Rats are one of the most common pest problems in apartment buildings. With multiple tenants going in and out of the building all day and night, rats have plenty of opportunities to enter. They mainly enter an apartment building to find shelter, food, and water.
When you notice signs of a rat, contact your landlord, building manager, or the building owner. They are responsible for deciding how to get rid of rats in an apartment. At the same time, there are many things you can do as a tenant to rat-proof your apartment. You must know the signs of a rat in an apartment to know what to do.
Recognizing the Signs of Rats in an Apartment
Seeing a rat, like when you flip on a light in a dark room and see it scurry into hiding, is the easiest way to know you have a rat problem. Other signs include the following:
- Rat droppings, up to 40 per night, by each rat living in an apartment building.
- Rat trails, or lines of rat droppings and urine, wherever they travel, usually from their nest to a food source.
- Rub marks on baseboards, walls, and floors from the grease and filth on a rat’s body.
- Footprints as they travel in dusty areas.
- Holes in baseboards, walls, or other areas chewed open by rats.
- Rat nests, which look like balls of debris, usually in dark and secluded areas.
- Hearing noises in your walls, ceilings, or floors like scratching, chirping, and scurrying.
- Smelling foul odors resembling ammonia but from rat urine and feces buildup.
Dangers of Having Rats in an Apartment
Having rats in an apartment building poses risks for all tenants and should be professionally eliminated immediately. One risk is that having one or two rats in the building can quickly become an infestation. Female rats can breed up to seven times annually, giving birth to seven or more pups each time. The females out of each litter are ready for breeding just three months after birth.
Another danger is that rats leave large amounts of feces and urine in areas where humans are, exposing you to the many diseases rats carry. If you breathe in spores that grow on their feces or touch their waste, you are at risk for diseases like tularemia, salmonellosis, and hantavirus.
Rats chew and gnaw on most materials, including electrical wires, drywall, wood beams, linoleum, carpets, and more. Damages can be costly and may even result in fires, structural failure, or injuries from tripping.
Rats can be aggressive. There are reportedly over 15,000 rat bites in the United States annually. Some of those bitten will acquire rat-bite fever, an infectious disease. Rat-bite fever is not the only concern.
Diseases Rats Carry
Rats carry numerous diseases and can transmit them to humans through bites, contaminated foods, and contact with their feces and urine. Diseases include:
- Hantavirus, spread by inhaling spores from rat feces, can lead to respiratory problems in humans.
- Leptospirosis, a bacterial disease spread through rats’ urine, can lead to severe flu-like symptoms and damage the kidneys or liver.
- Salmonellosis is a bacterial infection transmitted by eating foods contaminated by rats and can lead to severe digestive problems.
- Tularemia, a bacterial disease known as rabbit fever, can lead to skin ulcers, swollen glands, mouth sores, diarrhea, and pneumonia.
Because rats harbor fleas, ticks, and lice that can latch onto humans, they indirectly spread the following bacterial diseases: Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan virus, Borreliosis, Flea-born typhus, and Rickettsialpox.
These are just a few examples of diseases humans can contract directly and indirectly from rats.
Damage Rats Cause
Rats can cause extensive structural damage to an apartment complex by gnawing on structural supports and beams. They sometimes burrow under the foundation of the building, causing it to become unstable. Rats also gnaw on electrical wiring, causing interruptions in your electricity and, sometimes, fires.
Rats burrow in the insulation of apartment buildings, causing higher utility bills and leaving you feeling colder in the winter and hotter in the summer. They build nests in HVAC ducts, which can also lead to fires and send the spores growing on their feces directly into your apartment.
Rats can chew through plastic and some metals. If they chew through the building’s plumbing system, you could be left without use of your bathroom. If rats enter your apartment, they may disable your appliances by chewing through wires. They will also destroy any personal items, whether sentimental or not.
Top Tips for How to Get Rid of Rats in an Apartment
It can be tempting to try do-it-yourself methods for getting rid of rats in an apartment. But it is not as simple as setting traps with cheese or peanut butter. Each rat species may require specific baiting and trapping methods. Using the wrong technique can lead to more significant problems. You want to avoid causing further damage to your apartment.
If you are a tenant, inform your landlord, who handles problems like rat infestations. If you own an apartment, you must know the type of problem you have before getting rid of rats. Trapping and baiting can take weeks to months, depending on the colony.
Hiring professional rat removal services is the best way to ensure all rats are gone. They provide a thorough inspection and plan to treat the problem and prevent future infestations.
Sealing Your Apartment Against Rats
Even if you eliminate all rats from your apartment, you must prevent other rats from entering. Rats do not need much space to enter an apartment. They can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter and flatten themselves to go under doors.
You may not notice every hole or crack in your apartment, but a professional wildlife expert will. They will also seal each one with proper materials. For example, they will use waterproof sealants to seal around leaky pipes. To seal vents, they may use steel wire mesh. Weatherstripping and spray foam may be necessary to seal other areas.
Removing Rat Food Sources
Rats will eat anything humans eat and anything your pets eat. A morsel of food falling under the oven, crumbs on your counter, and pet food left in a bowl entice rats. Removing all access to food in your apartment is crucial to avoid attracting rats.
Wherever you eat, clean up that space afterward to avoid leaving scraps and crumbs behind for rats. For example, if you like to eat on your sofa while watching television, don’t leave food or crumbs in or under it. Also, properly store foods, including pet foods, in airtight containers. If a rat gets into your pantry, it will contaminate all your groceries, which can be costly to replace.
Rat Traps, Poisons, and Repellents
Rat traps are the most common way people try to eliminate rats. They do not always work because rats are very clever and suspicious of anything new in their space. You must know where to place the trap, which bait to use, and how to safely handle the rat after trapping it.
Those who try poisons often find themselves with skin irritations if they do not use proper gear. It can take rats ten days or longer to take effect. Using poisons can leave you with rotting rats inside your walls, bleeding rats roaming your apartment, and health risks to you, your children, and your pets. Poisons can harm other wildlife, raccoons, birds, or squirrels.
Scent and ultrasonic repellents are available today to deter rats from entering your apartment. Neither option is poisonous, making them much safer than toxic options. Scent repellents use a rat’s sense of smell and the odors they don’t like to repel them from the building. Ultrasonic devices use sounds that rats do not like to hear. They may affect pets, however, so placing the ultrasonic devices out of range from your pet is essential.
Unfortunately, scent and ultrasonic repellents are not always practical. Rats develop tolerance to smells and sounds, and some are not bothered at all. As a renter, you must get permission from the apartment owner before using traps, poisons, or repellents. You do not want to cause further damage to the property or put other tenants and their children and pets at risk.
Working with professional companies to remove rats from the building is best if you own the apartment or are the landlord. They can help prevent tenants from accidentally encountering poisons or injuring themselves with traps. Sometimes, DIY methods prolong the need to call for help.
When to Call Professional Rat Removal Services
Rat infestation stemming from trash compactor rooms. Courtesy of District Manager Robert Ard.
Many DIY methods for getting rid of rats are temporary solutions, if they work at all. Professional rat removal services offer effective solutions to eliminate rats in an apartment and prevent future rat infestations. They have safety equipment, knowledge about rat behaviors and habitats, and exclusion methods that offer tenants relief and assurance that their rat problem is over.
Critter Control offers thorough inspections before rat removal to assess the type and size of the infestation. Once complete, they will create a plan for removal, rat damage repair, and exclusion using proper equipment. Call them today or at the first sign of a rat. They are experts in how to get rid of rats in an apartment.