Why you should pre-feed first
Pre-feeding is one of the best strategies you can use to get more action on your trap. It encourages rats and mice toward your trap and away from any competing food sources and gives them a taste for the same flavour of lure that is in your trap. You're also increasing the amount of paste in the pest's environment, increasing your odds of them encountering it.
Food competition is the biggest barrier to success, so as well as pre-feeding your trap, try to reduce food competition as much as possible by following the steps in our article about eliminating other food sources here.
The more a pest approaches and smells something new in their environment (like the paste in and around your trap), the more comfortable they become with it, and more likely they are to seek it out. Trap Location Cards also act as pre-feed for rodents, as does the paste that’s dispensed from your Automatic Paste Pump in the Trap.
How do I pre-feed?
If you are using an A24:
1. Place ten small dots of paste from our Rodent Pre-Feed Pouch around the entrance of your trap(s). This increases the food available to your resident pests. If you are using a different type or lure or bait then use whatever is inside the trap. Consistency is key.
2. Repeat this for five days. This builds their preference for the paste (even pests have food preferences!) and habit in visiting the trap(s) to eat. They get familiar with the interaction and get used to having the trap in their environment.
3. Stop using the rodent paste pouch. Now the only way your animals can access the paste is by entering the trap(s).
4. Success! You’ve improved your chances of trapping those pests. You should see pests now begin to engage with your trap. If you’re using the Smart Cap or a Digital Strike Counter, you’ll be able to see the numbers add up and track the kills you’re having.
If you are using a Goodnature Mouse Trap (GMT):
Rub the Donut that comes with your trap along the entrance. Doing this every few days will allow the mice to smell the lure and get used to it!