2 litters...0 survivors. Help!?!?!?!

I have a group of first time breeders in a colony of 1.4. They had a litter of 7 pups a couple weeks ago (the first litter from any in this group) and none survived more than a couple days. I was saddened but not overly concerned as this was the first litter from any of these females.

Unfortunately another litter was born 5 days ago and none of them lasted 3 days either. I was finding dead pinks all over the tank for 2 days.

I can understand the first litter...but not a single survivor in 2 litters?

They are in a 20L so they have tons of floor space. They have 2 wheels and they get PLENTY of exercise. they have a hide that they will all pile into from time to time (though the male tends to hang out under the water bottle more than pile in with the girls). I feed Mazuri 6F so they have good food and I supplement with natural sunflower seeds and the occasional apple slice.

Any suggestions? I don't know what's going on but I informed this group that should the next litter have no survivors the entire colony would be slowly turned into snake poo.

As much as I love my ASFs, they definitely frustrate me from time to time as well... I've had the same problem occur many many times. My husbandry seems perfect but they're just not taking care of the babies. I have 2 1.3 groups set up that are the same age and one group pumps out babies for me while the other group does nothing but kill their litters. My advice would be to be patient and wait a couple more times. If nothing changes, feed them and start over.

Have you tried Electro shock therapy?
Maybe you can pick one of them out and make an example of it in front of the others and scare them into acting like normal rats.

They are young parents. Give them some time to figure it out. If they cant figure it out after a few more sets feed them off. They are probobly retarded because of a small genepool

I have 3 good breeding groups ill set some aside for you. If yours dont pan out we can replace them.
:cool:

its not out of the ordinary for first litters to not make it. It is much more common for first litters not to make it when you have larger ratios...

in other words, a group of 1.4 is much more likely to eat babies then a group of 1.2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

its not out of the ordinary for first litters to not make it. It is much more common for first litters not to make it when you have larger ratios...

in other words, a group of 1.4 is much more likely to eat babies then a group of 1.2

---

Could I pull 2 of the females from this group out and introduce them to another male or, since they've already started breeding, is it too late for that? I have PLENTY of room so I could split my groups all up into 1.2 groups if I had to. I'd have to find some males and introduce them though...

I would take the wheels out. They need to be nursing those babies not running on a wheel. Seriously though its just one more thing to clean, What kind of bedding are you using. Ceder or pine is not the best and down right bad if not kiln dried, also if its dusty then you can have respiratory problems. I am not familiar with ASF breeding so I can't speak to them as a species.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Egapal

I would take the wheels out. They need to be nursing those babies not running on a wheel. Seriously though its just one more thing to clean, What kind of bedding are you using. Ceder or pine is not the best and down right bad if not kiln dried, also if its dusty then you can have respiratory problems. I am not familiar with ASF breeding so I can't speak to them as a species.

---

I'm using aspen bedding from TSC. I can't remember the brand offhand but it seems like pretty good stuff.

Cleaning the wheels is no problem...that's what my son is for. I'm not crazy about the idea of removing them because I don't want them to become destructive. I may try that down the road if I don't get a good litter though. The noise isn't an issue because I have them tucked away in the basement below my store where nobody can hear them.

Yes, you can try to seperate them into groups of 2 females.... they may kill the new male but you have nothing to loose at this point.

what are you feeding them?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigLu

what are you feeding them?

---

Mazuri 6F supplemented with occasional apple slices and nut & berry birdseed.

I've got them broken down into 3 1.3 groups now but I have no idea when (if) I'll see another litter. I'll keep you posted.