African Soft Fur (Rat Family)

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Originally Posted by monk90222

Do you think that these ASF will be available at pet shops soon?....otherwise, how do you acquire them (i think that live rodent shipping is illegal?)

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I think pet stores will probably be one of the last places to get them. Most of the pet stores around here (even large chains) order thair rats in from large breeders. Until they have a market for them, they will not carry them. The prices are still too high for pet shops to get them and resell them at a higher price. On the east coast, ASF rats are abundant. When you get to the Mississippi river they tend to get harder to find. But they are spreading their way out to the rest of the country. It's only a matter of time before they are everywhere. Heck, they even have a forum dedicated to them. ;)

I have several adults, and I'm having trouble getting mine to breed. HOWEVER, having spoken to the rest of the people with them, they do have large litter size, smaller adult animal, and the smell is less. I've offered mine up for sale or trade on numerous occasions, and anyone around that wanted any already had some.
And shipping live rodents isn't illegil, just complex and expensive.
I got the Mazuri diet today, so we'll see if the litter size on mine increases.
And I've fed numerous of my bp's ASF and then offered the reg rats, and they switch back and forth or back to rats or whichever with no difficulty to me.
Wolfy

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

IOn the east coast, ASF rats are abundant.

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I am on the east coast!! ..Please, point me in the right direction!!

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Originally Posted by monk90222

I am on the east coast!! ..Please, point me in the right direction!!

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I will do some searching, I know I have seen them on KS before.

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Originally Posted by monk90222

I am on the east coast!! ..Please, point me in the right direction!!

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Do you go to the Hamburg show?

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

Do you go to the Hamburg show?

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If you do, here is a message a guy left me on another forum with his email.

"So just email me if you want to or if you don't find any by the time you need to. I know we are unloading a lot of them at hamburg to some people in february if we go but rats multiply so fast lol. My email is John@proherps.com"

His profile says his name is John Reiger.

Thanks for the info!! I haven't been to the Hamburg show as of yet, but I do want to go...If there is one in Feb....

Couple observations from my end. My asf's are producing like no tomorrow. This species is "built" for large litters reaching into the 20's easily under the right conditions. They don't smell anywhere near rats or mice...you don't have to add vanilla or some other additive to keep their smell down. The size of adults are darn near perfect for BP's, and for those monster BP's feeding 2-3 will be plenty. Mine so far have very fast maturity and size/weight gain rate. I am feeding all my balls on these now and with exception of one female who just won't eat. Every other ball has improved rate of consistent feeding.

I couldn't be happier with the changeover, my snakes are eating better and gaining weight faster than ever before. This is no "fad" at least not for me and my "keepers". I think there is more of an interest for these rats than some want to believe. As said above with the numbers these babies can crank out in a litter they are spreading VERY quickly between reptile keepers. I look at the nay sayer's comments similarly to the way people in the early days(insert your starting time period here) of reptile keeping would look at the current methods used now. Its something different and some are just afraid of change. There is no reason not to accept asf's as an alternative food source for some reptiles. They will only become more and more readily available as people take the "risk" of trying them.

I get people asking about them all the time and where can they get them from, heck I even have people calling me out of the blue wanting to buy or wanting info. This is the reason I started a website where breeders can let others know what they have and to what areas they will sell to...the desire for them is out there and it is growing!

Well, I'll tell ya this....I would certainly LIKE to be proven wrong on this. I don't mind waiting and watching to see how things play out over the next few years. ;)

How many grams do adult size ones get?