Snakes in the Attic

Education - Snakes in the Attic

Sometimes snakes enter the attic of your house and live there - usually rat snakes. Follow the below advice to safely remove snakes in your attic.

How To Get Snakes Out of Your Attic

Yes, sometimes snakes do get in the attic! I have seen it numerouse times, and I have found several snake skins inside attics while performing wildlife inspections. In pretty much every case, the snake in your attic is a type of rat snake, and it has entered the attic because it smelled rats or mice up there! Many snakes are excellent climbers with a keen sense of smell, and they can climb trees in search of rodents, and they can also climb your house, believe it or not (see below photo for example). They can also find a hole near the ground, and then climb up the walls or along pipes. The good news is that these types of snakes are not venomous, and they will help kill some rats or mice in your house! The bad news is that you've got rats or mice in your house! If you want to solve a rodent problem, click here for rat removal or here for mouse removal. The other bit of bad news is if you are terrified of snakes, and don't want them in your attic, or coming down into the house, or worse, having a snake nest somewhere in the house, in which case you could wind up with more than a dozen baby snakes hatching in your house at some point. I have seen that. Snakes are best removed from the attic by hand, or with the use of snake traps. If you do set a snake trap, please be sure to check it every day, so that you don't leave any trapped snake up there to suffer and starve to death. Finally, whether you have snakes or rats or both, you'll want to find out how they got into your attic, and seal shut those entry holes. If you need professional help, we service most of the United States: click here to hire us in your town.

How to Get Rid of Snakes in the Attic - 4 How-To Steps

1 - Inspect the Attic, Identify Snake

Inspect inside your attic for snake sign. Look for the animal(s), or their feces, or tracks, or damage so that you know what kind of critter you are dealing with.

2 - Inspect the Exterior of the Home

If you've got snakes in the attic, they are getting inside somehow. You have open holes or gaps leading inside the house! You must find these areas to solve the problem.

3 - Remove or Trap the Snakes

The best way to get rid of snake in the attic is to either remove the snakes by hand, or to set a snake trap. If you use a trap, be sure to check it daily!

4 - Repair the Snake Entry Holes

To prevent the problem from happening again, seal shut the entry hole(s)! Also, in the case of snakes, it's a good idea to repair the damage in the attic and clean it too.

HOW MUCH DOES SNAKE REMOVAL COST? Prices vary depending on the situation. Some jobs are simple, require only one service visit, and might be as low as $100. Some jobs are complex, require multiple service visits, home repairs, attic cleanup, and so on. Prices can also vary by city. To get the best price estimate, call our technician in your area: Click here for a free price quote over the phone in your town.

Information About Snakes in the Attic

How to get rid of snakes in the attic - Having a snake on your property can be quite disturbing for sure, but it can be much worse when you find that the snake is living in your home. Many times snakes will make their way into your home and they can be fairly easily scared away because of the location they are in, but when they are in your attic, this can be an entirely different story. A snake may become quite territorial and, if it has had some time to really dig in, it can make it hard to get it out of there. This leads to the question how do you get rid of snakes in the attic?

If you want to get rid of a snake, then the first place to begin is with figuring out where it is. You have to consider that a snake quite easily able to hide itself and so locating it can become a challenge. In addition, they don't believe droppings or other clues around to let you know where they may be. This means you're going to have to do some serious investigation. Sometimes people just find the snake skin in their attic, and never actually see it.

Before you begin your search you want to make sure that you thoroughly protect yourself. Unless you are absolutely sure that this is not some kind of venomous snake you need to make sure that you are wearing gloves, that all of your skin is protected, you should be wearing boots, a mask, and goggles. This will ensure that you provide the optimal safety for yourself. If you want to hire a professional, you can contact one of the companies listed on this site. You can also read about How much does snake removal cost?

Begin your search by looking in obvious places. Look under items, inside of boxes for crates, or other places that would make a good home. You will likely find that you're moving around of stuff will lure the snake out. It is at that time that you should have success in capturing the animal.

Probably the best way to catch a snake in the attic is with a trap. The best one is the yellow plastic trap, which you can buy online or on Amazon.com. Just set it in the attic. Be sure to check it every day, and once you catch the snake, bring it outside and spray cooking oil on it to let it go. Read more about How to trap snakes.

If you don't have a trap, the best tool to use to try to catch it is by forcing it to enter something where it cannot get out. Using a stick or other kind of object push at the reptile forcing it towards a bag or a box that you can close, once the little critter has gotten inside your trap, you simply close it up, take the animal outside, and do with it as you see fit. Most people simply released the snake once they are outside, but that is your prerogative. Some people want to kill snakes but that is a bad idea - the snakes in your attic are there to eat mice or rats, and that's helpful. Furthermore, most cases of snakebite occur when people attempt to kill snakes and the animal defends itself.

A repellent will not work. Several are sold, and they even get some good reviews due to fake reviews and the many cases in which a transient snake is spotted but never seen again, which is very common, and the person falsely credited the repellent with this. Snakes are good at hiding, and they are rare, and they often come and go. It wasn't the repellent that did the trick. Read more about Snake Repellent Spray and Bomb Reviews - Lowe's, Home Depot, Amazon, Walmart.

The one thing you want to ensure is that you do not allow snakes to get back in. You want to do a thorough search around the outside of your home to see if there are gaps in the siding, holes, cracks, or crevices that would allow a snake to reenter your home. It makes no sense to get the snake out if you are not going to keep it out. Seal the outside of your home where there may be any kind of gap.

The Bottom Line

How to get rid of snakes in the attic - they are not so easily just "gotten rid of". But they can be properly and effectively removed, and the problem can be prevented from happening again. Remember to follow the steps above, whether you do it yourself or hire a professional to do it for you. It is not easy work, but if you don't remove the snakes in your attic, they will go on to cause further damage. When you do decide to remove them, please remember to treat the animals with respect, and take the work seriously, and remember about the presence of baby snakes in the attic. You can get rid of snakes in the attic if you follow the correct approach. Best of luck!