You can use poison for mouse control with a very high success rate! You do, however, need to use poison responsibly.
With so many active ingredients being used in products, it isn’t easy to know which one will work with the most success!
In this post, we will look at the question, ‘How does mouse poison work?’
How Does Mouse Poison Work
The answer to this question depends on which poison is being used. Some poisons affect the central nervous system, some cause hypercalcemia, eventually shut down vital organs, and some stop blood from clotting. This leads to the mouse bleeding to death.
Let’s look at the most common active ingredients in mouse poison and how each one works to kill the mouse.
List Of Common Mouse Poison Ingredients And How They Work
Cholecalciferol
Cholecalciferol (vitamin D) is a commonly used poison to target mice.
Mice, and other rodents, are susceptible to high doses, which is why it makes a good mouse poison.
How Does Cholecalciferol Work As A Poison For Mice?
The correct dosage of cholecalciferol will cause Hypercalcaemia, a high calcium level in the blood. In mice, this leads to hypertension, cardiac problems, renal failure, and death.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
Usually between 18 and 36 hours, sometimes sooner.
Bromethalin
Bromethalin is another widespread mouse poison. Released in the mid-1980s, it is a very successful rodenticide.
How Does Bromethalin Work As A Poison For Mice?
Bromethalin goes straight for the central nervous system. The result is a build-up of cerebral spinal fluid, causing intracranial pressure. This stops essential messages from getting to parts of the body, causing paralysis and death.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
Usually between 24 and 36 hours.
Phosphides
Metal phosphides are a fast-acting poison that you can use for mouse control. But this doesn’t sound like a very humane way of killing mice, but hey, it works, and it works quickly!
How Do Phosphides Work As A Poison For Mice?
The idea here is that a mouse ingests the poison, and phosphine gas is created as it is broken down in the stomach.
Phosphine gas is highly toxic! It blocks cells from making energy, which leads to the cells dying. Eventually, the major organs fail, and the mouse dies.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
From 24 hours, which is pretty fast!
Chloralose
Chloralose is a mouse poison used as a general anesthetic to sedate bigger lab animals. For mice, it can be used as a mouse poison.
How Does Chloralose Work As A Poison For Mice?
Chloralose works similarly to a barbiturate. It depresses the central nervous system leading to heavy sedation or death.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
24-48 Hours.
Brodifacoum
Brodifacoum is one of the most common mouse poisons on the market today. It is one of the only rodenticides with a 100% mortality rate for most rodents after only 24 hours!
How Does Brodifacoum Work As A Poison For Mice?
Brodifacoum is an anticoagulant mouse poison. Its primary function is to prevent blood from coagulating, leading to a pretty inhumane way of dying by bleeding out from the inside!
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
Mice will die from ingesting brodifacoum, usually within 24 hours, assuming they have ingested the correct dosage.
Bromadiolone
First registered in the US during the 1980s, bromadiolone is a lethal mouse poison and very effective!
How Does Bromadiolone Work As A Poison For Mice?
Similar to brodifacoum, bromadiolone is an anticoagulant that stops the blood from clotting. The result is a bleed-out!
More specifically, it inhibits the body from recycling vitamin K, which is needed for blood clotting. As soon as vitamin K runs out, the blood can no longer clot, and the mouse dies.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
Usually within 24 hours, but it can take longer for the vitamin K stores to fully deplete.
Difenacoum
Here we have another anticoagulant with a very high success rate for poisoning mice. Introduced in the US in the 1970s, it has been used successfully as a rodenticide ever since.
How Does Difenacoum Work As A Poison For Mice?
It is an anticoagulant that stops the blood from clotting, leading to bleeding. This poison also inhibits the body’s ability to recycle vitamin K.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
Usually within 24 hours, but it can take longer for the vitamin K stores to fully deplete.
Coumatetralyl
Coumatetralyl is a poison that needs continued usage for success. One of the best parts about coumatetralyl is that it sticks to the mouse’s fur. This leads to increased ingestion through grooming.
That is needed due to the large amounts needed to become toxic enough to kill the mouse!
How Does Coumatetralyl Work As A Poison For Mice?
Coumatetralyl is another anticoagulant that stops the blood from clotting, leading to the mice bleeding to death.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
Using this poison will take days of continued ingestion to become toxic. It would help if you only used this close to a mouse nest for the best results.
Flocoumafen
In trials, flocoumafen gave a quicker kill than difenacoum, Bromadioline, and brodifacoum. That alone speaks volumes about the effectiveness of flocoumafen as a mouse poison!
How Does Flocoumafen Work As A Poison For Mice?
Flocoumafen is another anticoagulant mouse poison that kills mice by inhibiting the body’s ability to recycle vitamin K. Once the stores have depleted, the mouse will bleed to death.
How Long Does It Take For Mice To Die From This Poison?
Usually within 24 hours, but it can take longer for the vitamin K stores to fully deplete.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take a mouse to die after eating poison?
It depends on the poison used. You should expect the mouse to die within 4 days after ingesting poison. Some mouse poisons take days of continual use to be effective, so you should choose wisely.
Where do mice go to die after eating poison?
They could go anywhere, and that is dangerous! Mice may die in your attic, cavity walls, or in your house. You will need to find the source and eliminate the dead mouse smell. But, as you can imagine, cavity walls are a particular challenge to clear!
How do you poison a mouse?
I prefer to add poison blocks into mouse traps that catch and hold the mice alive. This is very important because I do not want to cause secondary poisoning. Secondary poisoning is when a bird or another animal eats the mouse after it has ingested the poison. There are many dangers associated with using poison to control mice.
Conclusion
There are quite a few active ingredients used in mouse poison. If you are looking at home does mouse poison works, then the details here will have helped you understand.
Whilst mouse poison is a very effective way of controlling mice, it is important that you use mouse poison responsibly.
Using poison for mice control can be very dangerous and lead to serious medical conditions in humans and other animals. This includes your pets!
With that in mind, it is best to add the mouse poison to traps containing the mice until the poison has done its job. That way, you can be sure that no other animal will suffer, and the environment will be a little safer.
It would be best if you also considered whether or not to use poison over a mouse trap.
Good luck!
