to cut out the dough into your preferred shapes and sizes. 
  5. Bake the bars for 30 minutes at 632 Fahrenheit (350 degrees). Bake until the dough is well set. 
  6. Cool the natural rat poison and store it in an airtight container. 

How to Use Natural Rat Poison

After preparing your pet-safe rat poison, you next need to know how to use it. The best way to use this is by placing a few bars in an old dish and placing the dish along the wall. This strategy will work well because mice and rats run to the walls for safety. Crumble the bars up a little to make it easier for the rats to chew.

It’s as easy as that! Replace the bars as often as possible until you have eliminated all the rats and rodents. The best thing to do would be to use the bars for a few days, stopping a bit and using them again. 

Rats can reverse the above effects by taking lots of water, so ensure there is no water around. Salt kills rats fast because they get enough from existing food. The salt completely dehydrates the mice. Therefore there will be very little or no odor.

Advantages of Using Natural Rat Poison

Affordable

Using salt to eliminate rats is one of the most affordable methods of keeping these pests at bay. Salt and peanut butter are readily available in most homes. You will not need any other additional products when making the above pet-safe rat poison.

Safe

As already mentioned, killing rodents with rat poison poses a great danger for kids and other pets at home. Pet-safe rat poison is the safest way to eliminate mice and rodents. Homemade rat poison is a great option because salt is not as fatal to your cat or dog as it is for rats.

Disadvantages of Using Natural Rat Poison

Kills Rats Slower

Over-the-counter rat poisons eliminate mice faster than homemade rat poison. While chemical rat poisons kill mice immediately, homemade rat poison takes 18-24 hours. Additionally, natural rat poison could prove ineffective in eliminating many rats. That’s because rats breed quickly and in large numbers. 

Water Reduces Its Efficiency

Using salt correctly with your bait is an excellent way to eliminate rats. However, ensure there is no water around. Rats and mice can easily counter the effects of salt by taking water if it is available nearby.

Poisoned rat

A DIY Non-Kill Rat Trap

Some people do not like killing pests as problematic as mice could be. You can use the below trap approach to eliminate mice and rodents if you are among such people. The DIY trap is an alternative method to eliminate rats in the yard without harming pets. 

Equipment

  • A large bucket
  • A drill
  • A rod (Like a curtain rod)
  • Peanut butter
  • A drill bit ( Your drill bit should be large enough to make a hole size equal to the metal rod you have)

Instructions

  • Make two small holes opposite each other on both sides of the bucket.
  • Put your rod through the two holes. Ensure it can spin freely.
  • Apply lots of peanut butter in the middle of the metal rod. Leave some swipes of peanut butter on the outside of the bucket and edge. Leaving some outside will help draw the rats and rodents in.
  • Place the bucket where rats can climb on top of the bucket. When they try to reach peanut butter in the middle of the rod, it will spin, dumping them into the bucket.

Take the bucket down the next day. Remember to cover the top, so the rodents and mice don’t jump out. You can then take them far away, preferably in a field or forest, and let them go. Do not release the mice and rodents near other people’s homes but a few kilometers from the nearest home. 

A List of Rat Poisons That are Pet Safe

RatX Mouse Poison 

RatX is a new product designed to be exactly what you need! If you are looking for rat poison safe for dogs, this is the product you should buy. The active ingredients in this pet-safe mouse poison are salt and cornstarch. These two ingredients are safe for dogs, cats, and children.

Once ingested, RatX humanely and slowly kills the mice and rats. This poison kills rodents from the inside out and dries them out, reducing odors by as much as 95%. RatX is effective for both indoor and outdoor use.

If your dog or cat takes some RatX, do not panic or induce vomiting. Instead, give your dog plenty of fresh water, which will be okay. This product is effective, eco-friendly, and safe for other pets. We would recommend it to anyone looking for over-the-counter natural rat poison. 

Volex

Volex is another pet-safe mice poison that you can use to eliminate rodents in your home. Although this product is specifically for eliminating moles, it is still effective in killing rats, mice, and all other rodents. 

This product is safe for use around children and other pets if used as directed. The key ingredients used to make this product are sesame seeds and salt. This natural rat poison comes in a ready, easy-to-use form and has no strong smell. All you need to do is throw the pieces in areas where the rats hide.

The main disadvantage of this natural rat poison is that it takes too long to kill the rats. While over-the-counter poisons kill immediately, this one takes 3 to 5 days. This poison also kills the rodents from the inside, so there will be little or no smell. 

Cocoa Powder & Plaster of Paris

You can use cocoa powder and plaster of Paris to make rat poison that won’t harm other animals. To make this natural rat poison, you will need one spoon of cocoa powder and an equal amount of plaster. 

Mix them well and sprinkle along the paths most rats and mice follow. The cocoa powder acts as bait, attracting the rodents to come and feast. After eating this mixture, the rats become severely dehydrated, suffocate and die. This homemade rat poison is cost-effective yet very effective.

Cocoa Powder

MouseX

MouseX is another natural rat poison that you can use to eliminate mice, rats, and moles. This product is safe for use around children and other pets at home. You can use it to eliminate mice indoors and outdoors. 

The main active ingredients in this rat poison are sodium and corn gluten meal. These two have zero chances of poisoning other pets and children. 

MouseX trays are pre-measured. All you need to do is set them in areas with lots of mice and rats in your home. 

Below are other pet-safe methods that you can use to eliminate rats and mice.

Traps: Using mice traps is another method that you can use to eliminate rodents effectively. However, this method can only work if the number of rats is few, like six to ten. These traps usually don’t kill the mice, so you will still have to deal with live or injured rats. Traps might also not be effective in eliminating rodents outside the building.

Blocks and bait stations: Blocks and baits offer a better solution than rodent traps. There are various pet-friendly blocks that you can try depending on the infestation. Some are single feed, while others are multiple feed baits. 

Coumatetralyl is the main active ingredient found in these blocks. This chemical breaks down fast in mice once ingested, causing instant death. 

Potato powder: Potato powder is a natural ingredient that repels and kills rats. Besides salt, you can also use this method to get relief from rats and rodents. Potato powder is tasty and inviting to rats. They will readily eat it when you spread it around your home. 

Potato powder causes digestive complications for rats when ingested. The potato flakes cause severe swelling of the intestines, which causes instant death. If you are looking for pet-safe mouse poison, consider using potato powder.

Some people do not prefer killing rats. Here are alternative natural methods you can use to keep away rats.

Peppermint oil: Peppermint oil naturally repels rats. Although human beings love the smell of peppermint, rats find it annoying and will not stay in such an environment. All you need to do is dip small pieces of cotton in peppermint and place them in areas with lots of activity in your home.

After some time, mice will find your home inhabitable, forcing them to vacate your space.

Onions and garlic: These two have a strong, pungent smell that rats hate. You can make garlic spray by chopping it into small pieces, adding water, and spraying it in areas where rats love hiding. For the onion, cut them into small pieces and place them where the rats hide. A consistent onion scent drives away mice and rats.

Hot pepper flakes: This spicy food additive also repels rats and mice. Pepper is known to cause sneezing when the tiniest particles get inhaled. The effects are way worse in rats and mice since they get very irritated by pepper. 

Sprinkling pepper in areas most used by mice makes such places unbearable to them. This method is affordable yet efficient in eliminating rodents from your house.

What Can You Do to Prevent Rats and Mice? 

After successfully eliminating all mice and rats, there are measures you can take to protect your home from a possible future infestation. Here are some measures you can take to prevent rats and mice.

  • Seal all holes and gaps in your home.
  • Trap rats and mice around your home to help reduce their population.
  • Keep your home and compound clean.
  • Clean the yard often.

The Bottom Line

Rats and mice can be such a headache! It becomes even harder to eliminate them if you keep other pets, such as cats and dogs. However, they are easy to control with the natural rat poison above. The ingredients used in making this homemade rat poison are safe for all pets and children. 

If you don’t prefer killing rats, you can use the DIY non-kill trap to catch them and take them to a faraway place. You can also use the other natural ingredients discussed above to keep them away from your space.

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