How to catch a rat in a small room yourself
Standard snap traps often fail because the rats ignore common baits like cheese or rice. Even when you successfully kill a few, new ones appear days later, making it extremely frustrating to completely clear out a congested space when you cannot involve a caretaker.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using a basic wooden snap trap baited with peanut butter placed flush against the wallDid this help you?
- 2Plugging entry gaps with steel wool and spray foamDid this help you?
- 3Keeping all food in tightly sealed containers and cleaning up crumbsDid this help you?
- 4using snap traps baited with various foodsDid this help you?
- 5trying sticky glue trapsDid this help you?
- 6hiring professional exterminatorsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So, I have a small rat running around my hostel room, and it's honestly becoming a nightmare.”source ↗
“Getting the hostel caretaker or warden involved isn't really an option, so I'm looking for ways to deal with this myself.”source ↗
“I'd particularly appreciate solutions that work in small, congested spaces and don't require expensive equipment or professional pest control.”source ↗
“I'm genuinely tired of having an uninvited roommate. 😭”source ↗
“My house has a rat problem and it’s getting very annoying.”source ↗
“I placed rat snap traps with cheese, rice, all sorts of food but it’s just not falling for it.”source ↗
“I’ll kill them all then they’ll be gone for days catching nothing then all of a sudden it’s another one I’m so frustrated with these mofos”source ↗
Where this came up
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