Discover the alternative to anticoagulant rodenticides - cholecalciferol

Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) is a non-anticoagulant molecule now used as a rodenticide. It is a non-bioaccumulative active substance, does not persistent in the environment, and has less environmental impact.

Its mechanism of action is to mobilize calcium from the bones, which is deposited in the soft organs and leads to hypercalcemia, which is the cause of death. The clinical signs after ingestion are lethargy and tachypnea, without convulsions or paralysis.

However, one of the most important consequences is that 24 hours after ingestion, the rodent loses its appetite. In other words, the cholecalciferol product must be highly palatable to ensure the lethal dose is ingested. Homemade vitamin D3 products would never be useful, since the rodent would lose its appetite before having ingested the sufficient amount. However, if we use a highly palatable rodenticide product, which ensures the rodent ingests the lethal dose in a period of less than 24 hours, it will offer significant advantages over anticoagulants.

By losing their appetite and becoming lethargic within 24 hours, dominant rodents quickly give way to the individuals in the hierarchical level immediately below, the subdominant males and females, and these, in turn, to the non-dominant ones, so that control of the population is guaranteed in record time.

This difference in the mechanism of action is the great advantage of the cholecalciferol formulation compared to anticoagulants: with the use of anticoagulants, it takes between three and four weeks to control a rodent population (since the passage from one hierarchical level to the next takes between 5 and 7 days); on the other hand, with the cholecalciferol formulation (Selontra® brand name from BASF), the population is controlled three times faster than with an anticoagulant rodenticide.

Learn more about the advantages of Selontra®