Rodent control
Rat and mouse control for Auckland homes and businesses
Almost every rodent call we take in Auckland starts the same way, with scratching overhead somewhere between nine at night and two in the morning, or droppings appearing in a pantry that was clean a week earlier. What differs is what is actually producing it, and that matters far more than most people expect, because a treatment plan built for the wrong species will reduce the noise for a fortnight and then fail.
Ask about rodents
Tell us what you have noticed and we will put a price in writing.
Monday to Friday 7.30am–6pm, Saturday 8am–2pm. Urgent wasp work is prioritised.
The short answer
Auckland has three urban rodent species and they behave differently. Ship rats live above you in ceilings and hedges, Norway rats live below you in subfloors, drains and compost, and house mice nest inside wall cavities close to food. Identifying which one you have determines where bait and traps go, and getting that wrong is the single most common reason a rodent problem comes back.
So the first thing we do is work out what we are dealing with. Droppings, gnaw marks, runs, grease trails and the location of the activity all point in a particular direction, and by the end of an inspection we can normally tell you the species, roughly how established the population is, and which part of the building they are getting in through.
The three species, and why the difference is not academic
The ship rat, sometimes called the roof rat, is the one Auckland deals with most. It is an agile climber that travels along fence lines, power cables and overhanging branches, and it prefers to live above ground level. In practice that means ceiling cavities, wall voids at first floor level, dense hedging and palm crowns. If your noise is overhead, this is very probably your animal.
The Norway rat is heavier, a poor climber and a strong burrower, and it works at ground level and below. We find it in subfloors, in stormwater and wastewater lines with broken junctions, under decking, in compost bins and along stream margins. Auckland has a great deal of older earthenware drainage, and a cracked gully trap is a standing invitation.
The house mouse needs a gap of about six millimetres and very little food, and unlike either rat it will happily nest inside a wall cavity within a few metres of a kitchen. Mice also produce far more droppings than people assume, which is why a mouse problem often looks worse than a rat problem while being considerably easier to resolve.
What we do about it, and what we will not do
Bait has a place, but it is not the whole answer and it is not always the right first move. We use tamper-resistant lockable stations, secured so they cannot be moved by a child or a dog, and we record every placement on the treatment sheet so you know exactly where they are and so they can be recovered later.
Where a property backs onto a reserve, sits inside a community trapping area, or has cats, dogs or young children, we will normally propose trapping as the primary method, or a first generation anticoagulant rather than a second generation one. Second generation products persist in the carcass, and a poisoned rat that dies in the open is available to a morepork, a kāhu or somebody's dog. In a city that has invested as heavily in urban predator control as Auckland has, defaulting to brodifacoum in a suburban back garden is poor practice.
The part that actually ends the problem is exclusion. Rodents are not generated by your house, they walk into it, and until the route is shut the population outside will keep refilling the space you clear. Every inspection includes a list of the gaps we found, where they are, and what will close them.
Ceiling insulation, and the question nobody asks first
If rodents have been in a ceiling for a season or more, the insulation is usually contaminated with urine and droppings, and it will hold the smell and the scent trails that draw the next animal in. We will tell you honestly whether yours needs replacing, which is a separate job from pest control and one we do not profit from.
It is worth knowing that rodent urine in ceiling insulation is a recognised issue for landlords under the Healthy Homes Standards, because insulation that is damp, damaged or contaminated does not meet the standard. If you manage a rental, that finding belongs in your maintenance record.
Identification
Telling them apart from the evidence
| Sign | Ship rat | Norway rat | House mouse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropping | 12–13 mm, thin, pointed ends | 18–20 mm, blunt, capsule shaped | 3–6 mm, thin, dark, scattered |
| Where you hear it | Ceiling, upper wall, roof space | Subfloor, under deck, drains | Wall cavity near the kitchen |
| Route in | Branches, cables, roof junctions | Ground level gaps, drains, air vents | Any gap above 6 mm |
| Typical nest | Ceiling insulation, palm crown, hedge | Burrow, subfloor, compost | Insulation, cavity, stored boxes |
How we do it
The order this is done in
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We identify before we treat
Droppings, runs, gnaw damage and the timing of the noise tell us the species and roughly how long it has been going on.
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We agree the method with you
Bait, traps or both, and where they go, taking pets, children, wildlife and any community trapping in your street into account.
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We treat and map every placement
Stations are secured and recorded, so nothing is left unaccounted for at the end.
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We come back and verify
Uptake, activity and whether the entry points have been closed. Rodent work is not finished on the first visit and we do not pretend otherwise.
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We give you the exclusion list
Every gap we found, with its location and what will close it, in writing.
Cost
What this runs to
| Job | What it covers | Indicative |
|---|---|---|
| Single visit, small property | One species, standard house, bait or traps set and entry survey | $185 – $260 |
| Standard rodent programme | Initial treatment plus one verification visit at 10 to 14 days | $290 – $420 |
| Larger or repeat infestation | Multiple harbourage points, subfloor and roof, three visits | $450 – $700 |
| Commercial premises | Documented station map, scheduled servicing, audit ready records | from $620 per year |
Prices include GST. See the full pricing page for what moves a job within its range.
Questions
Rodent Control questions
How much does rat control cost in Auckland?
A single visit to a standard house runs about $185 to $260, and a full rodent programme with a verification visit is usually $290 to $420. Larger infestations reaching both the subfloor and the roof space, which need three visits, sit between $450 and $700. Commercial sites are quoted annually. The range reflects the size of the building and how many harbourage points have to be covered, and we confirm the figure in writing after inspecting.
Why do I only hear them at night?
Both rat species are nocturnal and most active in the few hours after dark and again before dawn. Hearing activity during daylight generally means the population has grown enough that competition is pushing animals to forage outside peak hours, which we treat as a sign of an established rather than a recent problem.
Is rodent bait safe around my dog and my cat?
Bait is placed inside lockable tamper-resistant stations that are secured in position, so direct access is not the main risk. The real risk is secondary poisoning, where a pet eats a poisoned rodent. That risk is much higher with second generation anticoagulants such as brodifacoum, which is why in households with pets we normally recommend trapping or a first generation product instead. Tell us about your animals and we will plan around them.
Will the rats die in my walls and smell?
It is possible, and we will not tell you otherwise. Anticoagulant baits take several days to work and the animal chooses where it dies. Trapping avoids the problem entirely because the carcass is recovered, which is one of the reasons we suggest traps in occupied bedrooms, in ceiling spaces above living areas and in food premises.
When is rodent season in Auckland?
Activity climbs sharply from about March as night temperatures fall and outdoor food supply drops, and complaints peak between April and July. Auckland's winters are mild enough that populations do not crash, so a problem left over autumn is usually still there in spring, just quieter.
My landlord says the rats are my problem. Are they?
Generally no. Under the Residential Tenancies Act the landlord must provide and maintain premises in a reasonable state of repair, and rodents entering through structural gaps, damaged subfloor vents or failed drainage is a maintenance matter. Where a tenant's own food storage or rubbish is clearly causing it, responsibility can shift. We provide a written treatment record with findings either way, which is usually what resolves the argument.
Can I just use supermarket bait myself?
For one mouse, often yes. For rats it usually fails, and the two common reasons are placement and bait shyness. Bait left in the wrong place is simply ignored, and a rat that takes a sub-lethal dose learns to avoid that flavour, which makes the job harder for whoever comes next. If you have already baited without success, tell us what you used, because it changes what we do.
Do I need to replace my ceiling insulation?
If rodents have been living in it for a season, usually yes. Contaminated insulation holds scent trails that attract the next animal, and under the Healthy Homes Standards insulation that is damaged or contaminated does not comply. We will tell you what we found and photograph it. Replacement is a separate trade and not something we sell.
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Describe what you have seen, or send a photograph. We will tell you what it is and what it needs before anyone visits.