What’s worse than finding mice in your home? Findings rats. These rodents are larger than mice, and they can carry an array of diseases that affect humans, including:
- Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
- Leptospirosis
- Rat-bite Fever
- Salmonellosis
- Plague
- Colorado Tick Fever
- Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
Disease can be spread directly by rats or indirectly through fleas, ticks or mites that feed on rats.
The last thing you want is to expose your family to rats and the potential diseases they carry. Using the best rat bait can help you tackle your rodent problem once and for all. We’ve compiled a list of the top baits for your rat traps.
Table of Contents
Our Top Pick
JT Eaton’s Bait Block
From one of the best-known brands in the rat bait business, JT Eaton’s Bait Block uses an anticoagulant to kill rats – Diphacinone specifically. It smells and tastes like peanut butter, too, so rats will be attracted to the bait. Starts working in just a few days.
Features
- Comes in easy-to-use blocks
- Active ingredient Diphacinone
- 144-packs of 1-ounce rodenticide
- Comes in a resealable pail
- Backed by a 1-year warranty
8 Best Rat Baits and Poisons for 2019
1. JT Eaton’s Bait Block
JT Eaton’s Bait Block tastes like peanut butter and comes in convenient 1-ounce blocks for easy baiting. The active ingredient in this product is Diphacinone, which is an anticoagulant (the most popular type of rat poison).
Rats will start dying within days of taking the bait.
If you’re worried about the rats not taking the bait, don’t be. They’ll love the peanut butter smell and taste. Most users say that the bait is gone within just a few hours.
No matter the size of your infestation, Bait Block will have you covered. Each resealable pail comes with 144, 1-ounce blocks. If you have leftover bait, you can save it for future use.
- Rats love the peanut butter flavor
- Comes in a resealable pail for added safety and preservation
- Rats die within just a few days of taking the bait
- Comes in convenient 1-ounce blocks
- Does not come with bait stations
People love Bait Block because it’s potent and effective. It gets the job done quickly, and it includes more than enough blocks to tackle even a larger rat invasion.
2. Tomcat Bait Chunx
Formulated with Bromethalin, Tomcat Bait Chunx are potent and very effective. Bromethalin is also an anticoagulant, but it’s stronger than Diphacinone, so rats die faster. It’s also effective against anticoagulant-resistant rats, like roof rats and Norway rats. Rodents will stop feeding after eating a toxic dose, so you can kill more rats while using less bait. Rats die in as little as two days after eating this poison.
Bait Chunx is made with multiple edges, which appeal to the rat’s desire to gnaw. They also contain attractive food-grade ingredients as well as paraffin.
Bait Chunx comes in a 4lb bucket with 64 blocks. Each block kills up to 12 rats. Theoretically, you could kill up to 768 rats with just one bucket of this bait. You can use this poison with or without traps.
- Each block kills up to a dozen rats
- Uses Bromethalin, a strong poison that kills rats in as little as two days
- Can be used with or without traps
- Includes food-grade ingredients and multiple edges to attract rats
- Kills anticoagulant-resistant rats
- Some rats won’t take the bait
Most people have success with Tomcat Bait Chunx, but if the rats don’t seem to be interested in the bait, it may be because they have other food sources. The company recommends limiting food sources to make the bait more attractive.
3. Motomco Tomcat Pellets
Motomco’s Tomcat Pellets works on several rat species, including Norway rats and roof rats. Formulated with diphacinone, this poison will kill rodents in just 4-6 days.
You can use these pellets alone, or in a trap or bait station. We recommend placing them in a trap or bait station to reduce the risk of other animals or your pets getting into them. If you don’t have to worry about pets or children, the pellets are convenient for use in small crevices and other small spaces where rats may be scurrying about. These can also be used outdoors along fence lines and in rat holes.
These pellets come in a 10-pound bucket, which gives you plenty of poison to kill the rats on your property.
- Convenient pellets for easy use
- Ideal for use in bait stations to protect wildlife
- Can be used with or without traps
- Includes food-grade ingredients and multiple edges to attract rats
- Kills anticoagulant-resistant rats
- Pellets aren’t ideal for use indoors
Tomcat rodenticide pellets are best for outdoor use because they’re easy to sprinkle near fences and other areas where rats hang out.
4. Motomco Jaguar Bait
Available in a 9-lb bucket, Motomco’s Jaguar Bait contains the powerful poison Brodifacoum. This all-weather bait is ideal for tough infestations. In fact, this poison is the best-selling among pig and poultry producers because it’s so effective against persistent rodents. The poison is the strongest that Motomco offers.
If you have a heavy rodent infestation, this bait may be the right solution for you.
Like other Motomco baits, Jaguar blocks have multiple edges. Rats love to gnaw on things, so these edges satisfy that urge and make the bait even more attractive.
Jaguar blocks contain food-grade ingredients as well as paraffin to make it more attractive to rodents. Their unique shape makes it easy to place in a bait station or to secure using nails and wire.
- Uses Brodifacoum, the strongest anticoagulant that Motomco offers
- Blocks have multiple edges to satisfy gnawing desire
- Easy to add to bait stations or hang from wire
- Includes food-grade ingredients
- Doesn’t work for all rat species
Jaguar Bait is highly potent and ideal for large infestations. Rats will start dying in just a few days of eating this poison.
5. JT Eaton Top Gun
JT Eaton’s Top Gun is the bait you need when it’s time to get serious about killing rats. Formulated with Bromethalin, this is a neurological bait with stop-feed action and Bitrex to prevent feeding after rats take a lethal dose.
Bitrex is an important safety ingredient, as it deters consumption by children.Each bucket contains 128 blocks of bait with an average stop-feed action of 1-2 days. This action means that you’ll be able to kill more rats with less bait.
- Uses Brodifacoum, a strong, fast-acting poison
- Contains Bitex, which deters consumption by children
- Stop-feed action works in just 1-2 days to make your bait go further
- All-weather bait
- May need to add peanut butter or other foods to attract some rats
Top Gun is potent enough to get the job done fast, but it also contains ingredients that keep rats from taking more bait after they’ve consumed a lethal dose. If you have children, you will also appreciate the Bitex feature, which deters kids from consuming the poison.
6. Best Bait for Rat Trap: Bell Labs Ditrac
Ditrac’s all-weather blocks will kill Norway rats, roof rats and other rat species. These blocks contain Brodifacoum – the most potent single-feeding anticoagulant on the market.
Ditrac contains more than 16 food-grade ingredients for an attractive flavor that rats can’t resist.
Unlike other blocks, these baits come in a cog-like shape with multiple edges and a hole in the middle. The hole makes it easy to place the bait on securing rods or in bait stations. The edges appeal to the rat’s desire to chew.
Ditrac blocks can be used indoors or outdoors and in any weather condition – wet or dry.
- Formulated with Brodifacoum, one of the strongest poisons on the market
- Contains food-grade ingredients that are attractive to rats
- Cog-like shape and holes make it easy to use with bait stations and rods
- Can be used indoors, outdoors and in all weather conditions
- Not available in some states, including California, Arkansas and Hawaii
Ditrac is a potent rat bait that rats won’t be able to resist. All-weather and easy to use in bait stations, this is the poison you want when you have a serious rat problem.
7. Neogen Ramik Rodenticide Bars
Neogen’s Ramik bait bars kill most rat species, including Norway rats and roof rats. Resistant to mold and moisture, you can place bars outdoors or indoors – wherever you see rat activity. The active ingredient in this bait is Diphacinone.
Neogen uses a processing technology that makes the bait more palatable. These bars are fish-flavored, so it’s a great option for fussy rats that may not like peanut butter-flavored baits.
Each box contains four, one-pound bars, which can be broken into either 1-ounce or 4-ounce pieces. You can also lay out the whole bar if you want.
Ramik bars can only be used inside and within 50 feet of buildings or inside of transport vehicles. Rats don’t normally travel far from their nests, so this shouldn’t be an issue.
- Formulated with Diphacinone, a powerful anticoagulant
- Fish-flavored bait may be more attractive to fussy rats
- Resistant to mold and moisture
- Controls a variety of rat species
- Bars must be broken down by hand, which can get messy
If you need a rat bait that can be used in damp areas, like a basement or garage, the Ramik bar may be a good option for you. Resistant to mold and mildew, these baits are durable and will target a variety of rat species.
8. D-Con Ready Mix Bait Bits
Ideally, rat poison should be used inside of a bait station if you want to reduce the risk of children and pets getting into the poison. But like with all of the poisons on our list, you have to supply your own bait stations. That may not be convenient for everyone, or some people may be nervous about baiting the stations themselves.
D-Con’s Ready Mix Bait Bits take care of the work for you. These pre-filled bait stations are ready to place, and they’re ideal for hard-to-reach places, like attics, behind appliances and in basements. Rats will take the bait, run off, and die. You shouldn’t have to come in contact with dead rodents if you use this bait, but keep in mind that some may still die in your home. Wildlife is unpredictable.
This bait contains Brodifacoum, which is highly potent and will kill rats in just a few days.
Each 12-ounce package contains 4 pre-filled trays that you can place in dark corners or close to walls, where rats like to hang out.
- Formulated with Brodifacoum, a potent rat poison
- Each package contains 4 pre-filled bait trays
- Never have to worry about baiting the stations yourself
- Targets a variety of rat species
- More expensive than other bait options
- Only comes with four trays
D-Con’s ready-made bait stations are convenient, easy to set and start working quickly. You never have to worry about placing bait in your own stations. It’s a hands-off approach to your rat problem.