creating groups

[decensored]

Hey Guys,

I recently decided to start breeding a few ASF to get the feel for it.. LOL

I have had a 1.2 group and a 1.1 group.
The 1.2 group gave me a liter a couple of months ago as I didn't have any plans on breeding at that time, and I accidentally fed off the male.

My 1.1 pairing is pregnant now.

I want to combine them to a 1.3 group as two of the females are proven..

How would I go about doing that?

I separated ALL of them last night into their own bins, and I am adding bedding from each of their cages to the other cages periodically to confuse their scents.
I read somewhere that if you separate them for a few days you can have success in introducing adults to each other.

I just want to make sure I am on the right track.

I also just put together a 1.4 group of weanlings I had from this last liter and some weanlings/ sub adults from a breeder but they were fighting so I removed the male (the only one from my colony) and added a male from the same colony. I don't know if they are siblings because they came from the breeder in a colony of 30 weaned..

Are ASF like snakes, one generation of inbreeding won't screw too much up or should I call it a loss and grab some new weanlings and try to introduce the male again to the new ones?

I pretty much have a limited knowledge of what I am doing and am looking for some guidance lol.

Thanks in advance,
Chris.

P.S. I've removed the adult ASF from my recently weaned colony as I was noticing they were drinking from the water bottle and I figured they were stable enough to be on their own. I have no idea about eating because I have a hide in the tub. I figured since they were drinking it should be okay? Am I correct in thinking this?

Cheers!

[DooLittle]

I have heard that putting a bit of vanilla on their noses works. So we gave it a try. We added 2 girls to a tub with one male, one female. Took everybody out, totally cleaned cage. Then I dabbed a qtip with vanilla on their noses, (which they DID NOT like, lol). Put every body in, and they were fine. None of them are quite up to breeding age yet either. So I don't know what was they key factor there that helped.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[decensored]

thanks for the reply!

did you use vanilla extract? haha

cheers,
chris.

[DooLittle]

Yes, right from my kitchen, lol.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[Simplex]

K. Your making some errors that will 1. Make alot of extra work for yourself. And 2. Possibly lower your production.

Make 1.2-1.3 colonies. Feed them, water them, clean them. Leave them alone. Remove babies when they are ready. Enjoy.

Asfs are colony based, thus they form bonds with there groups and introducing new adults can be difficult, stressful, and imo not worth it.
Some fighting will occur, Its normal. Jostling adults arround can stress them and cause lower numbers

[Simplex]

As for the inbreeding. I add new blood once a year. Or if i see something cool i like.

[decensored]

Thanks for the reply!

I don't want to switch around the males, I am just working on making one colony, as I don't have a male in with two of the females, and I think a 1.1 grouping is a waste of a bin. My future pairings will be easier I'm sure I was just hoping to get this one started lol.

Thanks for the advice, I wasn't sure about the ratios of male to female so I think I'll stick with 1.3 if you think that will see better results.

Cheers,
Chris.

[mechnut450]

i had luck with taking a clean tub put fresh shaving in there have it all set up and du,pe hem in at same time. my fiance uses the vanilla when she makes new colonies. i also take the babies when young and mix the 3 takes(back then) and just spilt the pups up into the anks so the genes kept getting mixd up lol. i wish i could trade my rats off for asf lol. cause the smell so much better with asf.

[decensored]

Hey Guys,

I introduced them all to each other today. Used the vanilla trick. They started fighting right off the bat but they didn't even wait to smell each other, they just went at whatever moved. I didn't see any biting so I let them go at it. Even the ones that were kept together in the past didn't recognize each other but the fighting seems to have stopped. The male it going around and pining the females, and the females are being submissive to him so I figure that's a good sign, no biting still so I have my fingers crossed that they'll settle into each other. I caught two of them cuddling so hopefully it all goes well. They are still very nervous when they encounter each other but they start fighting, smell one another and than go there separate ways in peace. Just wondering if this is a good sign?

Thank you everyone for your advice. This will be the last time i separate or introduce adults to each other haha.

Cheers,
Chris.

[Simplex]

Hope it goes well. I find i can continue to add animals on a regular basis to my grow out tubs and they dont fight, but an established colony with adults is tough