ASF vs Gerbils? NEED HELP!!

Which is better to feed Ball pythons?
I know that once you feed them its very difficult to get the ball python to switch back, I just want to know the pros and cons of each,
Which grow the fastest? Which are the easiest to breed? Which don't smell as bad? Which are better for ball pythons? Which have the largest litters? How big do both get? Which one grows the largest?
Sorry for the questions, Ive been looking into them and just can't find a website that lists the pros and cons of each compared to one another,
Thank you,
Billy Nicholas

I don't know about ASF, but gerbils are rather difficult to breed. They are hard to introduce and you can only breed one female to one male. Females are dominant so you cannot put two females together with a male to breed or they will kill each other.
Gerbils smell very little. They get about twice the size of an average pet fancy mouse. They become full grown at about 6 months, but they are a fair size at 3 months.
Gerbil litters vary from 2 pups to about 9 pups.

Gerbils are nastier as feeders, they will fight rather than flight. Gerbils also do not get as big as ASF. ASF smell is very minimal I wouldn't actually know I have them :)
I have owned gerbils but never bred them.

May I ask why you're deciding between those?
I personally would choose between rats and ASF.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

ASF caresheet: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-ASF-Caresheet

ASFs: Smell less, get the size of very large mice/smaller rats, are healthier than gerbils/hamsters, litters are around 10ish, can be put in breeding colonies, grow kinda slow but when you have 10 in a litter, it pans out over time. I just started a 1.4 colony in mid November and plan on being feeder independent for 8 snakes by the end of January.


Gerbils/hamsters: Fatty and not a "healthy" choice for your snakes(can't find the thread that has the nutrition chart for each rodent), BPs are known to get "hooked" on them, everything else was said by Abyss and Monkee.

Gerbils aren't fat. They are quite lean. They shouldn't be confused with hamsters.

Of the two I would pick ASF's. If you ever need to re-home one of your ball pythons you don't want to list it as a gerbil-eater, that's worse than a mouser IMO. Almost no one breeds them as feeders so the pet shop would be your only source for live gerbil feeder, and those get sold as pets so they won't be cheap.

Why not rats? If I saw ASF eater on an ad or response email I'd keep looking. I don't want to breed two types of rodents until I get a house of my own, preferably only rats even then.

There may be a few gerbil breeders who might be okay with selling their gerbils as feeders. I think I recall there being a member of the AGS who allowed that... though I may be mistaken.

Rats man. Easy to breed, don't smell if you clean em, available for snakes hatchling up to adult boa, easier to find homes if you have an excess, easy to get snakes on, AND off them if need be, and they can even make great pets if you have a good genetic colony.

Put your hand in any one of my breeder bins and they will nibble, not bite, all can be handled, and all can be fed off or sold.

Way better IMO


I like my Dubstep to go Wop Wop Wop Wop

I didn't have difficulty breeding gerbils in family groups so long as they're raised together. Even after a month in the same bedding I'd be hard pressed to notice a scent different from the day after cleaning - probably has to do with their extremely low water intake/outtake. Gerbils are cute and cuddly even as adults - feeding them off was taxing my soul.

ASFs breed well in groups and are easier to introduce. After a week in the same bedding you will definitely notice a smell. Regularly cleaning their "toilet corner" helps but doesn't negate the scent - they drink a lot, they pee a lot. Can be cute but occasionally give you the devil's nip - my soul is sound even after feeding them off.

Both are slowish growers. ASFs have humongous litters, gerbils - not so much.