We would not recommend putting rodenticide bait in the Catchmaster 612 Multi-Catch Mouse Trap. Rodent bait can take up to five days to kill the mouse once they consume the bait. These traps are made to use with glue boards for faster kill. Using a glue board will also insure they cannot escape when you open the lid.
If a larger mouse or multiple were some how able to push open the lid of the Catchmaster 612 Multi-Catch Mouse Trap, the easiest way to stop that from happening is with a couple of rubberbands around the unit. We have had a few customers put a book or something similar in weight on top of the unit if they did not have rubberbands. It's rare that this happens, but it is not something that renders the trap unusable or ineffective. As far as baiting goes, you should not be putting the bait in a spot close enough to the levers for that to interfere with anything or any moving parts. The bait should be far enough back in the unit that the rodents have to fully come inside the trap to get access to it, but not so close that they can just lean on the lever and feed and drag bait onto the lever. Overall this is a great trap for catching multiple rodents at a time without having to worry with resetting a snap trap daily. You can also use a glue board inside this trap, such as the Trapper LTD.
No, Catchmaster 612 Multi-Catch Mouse Traps will not work for small rats. We recommend that you use the Protecta Sidekick bait station with a Trapper T-Rex snap trap inside. This will protect your chickens from the traps and will prevent you from having to use any type of bait. The T-Rex snap trap is very versatile as it can be used inside of the bait station and it can be zip tied or wired to pipes or beams if you suspect the rats are running around on them.
Mice should not be able to chew or push through the clear window of the Catchmaster 612 Multi-Catch Mouse Trap. The plastic sits on top so there are no edges for them to grab onto from inside the trap.
Yes, the top of the Catchmaster 612 Multi-Catch Mouse Trap opens for you to release the caught mice.
Usually the Catchmaster 612 Multi-Catch Mouse Trap will keep the rodents inside once they get through the seesaw type lever on the sides of the trap. If the rodent isn't able to get off the lever completely when entering the station to get to the bait, you may have the bait placed too close to the entry. You'll want to move it further into the station so the rodent has to commit to actually being fully inside and allow the lever to lift back up into place keeping them in. If that is being done, and they are still able to claw at it and pull it down, you may need to consider glue boards and using vegetable oil and Q-tips to remove the rodent from the glue when releasing it. The lids are very snug and shouldn't easily be pushed up, but to remove all doubt in that area we often suggest wrapping a rubberband around the station, or placing something heavy on top such as a book to make sure the sneaky things aren't still getting out that way, too. If you feel the trap is defective and its fairly new, you can let us know the order ID you placed it under (if you ordered it from us) and we can help you determine if its defective and see about getting you a replacement or refund. If you didn't purchase it from us, you'd want to contact the place you purchased it from or the manufacturer directly.