holy rat bites bat man.

I have no experience with breeding but i have definetly heard of people breeding for docility... If they fine an aggressive mom or dad they feed it off and replace it.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

If they fine an aggressive mom or dad they feed it off and replace it.

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Yes, any biters are very strong candidates for the freezer...

I breed Mice, Rats, and ASF's.

I've had ASFs from two different sources and I've got to say one set was a much meaner bunch.

I just learned to approach em careful. Spend a lot of time poking around opening and closing the cage, touching them when they don't have babies. It's all about acclimating them to the kind of handling needed to accomplish daily tasks and also learning what a ASF in a bad mood looks like.

That being said there were a few I gave up as lost causes and they ended up in my freezer.

I also found that the second generation was easier to handle since they grew up with me and were used to my cleaning routines and how I handle rodents. Once I had second gen that were breeding age all the ones I got from the meaner batch got phased out.
It's part nature but it's nurture too. :)

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

Yes, any biters are very strong candidates for the freezer...

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lol nice

Never had an ASF bite my hand and I handle them a lot. Although they do bite the heck out of the gloves I wear. ;)

I just don't see the point of dealing with aggressive stock. :confuzd:

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Originally Posted by Rhasputin

I just don't see the point of dealing with aggressive stock. :confuzd:

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Well some if us just don't have a choice. We need ASF's and there isn't someone like you in our area who breeds for temperment.
Those of us who can't get a hold of friendly stock have to take the risk with aggressive animals and hope they mellow out with time.

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Originally Posted by Rhasputin

I just don't see the point of dealing with aggressive stock. :confuzd:

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Just with any other type of feeder animal. Mice, ASFS or rats, get rid of aggressive stock. It is an inherited trait.:snake:

Well someone needs to step up to the plate then! :P
It costs around $200 to ship a box of rodents across the country. (less on a good day)

The first asfs I ever had were nasty nasty nasty. Most of my new ones are not but the ones I got from the pet store are nasty.

My first and very worst bite so far was from an albino rat from petco. It did a lot of damage and took forever to heal, and 4 years later I still have a scar.

I was actually in the hospital about a week and 1/2 ago. They actually had the infectious disease dr in because of me handling mice and rats all the time.
She came in and asked, "so you get bit pretty often from your rodents right"... I was like... "uh, it's actually VERY RARE that I'm bitten by any of my rodents. Maybe once a year?". She didn't believe me!

LOL