asf RATS as pets

I just think the ASF Rats, as a whole, get a bum rap. People make them out to be "agressive" when it fact it's more to do with timidness. Once you handle them enough you can get them over the timidness. I am unsure if you can encourange them to become social as a standard domestic rat.

Rick

I saw ASFR in a pet store in Melbourne labeled as "Giant Mice". I asked the "rodent guy'' If they were in fact African Soft Furred Rats and the answer I got was "oh no these are definitely not rats." I then asked were they were from and the guy side stepped and didn’t answer me.

I think the consumer should have full disclosure on what they are buying, so at the very least they can get accurate info on the animal. As for the price these guys were $9.99. I do believe in supply and demand. If no one purchases the animal the price will come down. Just watch the classifieds on anything, or the clearance section at stores.

In our collection of ASFR we have some biters but they are all the remaining originals. Their offspring will let us handle them to clean out there cages and we can pet them too. I do admit we have a few that will come across the cage to bite you, but only a few of those are left.

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Originally Posted by kellysballs

I saw ASFR in a pet store in Melbourne labeled as "Giant Mice". I asked the "rodent guy'' If they were in fact African Soft Furred Rats and the answer I got was "oh no these are definitely not rats." I then asked were they were from and the guy side stepped and didn’t answer me.

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I definantly agree with full disclosure. If a petshop wants to call them this or that doesn't matter to me, but they should list where they are from, as well as other common names they have. For example, the local family run petshop that I frequent and volunteer at sells "Smiling Tree Frogs" but it also states on the tank "Also known as White's Tree Frogs or Dumpy Tree Frogs".

They should also explain, that like a hamster, they are jumpy and timid and, also like a hamster, they can nip if cornered or grabbed. You need to work with them so that they don't fear you. If you reach in and pick them up everyday they tame quickly. If you reach in once a week during cleaning and only pick them up by the tail to remove them from the tank, they are not going to tame very well.

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In our collection of ASFR we have some biters but they are all the remaining originals. Their offspring will let us handle them to clean out there cages and we can pet them too.

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I am glad your current generations have become tamer. As with the silver fox experiments, if you remove the nippers and only breed the tamest, you will have tamer and tamer ASF's each generation, but I do honestly think that social interation will help too.

Let me add that I don't really think of the ASF's as Rats. They are more like a mouse in nearly every aspect. They just get a bit larger. I concider them "ASF Mice". :gj:

Rick

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Originally Posted by SiscoReptiles

Let me add that I don't really think of the ASF's as Rats. They are more like a mouse in nearly every aspect. They just get a bit larger. I concider them "ASF Mice". :gj:

Rick

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One of our local breeders here calls them "Ghana Mice" too...

In the little guys defense, its just a matter of perserverance. I have lots of pets (timor and nile monitors, razorback musks, budgies, sugar gliders, etc.) including asfs who people say aren't tameable. I say you probably aren't trying. My rats aren't calm whatsoever but they are gentle, never bite and would give a normal rat a run for its money as far as pet quality goes. Some animals never tame and some species are more difficult then others but if you make an effort to understand what motivates the animal then you can usually socialize it. I am a reptile person but I love my two asf girls and will probably have a pair for some time to come. Just think of it as a test of your animal skills;)

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

1.overcharge you (yes, they used to be expensive but as they are becoming more available, she is overcharging)

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I wouldn't exactly call that "overcharge". They're priced to discourage people from buying them as feeders the exact same way that the "fancy rats" are priced. I can get a medium rat for less than $2 from the person I buy feeders from, yet the breeder a few streets down has his priced at $15 a piece or two for $20. To most, this is insanely overpriced.. To them, they're priced to sell as pets that will be around for the next couple years or so. When I was younger I paid $30 for a hamster and about $40 for a guinea pig. If I were to want a pet ASF I wouldn't mind paying $40. It's a one time payment for a pet that will hopefully last a while.

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Originally Posted by Kymberli

I wouldn't exactly call that "overcharge". They're priced to discourage people from buying them as feeders the exact same way that the "fancy rats" are priced. want a pet ASF I wouldn't mind paying $40. It's a one time payment for a pet that will hopefully last a while.

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. Theres that too. They aren't overpriced if you're willing to pay that much and if they are overpriced then they arent the pet for you.

Take it from me, I breed ASFs for pets.

They do not tame down completely. They are under NO CIRCUMSTANCES children's pets.
Mine never bite, but still jump and will run every chance they get (for the most part). Even the most handleable rat I have will only put up with handling and petting for so long. The others all get held by the tail when i pick them up on my hand, just in case they try to jump, which they almost all will.

Mine don't bite, but almost all others DO.
The main issue I have is that she is charging a lot for them, which would not be a problem if they were properly labeled. But she is labling them as something far more exotic, and trying to make money off of them by decieving the public!

I can nearly guarantee that in the US there is no real true pet stock. Someone is going to buy those, get the [poop] bitten out of them, and be really upset. lol

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Originally Posted by Rhacrexporph

. Theres that too. They aren't overpriced if you're willing to pay that much and if they are overpriced then they arent the pet for you.

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They aren't over priced if you buy them from a breeder. Most pet shops that sell pet rats are selling the same rats they use for feeders, as pets, and making a ton more money on them than they would selling them as feeders.

People pay upwards of $60 for a rat from a pro show breeder, and it's because you get a rat that is healthy, well bred, and won't break your heart dying young.