whats the point of ASFR

The african? soft furred rats? why do some people use them over mice? my husband picked up one along with our usual pick up order of mice because he was short one. ive never seen one in real life and to be quite honest i didnt even know our supplier had them. is it going to be difficult to get her to eat regular mice again?

whats the benefits of using them?
do they get much larger than mice?

Their larger than a large mouse and they stay smaller than a small rat as adults.

They seem to be a natural food source for bps they work wonders on wc and bps that don't like to eat.

I had a female on mice and gave her one asfr and she won't even look at a mouse now.

And they have no smell none!

our wild caughts seem to thrive on them, They are smaller then rats and bigger then mice and don't smell as bad. I think they are fun to keep do tend to bite a bit more then rats but are still quite easy to raise and very protitive of their young. I just think they make a nice alternative food source.

thank you for the information, do you have a problem with them refusing to go back to mice ever? how do you keep the asfr from biting the snakes? (i refuse to do the whole trauma before feeding, and if f/t worked we would go with that) i dont want to open a can of worms here but any information would be helpful

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Originally Posted by AshleyB

thank you for the information, do you have a problem with them refusing to go back to mice ever? how do you keep the asfr from biting the snakes? (i refuse to do the whole trauma before feeding, and if f/t worked we would go with that) i dont want to open a can of worms here but any information would be helpful

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Thats the thing Ashley.......it might be very difficult for abp to go back to mice or reg. rats after ASF.....im sure it could happen, but you could have issues.....

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Originally Posted by McAdry

do tend to bite a bit more then rats.

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That's an understatement! My rats only bite if they're very scared, and are generally curious and friendly. My ASFRs bite if there's anything available to bite! I don't feel at all bad about feeding them off.

The lack of smell does have me switching over, but I wouldn't leave an ASFR in with a snake unattended for even a few seconds.

I'm currently up to 9 - 20 gal, and 1 - 75 gal aquariums full of ASFRs. They're slow growers, but they have large litters and the moms and babies can stay in the colony. The young can easily escape cages, so I only use aquariums.

You know I have a 2.3 group of ASF and as long as I move slow and don't just grab them I have yet to be bit.

I got mine to see if I couldn't get some problem feeders eating and packing on the weight.

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Originally Posted by Reediculous

Thats the thing Ashley.......it might be very difficult for abp to go back to mice or reg. rats after ASF.....im sure it could happen, but you could have issues.....

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ugh!!! thats frustrating, i hope she will go back to mice, shes always been a really good eater of mice before. **crosses fingers** i dont want to have to deal with nippy asf when i can continue to just feed multiple mice.


how do you even move those mean boogers!!! i would be terrified to even stick my hand in there let alone move it from where we keep our feeders to the actual rack & bins

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Originally Posted by AshleyB

ugh!!! thats frustrating, i hope she will go back to mice, shes always been a really good eater of mice before. **crosses fingers** i dont want to have to deal with nippy asf when i can continue to just feed multiple mice.


how do you even move those mean boogers!!! i would be terrified to even stick my hand in there let alone move it from where we keep our feeders to the actual rack & bins

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Like I said I just move slow be gentle and take your time you'll be fine. Oh and I pick them up by the tail