Interesting way of housing ASFs (mazes)

I thought some of this discussion was interesting enough that I'd post the link here. Pay particular attention to Kathy Love's posts.

Summary for those who don't want to be bothered with the link: She talks about keeping big colonies of ASFs in big bins, in which she makes maze-like structures. She says she usually finds the moms & babies in one section, the weanlings in another. Sounds kinda neat.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81255

uhm.. sounds interesting, but there's no link :(

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Originally Posted by Ladydragon

uhm.. sounds interesting, but there's no link :(

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Whoops! Thanks for catching that. I added it in the top post.

Hmmm I like that idea! Years ago when I kept only pet rats I custom built them a many level rat enclosure that was connected through a series of maze like passages. I may experiment with something like this for my ASF's just for the fun of it.

Thanks Casey!

This is something I've been wanting to do for my asf's for a while!! I know they are food, never pets (they won't let you) but I like watching them so much. Anyone have any ideas on how to convert something like this for ASF's?? And is the 1/4" hardware cloth everyone recommends overkill?? Could they really get out of 1/2" by the time they start wandering around?
thanks

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Originally Posted by milklover

Anyone have any ideas on how to convert something like this for ASF's?? And is the 1/4" hardware cloth everyone recommends overkill?? Could they really get out of 1/2" by the time they start wandering around?
thanks

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I don't think its overkill and I'm sure they would enjoy all the space, BUT I had my very first trio in an old ferret cage that had 1" x 1" bar spacing so I covered it with 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth and they chewed a hole in the cloth in under 2 days. There are some people on my rat forum that are breeding them for pets who keep them in wire cages made of powder coated metal and 1" x 1/2" bar spacing and apparently that is fine for the largest adults but she had juvenilles and smaller adult females manage to find their way out. I have 3 40gal wide and 2 50gal long aquariums for them with metal mesh screens and so far have managed to avoid any escapes. The aquariums are also large enough to provides wheels, boxes, tubes, shelves for more floor space and hammocks so they have lots of stuff to do.

I'm glad you are looking into giving them a lot of space. I realize racks are a necessity but it still makes me sad to see asf's/mice/rats kept in them with nothing to do.

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Originally Posted by cobweb2000

I realize racks are a necessity but it still makes me sad to see asf's/mice/rats kept in them with nothing to do.

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Racks don't have to mean shallow bins.

I'm about to finish a rack that will hold 18 20-gallon aquariums for my ASFs.
I'll post some pics when I'm done.

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Originally Posted by cobweb2000

I don't think its overkill and I'm sure they would enjoy all the space, BUT I had my very first trio in an old ferret cage that had 1" x 1" bar spacing so I covered it with 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth and they chewed a hole in the cloth in under 2 days. There are some people on my rat forum that are breeding them for pets who keep them in wire cages made of powder coated metal and 1" x 1/2" bar spacing and apparently that is fine for the largest adults but she had juvenilles and smaller adult females manage to find their way out. I have 3 40gal wide and 2 50gal long aquariums for them with metal mesh screens and so far have managed to avoid any escapes. The aquariums are also large enough to provides wheels, boxes, tubes, shelves for more floor space and hammocks so they have lots of stuff to do.

I'm glad you are looking into giving them a lot of space. I realize racks are a necessity but it still makes me sad to see asf's/mice/rats kept in them with nothing to do.

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For ASF's
I've never had them escape 1/2" hardware, or chew through it, I find the 1/4" is a lot flimsier and seems easier for them to chew through.

For norway rats
These rats live in burrows, while they can be extensive, they are small holes in the ground. :confuzd:

I will be the first to admit I was constantly torn between offering large cages or just racks. Over the past couple of years, I have realized that the rats really don't care if they are in a one level rack tub, or a cage. In fact, when I have offered large cages with a bunch of hammocks, they are hard to keep clean, and most of the rats hang out on the bottom anyways!

The rats aren't super bored, they have each other in the wild, they raise litters in the wild, they mate and breed. They are quite accustomed to living without toys and ramps and hammocks.

The only thing I don't like about racks is I can't offer a wheel, and I can't spare huge amounts of floor space with a rack to let them run around in. I have a lot of girls that use wheels when they can.

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Originally Posted by JeffFlanagan

Racks don't have to mean shallow bins.

I'm about to finish a rack that will hold 18 20-gallon aquariums for my ASFs.
I'll post some pics when I'm done.

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I think you are going to have some serious weight and potential diaster issues with that one. More power to you, looking forward to the write-up.

I will never use the 1/2 inch wire cloth for them again, well at least on any cage that has weanling sized soft furreds. Many of them can squeeze out of these holes and be free for the cats to chase. Learned this the hard way. Also have had mice do the same thing so maybe I just have tricky critters but I would recommend the 1/4 inch for all small critters.