To wheel or not to wheel.....that is the Q

Sooo....i have two colonies of asfs, and i provide them all the amenities a rodent could want...including exercise wheels. My buddy got a large group from me almost a year ago, and has since produced many. I visited him the other day, and his asfs are HUGE!!! Probably 50% bigger than mine! Ive been mulling this over in mind how its possible. I keep mine in tanks, he keeps his in racks. We use the same bedding, and same food. Same water from the tap. Then it dawned on me...no exercise wheels! I use exercise wheels, he doesnt. I took the wheel out of one colony as an "experiment" to see if they increase in size due to lack of exercise, and just how quickly it happens. I would assume they would at least get a bit fatter, but im ok with that :p What do you guys think?

sent from my incubator

If the wheel made them happy I would leave it.

I know mine go bananas for their wheel. But I have a few questions for you... Are the freakishly huge guys adults, or juvies? Do you know if he's doing any selective breeding for size? Does he supplement with other food? Though I don't usuallly grow mine out for very long (I feed em to tiny snakes) I tend to get some pretty big dudes from feeding scrap veggies, pastas and eggs. I weighed a few of my big girls after I put them down, they were around 180g. Either way, I think it's a neat little experiment, and I'd be interested in the results :)

Theyre adults. And pretty sure theyre bigger than even the biggest retired breeders i ever had. No selective size breeding. He doesnt supplement their feed. And we both feed Mazuri.And ill have to weigh the one i got from him the other day...

sent from my incubator

Maybe it's something in the water lol. That's really quite strange. Must be the wheel!

Wheels in, my ASFs run nonstop all day and chew wood blocks. This is including pregnant females which are feeding litters. They really are much more high energy then your standard feeder rat. I'm sure the animals would be o-k without the wheels but I prefer mine to have the option. If they sat around chewing the wheels all day and not running I'd take them out.