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Proper Rodent Identification is One of the Most Important Steps to Getting Rid of Them.

Rodent, Mice and Rat

Learn More About Rodent, Mice and Rats

Rodents have a distinctive sense of smell, hearing, and sight. They are nocturnal species, usually with large eyes and commonly attracted to ultra violet lights. Most rodent species in Singapore have long tail, sensitive whiskers. Some species of rodents even have pouches in their cheeks.

Hid well under the fur and can be turn inside out for pushing food out or cleaning. In most species, the tongue are not able to reach beyond the incisors. Rodents have an amazing gut digestive systems, that are able to absorb close to 80% of ingested energy. They practice coprophagy, by eating its own faeces they get the guts to absorb the nutrients.

Rats are generally warm blooded animals, inhabit every part of the world. They belong to the order Rodentia, which is the largest order of mammals. Rat infestations are one of the most common pest problems globally. They are disgusting and often associated with illnesses such as streptobacillary rat bite fever and spirillary rat bite fever.

Rat infestations are a prevalent pest issue globally, known for their unsanitary nature and the inconvenience they cause. Getting a Professional Pest Control Services is your best bet to rid of your rodent problem permanently.

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Rodent Characteristic

The Rodent Lifecycle

They need at least 3 weeks to mature from birth to adulthood. In 5 weeks, they are already sexually mature and can start reproducing. On average they can live for about one year, those that lives indoor can live for 2 to 3 years. They can survive longer in a safe environment.

Baby rat weighs about 3 to 6 grams, depending on the species and at birth blind and naked without any fur. After 6 days, they will start opening their eyes. Then at the start of the third week, they will start growing fur.

The Rodent Anatomy

They have upper and lower pair of incisor teeth, used for gnawing. It does not stop growing, so they must chew to maintain and wear it down. Chewing on a variety of items available to them resulting to great damage in and around homes. Most rats, especially brown rat rattus norvegicus species are well-known for rapid breeding.

They constantly reproducing to maintain their large population. Example: Female can give birth to an average of 40 babies a year. When the condition is ideal, they can start conceiving again after 48 hours after giving birth. This is the reason their population gets bigger in a short period.

The Rodent Dietary

Habitats like whether they are in urban area, rural or the wild can affect their food sources. Roof rats, although omnivorous, prefer nuts and fruits. But ultimately, they will eat anything if they get hungry. They also tend to stash food at their harbouring area.

On the other hand, norway rats diet consist of literally anything cereal, meat and just about anything to survive. Meanwhile, house mice Singapore prefer seeds, nuts and cereal grains, similar, to roof rats and norway rats, they will eat anything. They can only survive at least 4 days without any source of food.

Learn to Know When you Will Need Rodent Control Services

Signs of Rodent Infestation

Faecal

The house mice dropping are the smallest among the three. Just like their body size compared to the others. Rat control specialist can identify the type of rodent is infesting your home just by looking at the dropping size. Obviously, the bigger the rodent, the bigger the dropping size.

Damages

Rodents are bait shy for example, they will not eat a whole loaf of bread. And instead, will start chewing the packaging consuming small bites each time. You will notice evidence of multiple rat bite marks or chewing signs on the food packaging over time.

Live Presence

Rodents breed all year round and needs a well hidden nesting area for them to reproduce. It is also common for them to start shredding nesting material for their nest. Material such as paper, card board and even cushion sponge. You should be very alarmed when this happens.

Smear & Foot Prints

The marks of rats foot print are normally extremely dirty, most infected rat carries harmful diseases. They will leave marks when they rub against the wall or, squeezing themselves into any opening to enter your home.

These are the types of Rodents commonly found in Singapore

Types of Rodents

Around the world, there are at least 1,500 species of rodents to exist. Most of us are familiar with rats and mice, while some consider them as “pets”. A common problem in areas with poor trash management. Few different types of rats in Singapore cause problems within homes and businesses.

More specifically, these three:

House Mice

Also known as house mouse and often found near human dwellings especially in United States North America. They spend the day exploring properties to become familiar with their surroundings. These mice typically enter a property through small openings about the size of a 50-cent coin to scavenge pet food or garbage bins. Despite being smaller than roof rats and Norway rats, house mice are often mistaken for young roof rats.

They have a grey colouration and can grow up to 10 cm in length. These mice can reach sexual maturity in just one month and produce around 6-10 litters per year.

Norway Rats

They live on the lower ground and also known as “sewer rat” or “brown rat”. These rat live in burrows, drains, sewerage and even field. They has poor vision and colour blind. Not agile but they are capable to run, jump, climb and swim causing a significant property damage when they gnaw.

Norway rats are greyish-brown in colour with lighter under part tone on their body and tails shorter than their body size. Their eyes, ears are small, head and body length is about 7 to 9 inches, tails measuring 7 inches and reach 16 inches long. They reach sexual maturity within 2-3 months. They can have about 4-7 litters per year with each litter consists of 8-12 young.

Additionally, their gestation only takes them about 3 weeks. They have shaggy fur, their ears and tails are scaly. They have the abilities to squeeze through small holes.

Roof Rats

The most challenging type of rodent to rid of as they live above ground. Meaning, how to stop rats where humans cannot access to set bait station. They are also nocturnal and are one of the most agile among the rodent family. While norway rats find burrows underground to hide, roof rats harbour on locations such as ceiling, attics and false wall.

They are excellent climbers, anywhere above ground will represent an ideal location for them to harbour. They still need accessibility to water source to survive and populate. They are also smaller in size, and their tail is longer than their body. Once they reach adulthood, their head and body length can measure 6 to 8 inches.

Their tail can be as long as 7 to 10 inches, they can grow to up to 16 inches long. They are black in colour and have a pointy face. Roof rats reach sexual maturity within 2 to 3 months. They can have about 3-4 litters in a year, a litter can consist of 4 to 8 young.

They have smooth fur, their tails are actually scaly and commonly found in the coastal areas. They gained the name “ship rat”, some refer to them as “black rats”. Additionally, they have poor eyesight but compensate by their excellent hearing, smell, touch and taste.

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