Freakin' Rodents.......

[Mitch21]

I definitely plan on changing from the cypress/wood shaving/pine pellet combo I was using for the bedding to something else... What about just straight pine shavings??

I think the colony is fairly comfortable with one another. They've been together since a young age. They always sleep with/ontop of one another. They never use the hides they have. They run on the wheel alot. I really don't think the members of the colony have any issues with one another. I know I'm new to ASFs but they get along quite well. They all take turns mothering the babies which they appear to do very well, but it just seems like they don't fully understand how to mother the babies the entire duration... If that makes sense...

Also, I started supplementing their lab block with bird seed mix.

[littleindiangirl]

I quit using bird seed. I found it was too fatty and made their fur very greasy and yellow. It's just a treat now, but by no means do I give it very often. I'd rather give cheerios as a treat.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Wow. for the first time EVER today I experienced what the OP is talking about. I had a group that first produced on 10/25 have their second litter either last night or earlier today.... and tonight, the tank is a horror show. baby parts eaten and spread all over the place. No babies left alive. I have no idea what caused this. As I stated, it was the second litter (first litter grew up and was weaned just fine). The only change I can think of that has occured recently is in Jacksonville the temps have been low the last few nights.... and the rat room dropped as low as 60 degrees. Could it possibly be the temperature? really hard to explain because I have had a few other litters born in the last two days, and they are all doing fine.

[greghall]

Ive been loosing a few here & there not a big proplem with the numbers im turning out,but what really got me mad is my weaning cage went crazy last week & alot got killed I think the sub adult males beat up on all the younger ones in the cage fed all the dead & small weans off going to keep them by size know & see what happens.

[Mitch21]

What kind of bedding do you all use? Pine? Pine pellets? Others??

After all my analysis and advice-taking, I really think the biggest issue for me is that she is a first-time mother. I realize some people have great success with their first-time mothers, but I really don't know what else it would be.

The food is what most use. The environment is good. They have security. I don't mess with them often at all. The ambient temperature is about 70.

So all I can determine is that it's first-time mother syndrome, or the substrate....

We'll see... she's going to pop soon again!

[Midwest Morphs]

Maybe they are revolting, mine made the horor show last week, then the OP and now Mcavana.

One of my females is looking like she is about to explode also, so this will be her second litter. Hopefully she dont get hungry again cause my snakes can always be hungry for more.

[greghall]

Walmart pine big bag. They do what they do,get more trios going so you can keep producing they grow slow.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

I get huge bags of shredded pine from local feed store. It is generally used for horses.... but is kiln dried so fine to use on the ratties.

[RandyRemington]

I wonder about the temp angle. 70 deg F might be on the bottom end for these guys as everything I read seems to indicate they thrive at warm temps. I recently had a first litter of 17 and lost 5 of them the first night when a cold front came in and my rodent room temperatures dipped. I'm going to insulate better and try to keep it in the upper 70's lower 80's. Maybe the moms stop making milk when it gets cool? Mine weren’t eaten they where just dead in the bottom of the nest.

[Wild Bill]

With all the ASF rats the main reasons for litter losses were temp, diet and water. If they don't have a varied diet, they will eat their babies. If they run out of water or the system gets clogged, they kill the babies. The main problem with temps I had was the lack of production, I had to keep them 70 degrees or warmer to keep up production.