Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have small collection of balls and feed them regular rats. they eat but not always i know balls dont eat all of the time but i was thinking why not just breed asf rats instead of regular rats? if balls could hardly refuse them why not just feed them that? i heard some say they smell bad and some say they dont small as much? any info on them is appreciated. thanks!

I just googled african soft fur rats, and got a TON of good sites.

Hope you find the info you are after!
-----
James.....
"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought the beast back."

ASFs can be hard to come by and are illegal in a lot of states. That being said - they don't smell as bad, they are more prolific than normal rats - they grow to the perfect size but are somewhat slower growers - they also bite alot.

Heres a forum dedicated to ASF breeders - if you have any more questions: asfrats.info/
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons

see that crap is what stops me. im worried they will be biting my snakes? have you ever used them? thanks!

I only have one ASF eating snake and she is a WC that I couldn't get to take anything else - she feeds vigorously on the ASFs and has not been bitten yet - she is quick to grab them and a dead shot aim - so they don't really have a lot of time to nibble.

I do think they might well be "the perfect food" for our balls - but honestly I don't think I'd raise my cbs on them - picky feeders - maybe - I hear they work wonders with baby corns as well.
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons

I think the bite risk is increased with ASFRs, and wouldn't feed a rack at a time like I do with regular small rats. My rats usually ignore a snake, run away, or try to be friends. Some of my ASFRs will attack the snake unprovoked. They also jump really high and run very fast. Still, the lack of smell has me breeding a lot of them for my snakes.

I have a couple that eat them...but only use them when I have to, would rather feed something larger. They seem to be more likely to bite me than the snakes.
-----
Dale....dgoins222@yahoo.com
www.LibertyReptiles.com

I have a bunch....I've never noticed them biting more then a rat. I have some snakes that wont eat them but pound normal rats....I have some that wont eat rats, mice or ASF's. I don't think they are the END ALL of problem feeders, but for someone like me (asthma and allergic to rats and mice) they work great.

I can raise them and they don't bother me much at all. I still feed all my animals rats and mice every week, but I'm able to feed ASF every now and again when I'm feeling like feeding midweek or growing up animals when I'm out of rats and mice. I'm not sure I would ever feed ASF exclusively, I feed them off maybe once or twice a month.
-----
blackrockcaptives.com

Some people like them, some snakes really like them, I have some snakes that will not touch them. I myself think they smell worse than a rat or a mouse. I do not know that they are more likely to bite a snake, BUT I do know that though the young are pretty laid back the adults after the first litter tend to be so mean they will do everything they can to take a bite out of any human they see. Going so far as to reach their paws though the wire to grab you to pull you in to bite. In short human mean about 90% of the time and you have to shake them off like you were caught in a bear trap.
They do not get any bigger than my adult mice they take longer to reach breeding age and even though they are said to produce larger litters than mice I have yet to see it happen. I have asked a few other people what kind of production numbers they get from them and so far have found they are not doing a bit better than mice or rats and they take longer to do it on top of that.
If one has a picky snake by all means raise them for that snake, or if you are allergic to other things then go for it then too, but just to raise them thinking they are less trouble or higher production at less cost or anything like that, nope not worth the trouble. Heck I would rather even raise gerbils.

My production numbers with ASFRs are way larger than with rats or mice, but they take so much longer to grow that I think it comes out pretty even.

I don't know how you can say they smell worse than mice or rats. My experience is that rats smell terrible if you have more than a few, male mice will stink up the place if I have more than one male, but I can't smell ASFRs unless I let a tank go for a couple of months. They don't seem to pee much at all.

How many pups do you get per litter? How long between litters per female?

I have culled the mice down to bucks that end to not mark, and English bucks mark less to start with. I keep my rats on cellsorb or pine cat litter and they have almost no smell. The natal rats however smell like one of the mares stalls when she is in heat, sour rank. And it does not matter what kind of bedding I use. Also I can't add vanilla to the water on the natal rats like I can with the normal rats and mice so that makes it even worse. I little vanilla extract in rodent water and a good feeding program takes the smell WAAAAAYYY down,,but not for the natal rats.

i use vanilla in all my rodents water,asf's included.why can't you use vanilla with asf's ???

It may not be so for all natal rats, but the ones I have either stop drinking or drink so little it effects the milk production of the nursing females. The ones female I have nearly thirsted herself to death before I gave up and just put plain water in her bottle.
The natal rats I have are from four different breeders and none of them well drink much of any water if it has the vanilla in it.

I don't know maybe it is the brand I use, I use really vanilla extract not the fake stuff and mine is the stuff they sell at GFS.
What brand are you using?

i use IMITATION vanilla from GFS.in a 5 gal. cooler i mix 5t. vanilla and 2t. of bleach.i have about 120 ASFR's and they along with rats and mice all get the same water.

how interesting,i wonder if there's a differance between real and imitation vanilla ?

There is a difference between the imitation and the real, I guess enough to effect my Natal rats. I use 2cc per gallon in purified water. I am going to go buy some of the imitation stuff and give it a try. I wonder if it will help stop the bitting?

I have about 50 of the little monsters. And about 100x that in mice and I have no idea how many regular rats. And I don't know that I need all that many of the natal rats, pretty much all my snakes are good about eating & I do not think I would buy a snake I knew was that picky of an eater, unless it was a REALLY cool morph at a killer price, then I would still have to think about it.

..........let us know how the imitation vanilla works.

captive babies that don't eat,,,don't eat ,,,and the asf didn't help me get them started......jump starting them does help

as for big balls......they eat when they want...if they eat rat rats,,,keep it that way.....

......
-----
.

I breed ASF, rats and mice. I'm currently weeding out rats and mice simply because I cannot deal with the smell. I'm the type that HAS to scoop the kitty litter box three times a day, so mice and rats are utterly disgusting to me. ASF on the other hand, once a week----and I have yet to smell anything foul...even with babies.
I have also found ASF to be VERY GOOD foster parents. I had a mom mouse die the day after she gave birth... and I put her litter in with the ASF moms....they're doing great and now in the hopper stage.
I have 12 BP's...all but 1 eat ASF...and the one came from a very neglected home and has yet to eat anything at all...
-----
1.0 Burmese Python
1.1 Albino Burmese Pythons
6.2 Ball Pythons
1.2 Australian White's Tree Frogs
1.1 Blue Point Siamse Cats
1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.1 Chinese Water Dragons
0.1 Savannah Monitor
1.0 Iguana
1.0 Leopard Gecko
3.3 Sugar Gliders
1.0 Boyfriend that thinks I'm nuts!