You buying this?

Looking at feeding my bps African soft fur rats. Found some u tubers claiming a 60g asf provides as many nutrients as a 120g standard rat. Seems to me to be a bit of a stretch. I couldn't find anything done in a lab setting, to quantify their statements. You buying this?

No :rolleyes:

BP's can also "imprint" on a food item. If your BP is eating "normal" rats now, offering ASF's could make him/her refuse anything else. I don't think it's worth the risk unless you can get ASF's for the long life of your BP.

I don't know if I buy that much, but I've started breeding ASF and fed ASF to my boas a few times now. So I guess I'll see how they do on them. Of course, bps can be a lot pickier than the boas I have, but I hear so much conflicting info on whether or not they get stuck on ASF. Some say they don't get stuck, some say they do. Guess it comes down to the individual snake, but if you can breed your own or have a stable supplier, I see no reason not to give it a try.

Since there is no study on nutritional requirement even if it was true which is very unlikely it would not matter much.

Gram per gram it's all the same.

I met with the asf rat man today and he gave me these factoids: bp will grow faster, will keep hatchling colors into adulthood, females won't produce slugs, poop won't stink(as bad). That's all I can think of at the moment. I understand he is trying to sell a product, but damn.

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Originally Posted by Zspook

I met with the asf rat man today and he gave me these factoids: bp will grow faster, will keep hatchling colors into adulthood, females won't produce slugs, poop won't stink(as bad). That's all I can think of at the moment. I understand he is trying to sell a product, but damn.

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Hahahaha yeah, and do they also produce shed skin that is made of silk? The only thing that *might* be true is the strong smell of the poop:rofl:
But as far as the colors go, I doubt that feeding them ASF changes their genetic predispositions towards growth, color and fertility.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zspook

I met with the asf rat man today and he gave me these factoids: bp will grow faster, will keep hatchling colors into adulthood, females won't produce slugs, poop won't stink(as bad). That's all I can think of at the moment. I understand he is trying to sell a product, but damn.

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Let's see some real data to back up those claims...I'd say they're just advertising hype. I have a wonderful property for sale in Florida, with only one sinkhole, & it will make a perfect swimming pool after you run a hose in it for a while, with no expensive digging required....:rofl: "Females won't produce slugs" & "poop won't stink"??? :rofl:

Slugs are usually the result of overfeeding, which most of the hobby is prone to. By feeding small prey items like ASF, it's more difficult to overfeed and thus slug rate would go down.

Most prey items are at their most nutritious at the medium adult phase. Pinkies to weanlings, their bone structure hasn't yet developed, and with limited movement, they are much higher in fat. Conversely, as they get on the older side, their calcium content goes down and fat content goes up again. Medium adult is generally the ideal life stage for nutritional value. For an ASF, that's generally in the 30-50g range, whereas for rats, that's in the 75-150g range.

Rats have thicker fur than mice or ASF's, which could potentially be harder to digest in some species but not an issue at all with ball pythons. Rats also have more fat and less calcium. It's a reasonable proposition that ASF's would be more nutritious, but no way that's going to be anywhere near 100% more nutritious. Fat is also not necessarily a bad thing for a younger, growing snake.

Medium adult rats are a pretty ideal size for adult ball pythons, but multiple medium adult ASF's would be a much more natural diet. But it really shouldn't matter all that much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zspook

I met with the asf rat man today and he gave me these factoids: bp will grow faster, will keep hatchling colors into adulthood, females won't produce slugs, poop won't stink(as bad). That's all I can think of at the moment. I understand he is trying to sell a product, but damn.

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I would have no further contact with that snake oil salesman.

Next thing you know, he’ll be telling that ASFs cures Herpes In humans.