Rugged Ranch Ratinator Multi-Catch Live Rat and Mouse Trap Cage, 2 Door

I saw this trap on one of the chicken facebook groups that i follow and found the link for this in the comments. The post i found it on caught waaay more than i did for their post but i dont care because i finally caught something in a trap! I'M THRILLED SO HERE'S MY REVIEW! 🥳🥳🥳 Ive been hearing these pests going about the undercarriage of my RV and have been being kept awake because i cant turn off my brain once i hear the skittering. Ive been finding nests in places like in my engine bay, generator compartment, and spare tire compartment, under my coop, ect. I dont have issues with rodents inside because i have cats but the cats only have inside and the catio i built them, so limited pest deterant there. (Also my family has one outdoor cat thats old and insists on being outside but still mouses so i cant poison, but i knew these rodents were too big for the old girl to catch) Glue traps sometimes worked but i figured that i must have had BIG and SMART ones remaining because they were triggering my Victor snap rat traps and either getting free or not getting caught. (They also weren't falling for other traps in my chicken coop so this is going in there next!) This trap recomends baiting it with the door stuck open for a little bit, to which i used a little bit of bent wire and i left the door a little loose, because i wanted to be sure the rats were fine with the door moving while they got used to the trap. I baited with wet cat food for the smell and appeal of it, splattering it on the edges and gate and left it for a few days. (I didnt mean to leave it for a few days but life happened and i was unwell enough i wasnt doing chores, but i could see the bait being messed with so i left it). I also made sure i barley touched the trap so that my scent wasnt on it much. (Besides the lil video i took when i got it because the pictures online make it a little hard to tell the shapes in the trap). Last night i baited with more wet cat food all over and took out the wire. To be honest, i forgot about checking the trap till well past noon but the little pests were still stuck within, something i worried about because the door just flops up and down from the weight of it, but the little tunnel keeps them from going straight back to the door. (Set on a flat surface to make sure the door works right). I took a video of the rats running around within but im only allowed to upload one vid per review apparently. It was sooooo easy to set up, the only thing id say to watch out for is to not clip the bait door over the handle you need to pick it up later with. I didnt realize i had done because it was dark when i rebaited the trap. (I could have opened the bait door to fix that without them escaping throughit because its enclosed but the critters were launching themselves around when i approached it so i opted not to, so that the entrance door didnt accidentally flop down) The tub that it comes with makes it easier to 'take care' of the pests with a deep 'bath' and the door to remove them worked well to take the tool grips i had and pulled them out. Make your life easier than i did and grab disposable gloves for this process before you start it. (Im not relocating a pest, esp not a smart one. I dont want it and so i dont want to drop it off somewhere to be someone elses problem, id hate if someone did that to me. They have caused me soooo much money in damages from wires to insulation and more.) When i recieved the trap i did notice and take pictures of some damage on one of the corners, like it had been dropped before being packaged, because the box was fine and so was the plastic tub it came within in the box. The damage did not effect usability, thankfully, since this wasnt cheap. Ill say it again, it wasnt cheap, BUT, it was WORTH IT. The size will limit small spaces i may want to use this in (like my generator bay or engine bay of my parked RV) but it will still fit easily under quite a few things like cars and cabinet edges, withing sheds and so on. Its also CHICKEN SAFE! I dont have to worry about triggering snap traps before letting my flock into their run or worry about my birds standing on it. And since im baiting with cat food i dont have to worry about if my birds eat the bait too. Or anything else for that matter, like you have to worry about with other poisons. If you've gotten this far into reading my review, thanks for your time and i hope this helps you decide how to get rid of your pest problem! Have a great day!

This is the answer for fighting serious rat infestation! Well named, well constructed and worth the price. We have a neighbor with various livestock and the rats have decided to nest in my mini-pole barn using my ATVs as a hotel. With her livestock and our family dogs, using poison is out of the question. Mechanical traps seem to be our only choice. Follow the instructions. Bait it with things the rats like. Im using peanut butter & bread. Tried mixed nuts, tuna, sardines. They eat everything but peanut butter & bread is the best. Wire the trap door for several days so the rats can come & go, get used to the trap like its their favorite dinner. Last night was the first time using it un-wired. It caught 8 rats! Also provided entertainment for a visiting tom cat and an opossum. Easy to dispatch of the captives with the polymer tub. Quick and not messy. Emptying the trap was simple as well. I was reluctant to spend that much on ANOTHER trap in my rat war but Im impressed!

I chose this trap partly because I had tried every other method and trap, with only occasional success. I did see positive reviews of this before purchase and fortunately they turned out to be true in my use case. ​Functionality:​ Why did you pick this product vs others?: I have tried practically every method there is to trap rats. This Ratinator is the only way that has worked consistently. I have caught dozens of rats in my back yard with this trap. Sometimes just one at a time, and on the best days up to three or four or five in a single night. I just bait it with the rats normal diet which in my backyard is the birdseed that falls out of our bird feeders. Some rats do seem to be smart enough to avoid the trap, but unlike every other trap that I have used, these are the exceptions and not the most common outcome. After using the trap consistently in my small backyard for a while I will have caught most of the rats and gradually the remainder seem to learn the danger and stay away. At that point I wire up the trap door so that it cannot close and use the trap as a rat feeder for a week or so with the door wired open so that I can get the rats accustomed to entering it again. I then remove the wire I used to hold the trap door locked open and let it begin trapping again. Rats are definitely smart foragers. Ease of use: The trap is super easy to use. Easy to bait. Easy to remove the rats after they have been caught. Easy to hose off and clean. Build quality: Build quality is fine. The construction is solid, and there are no gaps that even juvenile rats can use to escape. Durability: Durability is great. It has held up to all weather and the finish has held up fine. In other words the paint is still protecting the metal from rusting. I live in Southern California so that is more mild conditions than many live with, but nevertheless if has held up very well. The trap door still pivots freely. The doors that are secured with springs still work as they should. Safety: Part of the reason I was willing to try this trap is that it is safe to use around my dog and cat. No worries about them getting injured in any way by the trap. I judged it safe around the other wildlife that comes into my yard such as birds and raccoons and opossums and coyotes.

Please read further down for my night-by-night story & an empath's first-time experience with the drowning method. (The trap worked but I was only able to set for one night before the rats destroyed it.) Preparation: 1) Location & presentation are key--We placed the trap against the barn wall in a high traffic area with a LOT of rat droppings & manure. 2)The trap is too exposed so we kept it slid in the box, just cutting the end of the box off on the side with the entrance. (Rats feel safer entering an enclosed space.) Nights 1 & 2: 1) The trap door was zip-tied open. 2) The trap was baited with a scoop of sunflower seeds. RESULTS: No action--no droppings & no empty sunflower hulls. But it was new & smelled odd (to a rat) so I figured it may take a few days for the trap to be accepted. (Location/position is a common problem but I knew that wasn't the issue in this case.) Nights 3 & 4: 1) Trap door still zip-tied open. 2) I swept up the copious rat droppings in the area & sprinkled them in the trap through the top so it would smell like them. 3) I decided that, although they LOVE sunflower seeds the seeds do not have enough scent to advertise their presence. So I added a scoop of the horses textured sweet feed which has a strong, delicious smell. RESULTS: Two scoops of feed (1 sunflower & 1 sweet feed) were completely gone! Empty seed hulls & a new layer of fresh manure were all that remained. Night 5: 1) Zip tie removed--trap set! 2) Baited with a scoop of sunflower seeds & a scoop of aromatic sweet feed since those worked great to draw them in the last two nights. RESULTS: Checked the trap 4 hours after dark (didn't want to leave rats all night, terrified & possibly fighting/injuring each other). There was at least a dozen and a half rats inside! HOWEVER . . . Although the concept is good, the design & construction has some flaws. There is a narrow dead-end section next to the entrance. The rats shoved themselves, tightly packed, into this section, smothering & panicking. Then they started escaping while I filled the pan with water to drown them. One rat was caught half way through the wire & stuck out too much so I couldn't set the trap in the pan of water to kill it. While we tried to get the live, terrified rat unstuck (while not being bit!) more started squeezing out next to it again & eacaping. We realized the rats had pulled back a poorly welded wire & created a row of larger holes. Some could fit through these holes but bigger ones got stuck. I had to poke a stick through the bars to rap them with to keep them back from that area so more couldn't escape while my daughter kept trying to deal with the stuck rat. She eventually had to dispatch a stuck rat with garden shears & it pulled out easily through the larger hole they made once it's body was relaxed. A NOTE ABOUT DROWNING: I have had rats & mice as pets so seeing them terrified & the situation with the stuck one wasn't easy. Dealing with the stuck one unfortunately drew out the whole scary time for all the other rats. The thought of drowning them pained me but I can't just go dump this many rats in someone else's field to be a problem for them so killing was really the only sollution. Once the stuck one was removed I set the trap in the included pan filled with lukewarm water. They started to swim & I had to turn away. My daughter check on them just a minute or so later & said they were pretty much all dead. I walked over & there was already no more movement: their struggle was over. I was relieved that the drowning was over so quickly & believe it was a faster & more humane death than being caught by our cats. So, while I still don't like killing any animal, I am much more at peace with the method than I thought I would be. I will contact the company for a replacement trap right after posting this review. If they send a replacement & it holds up, I will gladly give this trap 5 stars. For the price, I should certainly be able to get more than one night of trapping out of it & it should be sturdy enough to hold up against it's target species.

I bought the Ratinator several months ago. I finally put it in the attic where rodents were active, and left it there for a couple of weeks with a bit of bird seed in it and the doors opened. When I knew that the rodents had eaten from the trap I set the trap for capture and added more birdseed. Within 2 days the trap had caught 11 rats. Appeared to be maybe the mama and her 10 young ones. I took them to a nature preserve and released them. And Yes, I would recommend this trap.

We Caught 14 the 1st night and I thought we only had about 6 or 7, that is how great it works, and we have caught alot more since. Just sprinkle some dog food, or mini milk bones in the entry and inside the cage and they go right in. I think it would have taken ages to catch as many as we have by other traps, and even though poison might have, most poisons today are designed to make them go look for water, not realizing that the easiest source of water is a dog bowl or surprise in your toilet. Two words, "unlocatable smell." Anyway, after saying it is a success, there are 3 issues. 1st is a design flaw, the wires are spread too wide apart in one direction and young rats, mice sized and bigger, can squeeze right out. I also bought a single trap live cage and caught a baby in it. I put it in this cage to keep that one going, and to my surprise, it just seemed to run right through and out the back. I thought, wait, is there a hole in it, but on doing that with a 2nd little mouse sized one, I watched as it squeezed right out. If I cant catch the little ones, then I still have an infestation. 2nd issue, it should have a solid bottom. We have carpet, and not only did they make a mess, but they destroyed the carpet under the cage, especially at the corners. If you have carpet, find a board to sit it on that sticks out beyond it at least an inch. Now for the 3rd issue there is probably not much that can be done. Some of the rats are getting very smart about opening its door. I caught a large one in the single trap and put it in this one. It ran to the back, acted like it realized where it was, then immediately ran to the door, grabbed hold of it, and started to open it. I hadn't yet taken the single cage away, and it made about 4 trips back and forth into each cage, opening the door in less than a second. I had to call to my dad to get a bread tie or wire so I could tie the end of the door down so the rat couldn't open it. And, today, the cage was completely cleaned out of food, but no rat in it. Dang smart rats. Here is a tip: I also got a pet water bottle and keep it in the middle where the food is supposed to go. I don't use that for food anymore, but instead just sprinkle it around the inside of the cage. I do recommend this, but it would be better with these changes, and keep bread ties or some kind of small wire handy for locking the door up, especially for transport.

Rat trap. OOps, 5 stars doesn't apply. It gets scored one star for passable quality construction, a critique which amazon then hides from you on page two. It is a poor choice for large ear Norway rats like the one shown in the photo. Minus two stars for being easily escaped. Minus one star because I got no catches when others worked. Minus two stars for being over priced. I should have read the critical reviews but amazon hides them on page two. Rats scent mark the door in passing through. The trap has a floppy trap door that does not lock shut and can be pulled open. Lightly built: I think a big racoon, or a large dog, could mangle it. Smart rats can discover how to escape this trap if given enough time. Rats have route memory and know where the door is. Too dearly priced, the same as buying four live catch traps or five cases of snap traps. Check out YouTube's night cams for Ratinator escape action. -

First off, the Rugged Ranch Rattr is well built and looks like it would last a long time. So for that alone it would get 5 stars. But... I did not get one rat with it since I started using it the middle of June (2.5 months of use). I have rat cams in the area that I have a rat problem that I check every morning. In the time I had it set I only saw one rat poke it's head into the doorway a bit and then back out. None of the others even gave it a glance although the 3 Gingbau Rat Traps that only catch one rat at a time were still catching rats. The reason I bought the Rattr was to be able to catch more than one rat at a time. But better to catch one at a time than none at all. After watching and evaluating the Rattr trap over the 2.5 months of use, I've come to the conclusion that I do not have enough rats to make use of this. I get maybe 3 or 4 rats a night (actual observation) depending on if any new litters are grown enough to be out feeding. If there are young ones, they are usually stupid enough to come out in the day or get caught with my snap traps as well as one of my Gingbau live traps. Were I live, there is plenty of food around because our neighbors have chickens, rabbits and other critters, so there is always food around. Our yard is more of an overflow for rats looking for less populated feeding areas, so they wonder over to feed off my bird feeders. So I don't think the rats are desperate enough or hungry enough to try to get into this type of trap where they have to work to open a door. My other traps have a big opening for them to walk in and trip the trigger, so that's a lot easier for them. So in conclusion, if you have a barn or feed lot or someplace that has lots of rats and maybe they are on the hungry side, this trap may work just fine. If you have only a few rats, fairly open spaces and plenty of food around for them to find, it's probably not going to work that well or work at all for you. I would have returned it, but unfortunately, to give it a fair enough test to see if it was going to work required more time than what is allowed for returns, so I'm stuck with it and I'll just put it away and stick to the traps that work. One thing that did work real well was the tube that comes with it that you are suppose to use to drown rats caught if you want to do that... except we used it to put our recycling cans and stuff in until we are ready to take them out to the recycling bin on trash day. We had been using boxes but they get soiled after awhile and have to be thrown away. The plastic bin works great and I can just hose it out. Although it wasn't worth the cost of the trap, at least we have gotten some benefit out of it. I don't like drowning the rats I catch anyway, to me it is too slow as it takes up to a half hour for some rats to drown. I'm not into torture even though I hate rats. I dispatch them much quicker with a CO2 pellet gun through the wire mesh. It's fairly quiet and kills instantly. Then I can dump them into the trash bucket and hose the blood off the trap and set it up for the next one. Nothing against the manufacturer, the build quality or the idea, it just isn't a good solution in my situation. I did make a modification to it though... I turned the handles around so they lay flat along the sides rather on top. On top they had a tendency to jam lifting up from how the wire was bent. Laying down the sides they don't seem to do that, plus less likely for a rat, should one be in there, to nip at fingers when picking it up (although I would have wore gloves). I could see where the one suggestion to remove the piece of wire from the pivot door was probably a good idea, but that piece is also part of the counter weight to close the door once the rat went inside. I think it would be to light to close as fast as it needs to to work right.

If I could give it 1000 stars I would. It’s so rare for something to do exactly what it’s advertised to do, to the letter. Had massive rat problem in and around chicken coop. So many, it was drawing in foxes and feral cats, but with no success as the rats would hide in the coop. Tried bucket traps etc, but nothing worked. Took a shot on this and did as instructed. Tied the trap door open for a few days and baited with some cattle grain. Cut the string and by that evening, one or two were caught. By the next day, 17 were in the trap. Dunked and discarded them for the critters. Super easy to use and to clean out, which I had been worried about, given how small the exit hatch is. Not a problem at all. One tip I saw online was to place the trap on a board, so that they couldn’t tunnel under to eat the bait. Did that from the start. It 100% works. There’s so many BS claims about diff traps on the market, but this one is for real. I know it’s expensive, I had a hard time with the price too, but it’s going to last through my grandkid’s lifetimes and is built really well. If you have a rat problem, this is the solution. Any cheaper thing you buy is just going to be a waste of the money you could have spent on this. UPDATE: put the empty trap back in the chicken coop, in the same spot. Went out today to put some bait in, and it was already full of rats again. At least another 15.. with no bait! Greatest rat trap of all time. Feels like I should buy a pet python or something now since feeding it would be free.

I'd probably rate this item a 3.5/5 but I rounded it up to a 4. I highly regret not watching some YouTube videos for the modifications beforehand as the giant rat that I've been trying to catch for months escaped easily from the back latch. I fed it for a few days to let it get comfortable and finally set the trap. It just rammed through the back door and out it went the first night. Then the second night, it just waltzed out the way it came in after eating all the food inside. It has flaws right out of the box! So there is a video on YouTube that explains adding a mesh panel under the entrance. I did that and caught 2 medium sized rats. The large rat is too smart and won't even go near it now nor the previous traps. At this rate, I may just need to get the electric rat traps. Modifications you need to do: 1. Tie up the back door with zipties or wires 2. Add a mesh lever under the main entrance 3. Elevate the front(entrance) slightly so the door will close properly. 4. Don't buy this and stick to snap traps/electric rat traps Although this trap focuses on humane trapping, the black box that it comes with fits the cage perfectly and that means the cage can be submerged perfectly into the water. Take the rats for a once in a lifetime diving session.

I am so happy I purchased this trap and highly recommend it. Well made, simple to use, lightweight and easy for a 68 yr old woman to manage. We wanted a humane trap and once the rats are in the trap I would put the trap inside the plastic bin it came with it, throw a towel over top so no one is freaking out and squealing, grab the trap under one arm and walk it down my street to a forested area where they are released. We had a terrible rat infestation under our cement patio for the first time in 16 years. During the daytime you could easily spot up to 12 rats walking around on our lawn. Our home is located in a residential area with greenbelt behind and beside us. We have always had bird feeders up for 16 years and never a problem until 2 months ago. The first thing we did was purchase a large bird seed catcher tray to hang under the bird feeder and cut off any food supply. Then we placed the trap onto a piece of thick artificial grass beside the hole in the patio, put bird seed in the trap and tied the door open so they got used to going in and out of the trap. After 3 days we untied the door and have successfully trapped a total of 47 rats which is rather horrifying. The hole under the patio was sealed up but we left a very small opening which the trap door is blocking. No more rats! This trap was definitely a great investment.

Caught squat