does raw sweet potato kill mice (2024)

I have a mouse infestation problem and a friend of mine told me that raw sweet potato kills mice. So, I did some research on it.

A rat’s stomach forms a cyanide reaction from raw sweet potatoes; therefore, mixing it with any food will repel rats naturally. While it’s not enough to kill an adult rat, it can kill a mouse.

There are plenty of reasons to want to keep rats and mice away from your house. Your house is a rat’s paradise because it offers them everything they want! It doesn’t matter to them whether they eat your dinner, rip apart your bags and clothes, churn up the wood and bite the wiring throughout your home. On top of that, they also litter all over your house, transporting germs from sewage lines into every corner of your home.

Among the diseases they spread are:

1. Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
2. Murine Typhus
3. Rat-bite fever
4. Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium
5. Leptospirosis
6. Eosinophilic Meningitis

The diseases occur when people inhale rat fur, eat rat food and/or inhale litter. In light of this, it is highly essential to get rid of wild rats from your house.

Can Pet Rats have sweet potato? Due to their similarity to potatoes, people think rats can safely consume raw sweet potatoes. A study recently found that raw sweet potatoes can result in cyanide in rat stomachs if they are consumed raw. It is safe to feed pet rats small amounts of cooked sweet potato.

How does sweet potato kill mice? Sweet potato is a natural Trypsin Inhibitor. The inhibitors cause pancreatic hypertrophy and pancreatic secretion in mice, rats, and chickens.

If you’re interested, you can check out some of the studies too, as a number of plants are cyanogenic!

Sources:
Utilization of Sweet Potato Starch by Rats and Its Effect on the Digestion of Dietary Protein
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/st_rpts/tox037.pdf?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=prod&utm_campaign=ntpgolinks&utm_term=tox037