Can you kill mice with toothpaste? Would you?

While some people see mice as loving pets, for others they are a nuisance. A mouse’s inherent abilities to fit into tiny holes, breed quickly, and eat a variety of foods have made them a constant problem in pest control efforts. In recent years, many methods have been developed to exterminate or relocate mice. That has left people wondering if many different household items can kill mice. For example, can you kill mice with toothpaste, and should you?

We’ll look at this common, often coin-like creation and see if it has what it takes to kill a mouse. We will also investigate whether it is worth killing mice with this item!

Why would you want to kill mice?

Before we look at ways to kill mice, let’s ask ourselves why we want them dead in the first place. The reason humans often have to kill mice is that they are invasive pests.

Some of the more specific reasons people want to kill mice include:

1. Mice can reproduce quickly, producing as many as 30 to 70 young per year.
2. Many mice carry diseases that spread to humans, including the hanta virus.
3. Mice will completely ruin any food they touch, making it inedible for the people who bought it.
4. Mice love to gnaw on things, including wires for your electronics in your home.
5. Mice tear a variety of materials to build their nests, including paper products, vinyl, wood shavings, and more.
6. When mice infest a house, people can hear them scurrying around all night, often within the walls.

These are just some of the reasons why people want to exterminate the mice in their homes. To be honest, they are very good reasons. Sometimes people want to catch the mice and let them go. While that’s feasible for a mouse or two, it certainly won’t help during a widespread mouse infestation.

When that happens, it’s time to use techniques with a definite ending.

Can you kill mice with toothpaste?

Yes, technically you could kill mice with toothpaste, but it would be very difficult to get them to eat enough that it would be fatal. Apparently, mice eating toothpaste containing fluorine and ethylene glycol would die from those ingredients if they consumed enough of them.

Some people insist on making a deadly concoction from toothpaste, peanuts, flour, sugar, and various other ingredients. The theory is that the mice will inadvertently eat the snack because they think it’s a treat. Once they ingest enough toothpaste with fluorine and ethylene glycol, they will eventually die.

Using toothpaste to kill mice is a proposition that has several problems. For starters, mice have to eat a lot of toothpaste to kill them. They’re more likely to eat the tasty bits, like peanuts, and avoid the toothpaste altogether. Why? The second problem with this method is that mice don’t like minty toothpastes, the most popular flavor on the market.

Another problem with using toothpaste to kill mice is that so many other products can kill mice more effectively. Why use a product with questionable efficacy when there are so many others on the market?

So, can you kill mice with toothpaste? Yes, but it’s going to be a tough test that probably won’t work. You are much better off using more effective, proven methods.

Effective and reliable ways to kill mice

Now that we’ve researched toothpaste as a means of killing mice, let’s spend some time looking for more effective means of killing them. Consider several ways to tackle the task of ending a mouse infestation in your home.

poisons

Instead of toothpaste, you can rely on commercial poisons to kill mice. They are formulated to attract mice based on their sight and smell. These poisons come in many forms. Often they are packaged in small packages that entice the mouse to chew through them.

After the mice have eaten enough of the poison, the anticoagulant kicks in. Essentially, the mice suffer internal bleeding until they die. Although poisons are not 100% effective on mice, they offer a much higher chance of killing the mice than toothpaste.

fall

Another very effective way to kill a mouse is to use mousetraps. You can find different types of traps, including:

• Spring Fall
• glue traps
• Humane traps
• Electric traps

The spring traps are the simplest, they quickly send down a metal or plastic rod to send mice. However, they don’t always kill mice. Sometimes they jump into the trap and avoid it. Other times, mice will get a foot in the trap instead of their head.

Electric traps are also effective and kill the mice with a shock. Glue traps stick to the mouse, preventing them from moving and you can throw them away. Human traps keep mice in a container so you can move them.

All of these traps have the potential to kill mice or put them in a position where you can dispose of them. Each of them is better than toothpaste.

Pets

In the past, pets had to earn a living. Cats were often kept around barns and other outbuildings on farms to control mouse populations. After all, cats kill mice, even if they don’t eat them. They enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

Getting a cat or dog can help reduce mouse populations in your home. They will kill the little mice. In addition, mice smell cats in your house and do not come in. After all, they don’t want to meet a cat.

We looked at the question, can you kill mice with toothpaste? While it is possible, it is not the easiest or best way to accomplish that task. Instead, it is much better for you to use proven methods. Using commercial poisons and traps along with pets are the best methods of killing mice, so they are the ones you want to use.