Should I switch from ASF to rats...need help planning

[RaltsXIV]

So I've had a 1.3 ASF group going for a while and I no longer think its enough. I pulled another group of month 1.3 tonight but I may just nix the asf route all together and switch to rats.

I can't seem to get my 3 snakes full on ASFs alone. They've consumed 3-4 two-month old ASFs a piece every 5 days for the past few months and are still so hungry I can't even open a tub without them going into hunt mode and striking anything that moves. My colony is tapped out as I've got about 40 almost weaners left. not even going to fill one snake up.

My dilemma: I've got 2 empty ten gallon tanks and 2 empty 20L tanks. I was thinking of keeping a male in a 10 gallon, a female in the other ten and 2 females in each of the 20Ls. Is this feaseable? What do you guys/gals think? Feeder rodents around here are ridiculous to buy ($4-6 SMALL rats that bring freakin wood mites in my house every time I get them) and I plan on expanding my snake collection to double what it is now but i need to get the food situation under control first.

Any input/critisism/comments would be greatly appreciated!

[llovelace]

ASF's are SLOW growers, I started my own rat colony back in March, with 1.1, I fed off my asf colonies, but kept one trio for my 2 asf'rs, my suggestion to you is build a rat rack.

I now have 2.13 breeders, with another 1.6 future breeders, 98% of them are offspring from the original 1.1

[llovelace]

About the tanks! I have mine in 40L, 20L, and I use 10g as maternity tanks, but trust me you want a rat rack, the only reason I am using tanks is because I had them already, and I'm a stay at home crazy snake lady (my daughters desription of me lol), I clean the tanks every 3-4 days to prevent amonia buildup, that can cause respiratory problems, and I have to water daily, which keeps me tethered to home for the most part.

[RaltsXIV]

Well, hmmm. I never even considered a rack. I had to quit building my 125 gallon aquarium stand due to noise complaints (live in an apartment)... I'd imagine the work for the rack would be the same. I've got my ASF tanks in a wire rack on a closet now lol

[llovelace]

wouldn't take much cutting, you could even have the cuts done at HD or Lowes here is a link to building one
http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rat_rack/ratrack.shtml

[RaltsXIV]

I had the cuts from my snake rack done there and had to recut them at home. Sizes were off Nice link btw, I hadn't stumbled across that one yet, for some reason I thought it would involve a router to make spots for the tray rims...apparently not lol

What's your reason for suggesting the rack over tanks? easier maintainance?

[llovelace]

In the space that my tanks are taking up now, I could place 3 of those 6 tub racks.
Tubs are much easier/faster to clean, using a watering system means filling 1 large bucket weekly vs. several water bottles daily

[RaltsXIV]

I went the lazy route and put 3-4 water bottles in each tank

[llovelace]

I did have extra water bottles in each tank, the lixit 8oz., but now they are being used for maternity tanks, and I can't find them on ebay any longer. so I've started ordering parts for my new watering system for the new (hopefully soon to be built) rat rack.

[RaltsXIV]

Same bottles i have, plastic but the asfs can't get a good spot to chew through them. A local store here still carries them for $6 a piece.

I'll probably build a smaller rack than that one. It seems much easier than the tanks. Thanks for the link