5 Effective Homemade Rat Poisons

Rats are frustrating pests that can spread diseases. You don’t want them near your home or property. However, commercial rat poisons are full of toxic chemicals that could also harm your children or beloved pets. Many people prefer to try homemade rat poisons before using commercial choices. Toxic chemicals near your home can seem scary.

There are several different ways to make homemade rat poison. Some take more time than others. Other recipes require more ingredients that you might not have in your house regularly. So, let’s take a look at several different choices for homemade rat poison.

Method #1

The first choice is simple! You will need:

• ¼ pound Plaster of Paris – found in most craft or hardware stores.
• ¼ pound cornmeal
• 1 to 2 cups of milk

Steps:

1. First, mix the plaster of Paris and cornmeal in a large bowl or container.
2. Next, add one to two cups of milk to the mixture. Start with the first cup and gradually add more if you notice clumps of dry cornmeal or plaster of Paris. You don’t want to soak the mixture though!
3. Knead the mixture together to create a dough.
4. Break the dough into smaller two-inch chunks and roll them into balls.
5. Now, put these balls behind your refrigerator, inside of cupboards, or anywhere that you think that rats tend to be hiding. Pick the areas that the rats seem to frequent the most.
6. Check the balls every few days. If they have yet to be touched, you will need to create another batch because plaster of Paris will harden to the point that the rats cannot consume the balls.

As you might imagine, this method works because of the plaster of Paris. The plaster contains gypsum, which will harden after it is in contact with the liquid. Once the rat eats the mixture, it will harden inside of their stomach, causing them to die.

Method #2

Don’t have plaster of Paris around the house? Or, do you want to use ingredients already available in your pantry? If so, method number two could be the best choice!

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup baking soda

Steps:

1. First, mix the flour, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl.
2. Then, divide this mixture into small, shallow containers that a rat could easily access. You don’t want it too tall!
3. Wait and check the cans in a few days.

Wow, talk about easy, but chances are you are wondering how these three ingredients could kill a rat. It is simple. The bicarbonate in the baking soda reacts with all of the stomach acids of the rat. This reaction creates a deadly carbon dioxide gas in their stomach. Rats cannot pass gas, so the carbon dioxide will build up, causing internal blockage and rupture.

Method #3

Here is another method that you might want to try!

• 1 package of instant potatoes
• 1 cup of plaster of Paris
• Cinnamon
• 1 cup water

Steps:

1. Mix the instant potatoes and plaster of Paris in a bowl.
2. Next, add a dash or two of cinnamon into the mixture.
3. Then, add one cup of water to the dry ingredients.
4. Stir together and put into several small bowls or empty cans. Cat food cats are the perfect height for rats to reach easily!
5. Place these containers into areas where you think the rats are living or visiting often.

This method works very similar to method one! The plaster of Paris will eventually harden inside of their stomach. While it doesn’t work as fast as a commercial method, you can guarantee the rats will die when they consume some plaster of Paris.

Believe it or not, rats are also attracted to the instant potatoes. The instant potatoes contain nutrients that the rats want to have in their system. It acts as an attractive bait. Plus, cinnamon adds a natural touch of sweetness that is desirable..

Method #4

Rats love cheese, but they also love peanut butter. For this method, you only need two ingredients, and chances are both are in your pantry right now!

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup baking soda

Steps:

1. Mixture together the peanut butter and baking soda. You could also use half baking soda and half plaster of Paris.
2. Put into a small container or two in the areas where you know the rats are frequenting.

Rats struggle to avoid the delicious scent of peanut butter. You could use just baking soda or baking soda and plaster of Paris. Either way, the rats won’t be able to live after eating this delicious treat.

Method #5

The next method involves a different ingredient – boric acid. Unlike commercial rat poison, boric acid is very slow acting. You can use boric acid to kill the rats over time. Some rats are smart enough to avoid baited traps. These choices are great for the smarter-than-average rat.

• 1 cup boric acid
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• Peanut butter or chocolate

1. First, mix the boric acid and sugar. You can stop right here if your goal is to create a dry mixture for the rats to consume simply. However, let’s make it more appealing!
2. Add water to the boric acid and sugar mixture to create a dough. Slowly add the water until it becomes a dough. You could leave these little dough balls out, just like we did in method one.
3. If you want to make this method even more appealing, roll these little balls in peanut butter, chocolate or both! That is a rat’s dream.

Rats are intelligent. Some homeowners make chicken broth balls out of equal parts chicken broth and boric acid. Add flour to the mixture to make it more manageable. The little balls will be scented like delicious chicken broth, making them almost unavoidable for rats.

Conclusion

Commercial rat poisons have their place and time to be used. However, turning to a homemade option is often cheaper and safer if you have children and pets running around. One of these five different homemade rat poisons will work for your situation!