Rodents are known for being avid breeders, producing as many as 22 babies per litter. This means that if an infestation starts with only a few crawling around in your home, it likely won't stay that way. You’ll probably want to look at rat traps.
However, don't stock up just yet. Traps have been a reliable method for years, but modern mouse traps have given way to the more convenient bait boxes. These contraptions allow pests to enter, consume poisoned food, and leave the box - so you have no rodents to dispose of later. So, the best rat traps may just be bait boxes. There are many more reasons that these boxes are better for farmers, which we’ll get to later in this guide.
Knowing whether to use a mouse trap or a box can save you considerable time and effort. The right rat trap can help significantly to stop a spread, but there are many more benefits to a bait box.
In this review, we'll be walking you through some of the best devices available that are both easy to set up and use. By assessing several factors that make a great product, we've compiled a list of the three best bait boxes available to put a clean and easy end to your infestation problems compared with rat traps.
3 Best Bait Boxes in the UK Reviewed
1) Euro Rat Bait Box
First on our list is the classic, easy to set up Euro Rat Bait Box. The box is crafted from durable plastic with a tunnel entrance on either side, allowing for access and escape by rodents. The poisons are stored within the box, which is only accessible either by vermin or via a key. This prevents any access by pets, livestock, or children.
Its design is simple but effective: rats and mice will run into the “trap” box, lured by the poison food. The rodent will then either consume the poison then leave, or take it back to their hideaway where others may consume it. This can be an effective form of pest control, helping to thin out infestation numbers.
The Euro Bait Box can be placed just about anywhere, either outdoors or indoors, and is fully secured via the key-locking system. This added level of security means that the only animal consuming the poison is your targeted rodent - no pet disasters here.
Pros
- Easy to set up and easy to use; simply place toxic food in the lockable compartment
- Small and easy to place in multiple locations, both indoor and outdoor
- Safe from accidental poison consumption via key-lock
- Very affordable so suitable for a variety of budgets
- Highly efficient as pests will often take poisoned food back for others
- Unlike with rat traps, no need to free live pests or dispose of dead ones
Cons
- The use of poison is controversial among some who desire a more humane rodent-removal
- Due to neophobia (fear of new things) the rodents may not interact with the box for quite some time. Patience is key
- Not an instant kill compared to a rat trap
Verdict
The Euro Bait Box is a great option for those who are willing to wait for efficient results. These devices are easy to use and inexpensive, without sacrificing on quality or execution.
2) The Dalton EZ Baiter
If you want some clearer intel on how actively your rodents interact with your boxes, the EZ Baiter poison trap may be for you. Featuring two clear tubes for the food to be placed within, you can observe how much of the poison your rodents are nibbling. This helps to measure where your pests are most active so you can ascertain the best placement of your pest control boxes or rat traps.
This device’s innovative design is intended to resemble a tunnel to entice rodents to run down it. The two food tubes are easily removable, so you can refill its stores as necessary without touching or moving the actual station.
This is extremely helpful when considering neophobia. Replenishing food without disturbing the box’s placement can help normalise the device for the rodents. This makes them more likely to feed there. Both food blocks and loose bait are applicable in the station's design without causing any obstruction.
Pros
- Entirely waterproof and made from durable plastic, enabling both outdoor and indoor use
- Clear tubes allow for easy observation of consumption over time
- Tubes are easily removable, so replenishment doesn't disturb the station's placement
- Tubular design along with bait is more efficient than rat traps at luring pests
- Variety of poison types applicable with the feeders to suit your needs
- Doesn’t allow for entry by other animals or children
- Easy to set up and use
Cons
- Poison can take some time to enact results
- Unusual design may make it difficult to place in smaller spaces
Verdict
The EZ Baiter offers an innovative design, which makes keeping track of bait far easier. It also mimics tunnels that pests are used to running through, making them feel safe and more likely to take the poison than when using a rat trap.
Though its shape may make it difficult for narrower placements, its pros far outweigh its cons. If you're looking for an efficient alternative to a mouse trap with more user-control, this may best suit your needs.
3) Mouse Box With Key
The second lockable baiter on our list is the Mouse Box. Despite its name, this box works for numerous pests that may be infesting your home, including mice. The design is simple yet effective: a tunnel structure with an adjacent poison box, lockable via a key.
This box's lockable aspect is an integral component, as it allows for increased safety measures. There's no risk of pets or curious children accidentally ingesting your poison. The tunnel structure also makes for a perfectly convincing avenue for any unsuspecting pest to run down.
The box itself is relatively small, meaning it's appropriate for even the most narrow spaces, making it incredibly easy to set. You can use it both indoors and outdoors, so it's one of the more versatile baiters. This alternative to a rat trap is suitable for use with most kinds of poison varieties, including blox and pasta types.
Perhaps the strongest aspect of this particular rat box is its affordability. It arrives in a set of two for an extremely affordable price, meaning you can buy in bulk and scatter throughout your home or yard as necessary.
Just remember that multiple baiters or rat traps in one location isn't always the best strategy. Be tactical with your placements for the best results.
Pros
- Lockable poison box for increased safety measures
- Appropriate for both indoor and outdoor use
- Pairable with a variety of poison types, including blox and pasta
- Safe to use around livestock, pets, and children
- Pests leave the box before they die, so no clearing out rat traps
- Highly affordable: two in one pack
- Easy to use
- Small in size, meaning it can fit in narrow spaces
- Easy to set up
Cons
- Might be too basic in design for the satisfaction of some users
- Not as alluring to pests as other bait box designs
Verdict
For an affordable option that can still achieve great results, this cheaper box and rat trap alternative will serve you perfectly. There are certainly more sophisticated boxes out there, but this may suit your needs just fine at a fraction of the price.
Bait Boxes vs Rat Traps: Why Baiters Are Best
Rodents are divisive creatures. While some consider them largely misunderstood, others recognise them as vermin that require immediate extermination. Regardless of your stance, it is largely agreed upon that no one wants them in their home. Disposing of rodents isn't a pleasant activity, but it is necessary, as many carry diseases.
That’s where bait boxes come in. Rather than setting rat traps - either the humane or the extermination kind - the disposal of the pests here is out of your hands. You’ll likely never see the dead rodents, as they crawl out of the box after they’ve taken the poisoned food. When you use rat traps, it’s your job to either drive miles away to release them or dispose of the dead body.
We've compiled a few FAQs regarding rat traps and baiters so you can make an informed choice.
What Baiters/Rat and Mouse Traps are Available?
There are numerous varieties of pest boxes and rat traps on the market, making choosing the best option quite difficult. Some popular types include:
- Bait Boxes: The subject of our reviews, these devices store poison within a small box, accessible only by pests. They are easy to set with little upkeep and don’t pose danger to other animals or children.
- Snap Traps: Most commonly associated as a mouse trap, snap traps are also used as a means of pest control. Snap traps usually work by catching rodents’ limbs or instantly breaking its neck.
- Glue Traps: most often used outdoors, glue traps trap the pest on the sticky surface to then be disposed of later.
Which trap you opt to use depends largely on your expected outcomes, the property that is infested, and where you need to place your rat traps or mouse traps.
We advocate using bait boxes over even the best rat traps, especially on farms where you keep other animals. Rat traps don’t discriminate and may harm your animals or even you by accident. Bait boxes completely eliminate this issue by only allowing pests access to poison.
Which Kills Instantly: Boxes or Traps?
A common misconception is that poison bait boxes and rat traps are an instant form of rodent removal. This is not the case. The time taken depends on the type of box or trap you are using - both can kill in a short amount of time.
Bait Boxes
This method uses poison which often acts very slowly, meaning that the rodent will die a while after consuming it. They’ll usually die in their burrow after consuming it there.
You may find the odd deceased mouse lying around, but generally, you won’t be left with the issue of disposal.
Using poison almost always results in the eventual death for the rodent (plus more if they share it with their burrow) - which isn’t always the case with a trap.
Rat Traps
Even the best rat traps do not kill rodents instantly, but some can cause death quickly: piston snap rat traps, for instance, often result in quick deaths by suffocation. While it's highly unpleasant to think about, they are effective.
Some rat traps don't even guarantee death - they might only catch a limb and leave the animal in pain - and usually only catch one rodent. This means you’d have to set many more mouse traps compared with using a box. You might also be left to “finish it off” if the rat trap doesn’t properly kill it. Rodents are even sometimes known to gnaw off trapped limbs, rendering rat traps less effective.
Some people who discover an infestation in their home don’t wish to kill the pests at all, choosing to use humane devices. However, the sad truth is that many relocated pests don’t survive away from their “territory”. So-called humane rat traps that involve live catching and removal to a distant location result in the animal's death regardless.
Best Locations for Bait Box or Trap Placement
This is arguably one of the most important parts of any pest-control process. You could have the most effective device available, but placing it in the wrong place entirely defeats its purpose. So, where is the best rat trap or bait box placement?
The obvious answer is in high-activity places: the places where you witness pests the most. However, rodents aren't stupid. If you change their environment in a significant way, they'll notice and adjust accordingly. They also won't interact with food in open spaces because it leaves them open to predators.
Most pests are extremely specific over where they eat. As all the best rat traps or baiters use food to lure them in, you need to be aware of this. Place them in locations where you've observed pests eating, or you've found signs of them having already eaten. This dramatically increases the likelihood of interaction with your rat trap or alternative.
Rodents’ fussy-eating issue is why bait boxes are so effective. After a while, they will adjust to the new box in their vicinity and use it as a safe food source where they’re shielded from prey. They’ll often take the poison back to their hiding spot where they feel the safest eating and share it with other rodents. This is an easy, efficient, and clean way to deal with an infestation.
Also, rodents generally have extremely poor eyesight. They are creatures that think with their noses. Therefore, using bait is a must: they are lured in by the smell of delicious food only to end up consuming the poison. While it may sound cruel, it is a necessary evil, as infestations can cause costly damage to your property.
How Do You Bait a Rat Box?
Leading on from how particular pests are about where they eat, they're also choosy about what they eat. This can make selecting the perfect poison a tricky process. Many times, it can be a process of trial and error.
An easy way to decide which diet your particular infestation may pertain to is simply by identifying their colour. Black rats are herbivores, whereas brown rats are omnivores. Serving up bacon to a black rat won't get you particularly far. Peanut butter, on the other hand, is a sure winner. For brown rats, a particularly smelly cheese will grab their attention.
However, ready-made poisoned bait is sold that is extremely effective at luring and contains just the right dosage of poison to kill pests. Rather than using foods you have lying around at home, it’s highly recommended to use professionally formulated poison bait.
Poisoned bait in a bait box is a key combination: the poisoned food means the rats will die, and the box protects other animals from harm - unlike other rat traps.
Rat Traps vs Bait Boxes: Which is Most Successful?
The answer to this question largely depends on which traps you're using, how you bait them, and how you're using them. Disposing of pests isn't quite as easy as it may initially seem. They are intelligent, despite their reputation, so they aren't going to run headfirst into a rat trap.
The key factor when attempting to solve an infestation is patience. There is no quick fix. It can take up to two weeks before a pest even registers that the baiter or rat trap you've set is “safe”. Once they've decided it's safe, only then will they investigate the food hidden inside.
Let’s look at how “successful” each method is, on average:
Rat Traps
When using these, people make a vastly common mistake: they assume that because it's been three days and there’s no rodent in the trap, the “best rat trap” they bought must actually be ineffective. Based on this assessment, they move the rat trap to a different location or try a different poison.
Do not do this! All this does is hit reset on the rodent's suspicions.
For the best rat trap success, place a few in several locations where you suspect the most activity. Don't place too many rat traps in one location, place them against a wall, and leave them for at least two weeks. This will maximise the likelihood of rodent interaction.
However, it also increases the risk of harm to animals other than rats. Most rat traps can only catch one rodent at a time, too. This lessens their efficacy compared with bait boxes.
Bait Boxes
Some people question the success of bait boxes because they leave no dead rats behind to count. Bait boxes kill rats invisibly, meaning it might take a while before you notice a decline in pest activity. But, rest assured that the poison is doing its work.
An easy indicator that your device is doing its job is by the amount of food left in the box day by day. The EZ Baiter we reviewed earlier is great for keeping a watch on your boxes’ success: you can see how much food is being taken and therefore eaten by the pests.
As with any method of infestation control, patience is a virtue. Resist the urge to move your boxes and wait for the rats to come to them.
So, Should I Use a Rat Trap or a Bait Box?
People have traditionally relied on rat traps to quell their infestation problems, but this method was never without drawbacks. The risk of chickens, dogs, and other farmyard animals getting caught in a snap trap, or that of livestock or even children ingesting poison left around, has always caused unnecessary stress and heartache. They also generally leave the disposal of the dead pests from the rat trap down to you.
However, poison bait boxes like the ones on our list differ because they have security measures in place. Boxes with easy to use lockable storage units keep pets and non-target animals safe while still effectively targeting pests. The best bait boxes we’ve listed benefit from tunnel designs, keeping larger animals and children clear of the poison. Their entry-and-exit designs mean that the rats don’t die in the box, and you never have to touch a dead rat.
For some, the best rat traps are humane ones. However, many rodents actually die when they’re relocated anyway. This method also costs a lot of time. Despite being unpleasant, poison is still a perfectly acceptable means of disposing of infestations - if you put the utmost security measures in place.
Conclusion
Rodents aren't desirable houseguests for anybody. If you're ready to get rid of your infestation, the bait boxes we've listed are all highly effective and easy to use ways of removing rats and mice from your home without breaking the bank or leaving you to clean up.
Whether you choose to use the best rat traps or bait boxes for you, we wish you luck clearing up your pest problem!