There are two different, common, types of rats in the Melbourne area, luckily Melbourne rat removal is the same to get rid of rats, regardless if it is Norway rodent or roof rodent. The Roof Rat and the Norwegian Rat (or Norway Rat) are the two most common that rat exterminators deal with. The roof rat, is by far the most common rat we encounter in pest control, I would guess that about 80% of our pest control calls are for rats, and every time people always ask “why me”? While there are things you can do to lower your odds of attracting certain types of rodents, a lot of it is just luck. Fortunately, we offer very affordable rat management services at a very affordable exterminator cost, in addition, we are very good at rat removal in the Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Rockledge area and provide excellent customer care.

A full-grown, 18-inch rat only needs entry points that are nickel-sized holes to get its entire body through. They can tread water for 3 days, and hold their breath underwater for over 3 minutes. Rats are truly amazing and are some of the most adaptable creatures of all nuisance wildlife, so we don’t want them in our homes! All of us in animal control get great pride from being successful at rodent control and removing rodents in the attics and in your homes, with customer care and satisfaction guaranteed!

The video below, posted by National Geographic, shows how some rodents can “collapse” their rib cages to come up your sewer system into your toilet (Yes, in my experience in animal control, I have seen this happen before on more than one occasion).

Roof rats usually enter your attic by way of open roof returns caused by other animals, such as raccoons. They can smell the pheromones left behind, and the rat populations of rats in the attic know it’s a possible new home. Rats also scale power meter pipes to gain access to the soffit and enter through pipe stacks and goosenecks that aren’t properly sealed. Once inside, they can make multiple rat nests in the attic insulation, and start having babies, leading to even larger rodent populations creating a more severe rodent infestation.

Dangers of rats and their feces:

Rats have very poor vision, as they travel, they urinate and leave pheromones excreted by their glands. They do it so they can have an easier time finding their way back. Rats drop up to 50 pieces of feces a day! Ultimately investing in setting traps and overall Melbourne rat removal is very important.

Rats reach sexual maturity in less than five weeks after birth, allowing their populations to flourish rapidly. The longer you wait, the more difficult it becomes to get rid of them since they have big litters (typically 10-12 at a time). Female rats are “in heat” all year and can give birth to up to ten litters each year.

Rats spread fast and, as a consequence, their feces increase in number and the diseases they transmit. Rats are responsible for a variety of respiratory issues, both for people and pets. I can’t begin to estimate how many times I’ve gone into a house to deal with rat infestations where everyone has “asthma” and is always ill. After the home inspection, it usually turns out that they have a major rodent infestation in the attic which has spread throughout their entire home either through crawl spaces or by way of the air ductwork. Typically a rat bites and chews into the ductwork, causing circulation of the contaminated air from the attic throughout the entire home. This will make the entire family sick, even the family pets. On Point Wildlife technicians are professional rat exterminators and our experts are here to help. Realize that by the time you’ve heard a noise, they have made your home, their home! We can help you eliminate rats quickly.

Rats Can Make You Sick!

I remember one home inspection specifically. I couldn’t enter their attic for a rodent control inspection, without a full body suit, goggles, and a respirator mask because of how bad the rodent infestation was in the attic. There had to be over 100 rats in their nests, living and breeding up there, as well as several dead rodents. The damage was immediately visible as chewed up giant holes in the ductwork, a decimated attic insulation, and the rats actually made nests inside the air vents and crawl spaces. Everybody in the house was sick, they all thought they had allergies or a cold that hadn’t gone away for months.

Our rodent control team sealed the house, removed the rats in the attic, (all the types of rats, be it living or dead rats) and sanitized the attic and the damaged attic insulation. They also had to have over $10k for rat damage for ductwork replacements done by an HVAC company (My personal recommendation, no business affiliation at all). Once all the work was done, all their symptoms disappeared, and they were healthy again.

While they are small and do serve a purpose, we don’t want them in our homes. Call us and we can safely and quickly remove them, we specialize in attic rodent removal & sanitizing/deodorizing, for a fair and affordable Melbourne rat removal cost.

Some of the Diseases rats carry are…

• Hantavirus
• Leptospirosis
• Rat-bite Fever
• Salmonellosis
• Plague
• Colorado Tick Fever
• Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Why hire a licensed professional for Melbourne rat removal?

Knowing where to place rat traps is an art form believe it or not. Many times we go out to homes for rodent inspections of rodent infestations, with people that have been setting traps themselves for weeks or even months to little or no avail. Knowing how to place the rat traps, what kind of bait stations work on what types of rodents, is all something that is needed to get your Florida Wildlife control License. You must study and pass the state exams such as rodent identification. Just like any job, it may seem easy on the surface but when you read more information, you learn there is a real science to wildlife Melbourne rat removal.

We also occasionally encounter rodents and mice, of which the Florida mouse is a protected species, which is why you should only hire a licensed professional, or else you may incur BIG fines! (our number is LW262514)

For every “Rat Removal” and “Rat Control”, we provide a 3 step process..

1. Seal off all entry points to the home (after Melbourne rat removal), keeping them from re-entering the house
2. Trap out all the rodents (usually a 2-week process, depending on the size of the rodent infestations)
3. Sanitize and deodorize the affected area, this is a very important process, as we use a hospital-grade sanitizer for rodent infestations. We mix it, with a “Green” deodorizer, into an atomizer, and sterilize your entire attic, to rid the space of the viruses left behind and to the pheromone trails.

What Are the 3 Types of Rats in Florida?

There are 3 main types of rats in the state of Florida

The Roof Rat

The roof rat (Rattus rattus, or citrus rat, fruit rat, black rat, or gray rat) is an introduced species from Asia that has spread around the world. This rodent carries disease and causes significant damage to crops, especially in Florida. Roof rats are not only more abundant than Norway rats but also worse pests as they carry many diseases including bubonic plague, murine typhus, and leptospirosis among other things which can infect humans if their droppings come into contact with open wounds or scratches on the skin.

Roof rats are as cute and cuddly on the outside, but when they invade your home you may not be so pleased. Roof rodents will make holes throughout walls and ceilings while scurrying around looking for food to consume at night when humans are sleeping so that we don’t know what’s going on inside our own homes! When these rodents chew through wires at even one point in a building it can cause fires to start or disrupt power for that area – which is an inconvenience if nothing else. They also gnaw holes into walls and make them structurally unsound by destroying water pipes with their sharp teeth; this causes leaks inside of buildings where nobody wants any more water damage than what has already been done!

Rats are usually secretive, as they only come out at night. They start to make their presence known once the fruit starts ripening in your backyard garden and it’s then that you notice them gnawing on some of your favorite fruits. The rat will leave a characteristic hole about the size of an American quarter or half a dollar which is most often found near the top where there would be seeds if present. If this doesn’t happen, all flesh from within can be removed leaving behind just skin with greenish stains from whatever was leftover on its teeth marks!

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. For the adult roof rat is a dark and terrible creature. Some say he stands as tall as 12 inches on his hind feet but of course, that can’t be true because there’s no way this beast would fit through your doorways or into small spaces in which it most often finds its food! But seriously, roof rats are generally 12 to 14 inches long, with the tail generally being longer than the body, and weigh around 5 to 510 oz.

There are 3 color phases the roof rat goes through

1. A black back with a grey belly
2. Greyback with a light grey belly
3. Brownish grey on top with light or cream-colored body

The Norway Rat

Norway rats have been a problem for centuries. Norway rats are the most common rat in Florida, thriving especially along coasts and canals. Norway rats thrive in areas that are not properly cleaned up since these rodents enjoy feasting on fresh meat or fish, as well as grain-based foods such as loaves of bread and cereals. They generally prefer these options over an ounce per day of decayed food with just water for sustenance; however, they will survive quite easily if need be. Norway Rats often range 100–150 feet from their harborages looking for either something edible or drinkable -but it is not uncommon that one ends up becoming someone’s dinner themselves instead.

Norway rats are known for their burrowing habits, which often cause damage by undermining the foundations of buildings and disrupting sewage systems.

They make great pets as long as you keep them out of your food! When they are not in a cage and allowed to spread, norway rats dig in rubbish piles or under concrete slabs to create vast networks beneath our homes, commercial properties, public facilities – even levees that protect us from natural disasters! These rodents can be a serious hazard as they like to undermine building foundations and flood sewer lines with waste when we least expect it.

Norway rats are robust and heavy-set rodents with a blunt muzzle. Their tails can be as long as their combined head and body, sometimes extending to 1 foot in length! Once fully grown adults, they weigh 3/4 pounds at the minimum per rat. They have reddish brown fur that is coarse yet sleek; this enables them to easily traverse through tight spaces like pipes or sewers where it would otherwise get caught on objects such as threads which may inhibit their progress while moving about freely inside of those areas not restricted by these materials. They reach sexual maturity in as little as 3 months, but on average in 5 months. Norway rats have between 8–12 babies per litter which means people should be on high alert during the breeding season (3rd April – 31st July). A single female rat could give birth up to 7 times within 12 months if she finds time enough before starving or being hunted down by cats!

The Wood Rat

Rats are not what you would call cute and cuddly creatures, but some of them can be downright adorable. One such creature is the wood rat which isn’t as common in Florida as roof or Norway rats because they do prefer to live up north where it gets cold (can we blame them?) The wood rat might be the most cunning of all rats out there, as this is one animal that will not only eat your food and poop in your house but also steal small items. The pack rats are often found at the northern parts of Florida where they can really make a nuisance for homeowners due to their resourcefulness.

These small rodents can grow up to seven inches long and have a slender body that is about the same size as Norway rats. However this makes it easy for people to tell them apart from their larger counterparts because they are covered in soft fur with furry tails similar to hamsters, instead of scaly ones like Norway and Roof Rats. They come in colors ranging from black or grey to brown and weigh around 9 to 10 ounces (275 g). The tail is generally around 6 to 8 inches long (15 to 10 cm).

Breeding season typically starts in February and can go as late as August. The gestation period is 31 to 36 days, with the average being around 33-34 days. When young are born they’re immediately cleaned then attach themselves to one of their mother’s teats when they reach 3 or 4 weeks old-female pups that were born early on might even be able get pregnant by next year if she mates her first summer! Males start breeding a whole year later than females do after birth