Can rats really go through the toilet?

Absolutely — here’s a compelling, informative article that answers the surprising question: **Can rats really go through the toilet?**

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# **Can Rats Really Go Through the Toilet? 🚽🐀 Truth, Myths & How to Protect Your Bathroom**

It sounds like something out of a horror movie: you’re brushing your teeth, and out of the corner of your eye, **a rat climbs out of your toilet bowl**. Nightmare fuel, right?

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
**Yes — rats really can come up through your toilet.**
And it’s more common than you might think.

In this article, we’ll dive into:

* 🐀 **How and why rats enter through toilets**
* 🔎 **How common it is**
* 🛠️ **How to prevent it**
* 🚫 **What to do if it happens to you**

Let’s flush out the facts.

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## 🐀 How Do Rats Get Into Toilets?

Rats are **incredibly agile** and **excellent swimmers**. Thanks to their collapsible ribcages and strong limbs, they can **swim through sewer systems for miles**, holding their breath for **up to 3 minutes** at a time.
They can even **tread water for days**.

To enter your home through a toilet, a rat typically:

1. Enters the **main sewer line** outside your home.
2. Swims through the connected **plumbing and drain pipes**.
3. Climbs up into the **toilet bowl via the S-bend** (the curved section of pipe behind and under your toilet).

The result? A very unwelcome guest — literally surfacing in your bathroom.

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## 🚽 Why Toilets?

Toilets are an attractive entry point for several reasons:

* 🛠️ **Direct connection to sewer lines**
* 💧 **Availability of water**
* 🔍 **Low human traffic at night** (when rats are most active)

They’re not *looking* for you — they’re following the path of least resistance in search of food, warmth, or nesting spaces.