Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to be breeding some rats and will be needing around 60-80 a month. My question is this what are the pros and cons of normal eta vs ASFs? Which should I go with?

>>I'm going to be breeding some rats and will be needing around 60-80 a month. My question is this what are the pros and cons of normal eta vs ASFs? Which should I go with?

I would go with rat rats...I have NOT raised ASFs but the experience I have with them was they bit the crap out of me and were small and flighty. I also seem to remember their litters being small. I you need rats go with rats. Bigger litters, stable and relatively tame.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Asf bigger litters, smell less. Take some time to grow. Certain snakes get tuck on them.
Rats are bigger and need more space. I keep my asf in 1.2 trios in old mouse bins

>>Asf bigger litters, smell less. Take some time to grow. Certain snakes get tuck on them.
>>Rats are bigger and need more space. I keep my asf in 1.2 trios in old mouse bins

Now I am curious about your experience....how big are the litters, how big are the pinks and what is their max growth size? And do yours bite the crap out of you....the only ones I have met personally were from a local here and she said what I encountered was normal....hyper biters.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

>>>>Asf bigger litters, smell less. Take some time to grow. Certain snakes get tuck on them.
>>>>Rats are bigger and need more space. I keep my asf in 1.2 trios in old mouse bins
>>
>>Now I am curious about your experience....how big are the litters, how big are the pinks and what is their max growth size? And do yours bite the crap out of you....the only ones I have met personally were from a local here and she said what I encountered was normal....hyper biters.
>>-----
>>Sonya
>>
First group was hell on wheels. I got a second group from a different breeder . They are not perfect, but I haven't been bit in several years. I still have a few nasty ones, but I think that is from my first group. Litters have always been above ten. I feed them to everything but ball pythons. Atb, Womas, sand Boas. I like the fact they smell less. Eayt the same rat food I do supplement them with some seeds. The pinks e bigger. I just breed a few mice for the baby atb. But mostly I sell all I produce and people always want more

I have bred mice,rats,and gerbils for my reptiles.

Now I strictly breed ASFs. They have large litters (10-15), newborn pinkies are about 2gm and can be fed to most hatchling snakes. The mothers are protective of their litters, but thats why they have long tails

The main reason I like them is the smell is WAY less than mice or rats. I raise lots during spring , summer and fall in racks in my garage but in winter I bring my future breeders inside and my wife doesn't complain about the smell anymore.

They max out at approx 100gms so if you have big snakes they may be to small.

In all the years I have had rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters of three or four varieties.....I always come back to rats and mice.

I need the tiny pinks of the mice.(neonate milks, childrens pythons) I have breeders now that make litters in the high teens to mid twenties...so I can cull out a bunch at birth to feed neonate snakes and still leave them a bunch to raise to other sizes.

My rats I feed to my bigger snakes from newborn on up. My rats have litters of 10-20 and I do the same as the mice and can sell any size that way. By four weeks old they are 100gms.

So, I can see if I had a snake that was really wanting hamsters or something less smelly to start on. But then I would find it a pain if someone sold me a snake that wanted ASF and was a pain to switch.

I can see the less smell overall. But I still haven't found ASFs worth the initial investment or the blood loss to the little vampires. The only rodents forgiven for biting me are moms with new litters.

Gerbils are a dredge on the market here though I did breed them for a long time.

Hamsters take up more space and blood lose then they have been worth to me.

So I got Zen and am back to rats and mice.
-----
Sonya

1.1 Candoia Paulson
2.2 Western Hognose
1.2 Mexican Black King
1.3 Greenish Ratsnake
1.1 Yellow Ratsnake
3.1 Everglades Ratsnake
2.1 Honduran Milksnake
0.1 Mexican Milksnake
1.1 Black Pinesnake
1.2 Sumatran Shortailed Python
1.3 Boa constrictor
2.2 Childrens Python
1.0 Irian Jaya Python
0.0.2 Timor Monitor
2.2 Mossy Leaftail Gecko
1.1 African Helmeted olivacea
0.1 Savannah Cat F7
1.1 Sugar Glider
Numerous Dogs, Cats, Birds, Fish pets and fosters
Husband
2.1 teens plus…..
You get the picture.