African Soft Fur Rats

wolfy, I touched on this a little in another post I think...maybe not? Anyway I was doing something similiar. I was offering mine vegies daily and my litter numbers started decreasing slightly and the urine was increasing. I wanted to smack myself on the forehead after asking a buddy about it and realizing it as he told me. Most vegies and fruits have a high concentration of water...simply put: these rodents are not designed for nor do they require alot of water. I have recently cut off added foods outside of the block food I feed. I can't tell for sure yet if it has helped litter size as this change is recent, however the urine buildup/frequency has dropped back to normal (very little within a week's period).

Something to consider when your offering mixed food diet. I was also told initially that a *higher* protein content should be tried if small litters are had...I'm not sure this helps and I will be going back to a lower protein block when I am out of what I have.

Another tip: Others I have talked to have had better success with breeding when using tubs that are solid colors..not clear. All I use is clear so I have started introducing wooden hides into my tubs. I am just building crude "shacks" out of scrap wood, which serves as a hide as well as gnawing block. I offer some sort of wood (untreated of course) and they do gnaw on it considerably in ever tub.

These african rats are getting more and more interesting.

Hey!! Youa re in Miami!! You could get mine! Come buy them!
Hahaa.
Wolfy

Not quite yet my rats have me almost completely covered. But I might try them out soon, I will definitely check with you when I do.

Now, if I had like maybe one colony for my picky eaters... do you think growing asf and domestic rats could be placed in the same "to be fed off" tub (obviously males and females seperated)? And when the females have babies, do you take the male out like d. rats (i assume you do, but thats just an assumption)

Just trying to figure out if i have enough room for these little buggers.

I would not attempt mixing species.

I have a 1:2 ratio and my larger female gave birth to a litter of 12 for a first litter, not bad huh? All are doing well. Mine live in a ten gallon tank with aspen or pine bedding. They get fed lab block and senior wellness dogfood as a staple, and then also get various things like dried fruit,dry cereal,bread,nuts,bird seed,ect.I also add vitamins in their water. I only have a small amount of rats to deal with so I can spend more time and effort into getting them the good stuff...lol


Well, the other day I had my snake out and he was acting hungry. So when I put him back in his tank, I threw in an african rat pup with him to see if he would eat it. They are still small and blind but crawling around and fully furred. He seemed interested in it but didn't make a go for it.

SO I took the pup back out. But now it smelled like snake (it crawled all around in there). So I was worried that if I put the pup back in with it's family, they would reject him. So anyways, I held him under the faucet and rinsed him off with warm water. I considered using shampoo too but it was just too small. I put him back in with his parents and after much sniffing and licking, they were ok with his return (although I do believe I saw it's mother nip him).

So I am hoping that Stryker DOES eat these rats. I was led to believe that African soft furs are irrisistable to ball pythons but who knows? Maybe Stryker just doesnt GET IT yet. Maybe the pup was too small?? I don't know but he BETTER eat them, I am not going to be stuck with a gillion rats because he's being fussy. I might try peppering them with regular rat fur for flavor.....it worked when I swtiched from mice to rats. When this litter gets big enough I am going to try feeding them to stryker again. If he continually resists, the whole rat family is done for, I can't allow them to keep breeding. I will keep one of them though, she is a the nicest one and a very good babysitter.

I must say that they are good at defending their litters ferosciously

I think a common un-truth is that saying ball pythons "can't resist" asf's. It "may" be more likely to say that "most" will take to them. ASF's can be an awesome alternative food source, my snakes are doing great on them. Just like any other rodent a ball python may still refuse to eat ASF's.

Well, if he keeps resisiting, I am tying one of these to one of his normal frozen/thawed rats so he takes both....


thats a last resort though. I think if I just try some of the old tricks, I will get him eating them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

I have a 1:2 ratio and my larger female gave birth to a litter of 12 for a first litter, not bad huh? All are doing well. Mine live in a ten gallon tank with aspen or pine bedding. They get fed lab block and senior wellness dogfood as a staple, and then also get various things like dried fruit,dry cereal,bread,nuts,bird seed,ect.I also add vitamins in their water. I only have a small amount of rats to deal with so I can spend more time and effort into getting them the good stuff...lol


Well, the other day I had my snake out and he was acting hungry. So when I put him back in his tank, I threw in an african rat pup with him to see if he would eat it. They are still small and blind but crawling around and fully furred. He seemed interested in it but didn't make a go for it.

SO I took the pup back out. But now it smelled like snake (it crawled all around in there). So I was worried that if I put the pup back in with it's family, they would reject him. So anyways, I held him under the faucet and rinsed him off with warm water. I considered using shampoo too but it was just too small. I put him back in with his parents and after much sniffing and licking, they were ok with his return (although I do believe I saw it's mother nip him).

So I am hoping that Stryker DOES eat these rats. I was led to believe that African soft furs are irrisistable to ball pythons but who knows? Maybe Stryker just doesnt GET IT yet. Maybe the pup was too small?? I don't know but he BETTER eat them, I am not going to be stuck with a gillion rats because he's being fussy. I might try peppering them with regular rat fur for flavor.....it worked when I swtiched from mice to rats. When this litter gets big enough I am going to try feeding them to stryker again. If he continually resists, the whole rat family is done for, I can't allow them to keep breeding. I will keep one of them though, she is a the nicest one and a very good babysitter.

I must say that they are good at defending their litters ferosciously

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How large is your snake? If the ASF rat had not even open it's eyes yet it must have been pretty small. I would bet it was just too small. My ASF rats usually have there eyes open by the time they are about the size of a small mouse hopper.

Well, I hope thats all that is. I would say my rats babies are ALMOST hopper sized. They should have their eyes open very soon, I am thinking in a day or two. I thought I would just give it a shot. I read a lot of info on message boards and stuff, but I never heard of a ball refusing a prey item because it was too small??? I mean, the pup was crawling around and smelled strongly of rat from sleeping in a pile o babies.....I thought it would make a nice appetizer and be one less mouth to feed for Lunch (mama rat's name). Oh well, I will wait and try again when they aren't so scrawney...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

Well, I hope thats all that is. I would say my rats babies are ALMOST hopper sized. They should have their eyes open very soon, I am thinking in a day or two. I thought I would just give it a shot. I read a lot of info on message boards and stuff, but I never heard of a ball refusing a prey item because it was too small??? I mean, the pup was crawling around and smelled strongly of rat from sleeping in a pile o babies.....I thought it would make a nice appetizer and be one less mouth to feed for Lunch (mama rat's name). Oh well, I will wait and try again when they aren't so scrawney...

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How big is your snake???

Its amazing the litter size of these african rats. I discovered 2 first time females with litters of 12 and 15 and these are very young females. :) http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1170889433

One thing you dont want to do with these rats is use your hand to move them to look at the babies, OUCH! :P http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1170889809

you got that right Ed! I haven't been bitten yet because thus far I've reacted quick enough. If they don't know what you doing they can turn on a time! Other times I can "pet" them and they are fine, they aren't always all teeth :)

I fed off my big breeder male last night. I am currently keeping them in a ten gallon tank (I am going to try to buy an expansion topper for it tonight). I have 12 pups that just opened their eyes and 2 breeder females. I was just very curious to see what Stryker would do and so was my fiance (whereas he usually hates everything snake related). SO I plopped the male in the snake cage. I was worried a bit because these rats can REALLY bite! In fact, the male got a good one in before I dropped him in...Guess I deserved it?:rolleyes:

Anyways, Stryker took it like a champ! Now I can only hope at least 1 in 12 pups are male...lol....Or else just hope to find more rats at a reptile show....
Anyways, I didn't like that male anyways! I don't like the mother rat either. The other female I have is a darling and although she hasn't had a litter yet, she babysits 24/7 and I have to wonder if she is lactating for those pups. I read somewhere on these rats that even without pups, other rats pups can stimulate them to make hormones that causes them to lactate.....isn't that amazing?
Anyways, I don't think I will feed her off. She is my favorite and a very good rat godmother....lol

ok, sorry for the rant everyone!
I did feel a slight twinge of guilt for feeding this rat off....but hey, thats why I got them so what the heck!?!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wolfsnaps

I fed off my big breeder male last night. I am currently keeping them in a ten gallon tank (I am going to try to buy an expansion topper for it tonight). I have 12 pups that just opened their eyes and 2 breeder females. I was just very curious to see what Stryker would do and so was my fiance (whereas he usually hates everything snake related). SO I plopped the male in the snake cage. I was worried a bit because these rats can REALLY bite! In fact, the male got a good one in before I dropped him in...Guess I deserved it?:rolleyes:

Anyways, Stryker took it like a champ! Now I can only hope at least 1 in 12 pups are male...lol....Or else just hope to find more rats at a reptile show....
Anyways, I didn't like that male anyways! I don't like the mother rat either. The other female I have is a darling and although she hasn't had a litter yet, she babysits 24/7 and I have to wonder if she is lactating for those pups. I read somewhere on these rats that even without pups, other rats pups can stimulate them to make hormones that causes them to lactate.....isn't that amazing?
Anyways, I don't think I will feed her off. She is my favorite and a very good rat godmother....lol

ok, sorry for the rant everyone!
I did feel a slight twinge of guilt for feeding this rat off....but hey, thats why I got them so what the heck!?!

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I would not have fed off that male. It is going to take your pups a pretty good amount of time to get up to size so you might go a while without any litters.

Well, I am new to all this and a little impatient about it.:P

Its ok though, I only have one snake....and a freezer full of rats. SO if it takes some more time its ok. This is just a side hobbey, breeding rats. I might someday scrap the african rats and try regular rats. I don't know....I get kind of weird like that. I am lucky, I have a good eating snake...:)

Dinner Time. :) http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1171243464

mom at work. :) http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1171243653

I know it was asked already somewhere in the last 7 pages, but does anyone know where we can find these things in the western states? I read someone in Arizona, and another in Washington that want some. I too am interested in these little buggers. If the smell is really less than ordinary rats (and mice are just nasty smelling.)

My local pet store barley has feeder mice let alone ASF's.

Good luck in CA, that state prob won't let them in........... I would try one of your larger reptile shows out there if you are going to find them. If you do find them, be aware that CA most likely will have them on an illegal list. I would check with your state before you run into problems.


Just my :2cent: .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smasharama13

I know it was asked already somewhere in the last 7 pages, but does anyone know where we can find these things in the western states? I read someone in Arizona, and another in Washington that want some. I too am interested in these little buggers. If the smell is really less than ordinary rats (and mice are just nasty smelling.)

My local pet store barley has feeder mice let alone ASF's.

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Post your needs on the ASFRats site listed in my sig (sorry for the probably umpteenth shameless plug).

HEY TEKWARREN, tried to get into your asf site, it won't let me in! ahhhhh~!!!

Not sure what was up, I was updating some server side dependencies last night but all should be good today. PM if you need to be activated.

My one mommy rat had 8 babies. They've only been on the Mazuri diet a few weeks though, so I'm holding out hope they will be larger litters from some of the others.. if the others will go ahead and BREED.
They are looking like snake food to me.
Wolfy(keeps showing her rats the threads talking about 12 and 15 babies)

My female rat (the one who had pups) was bigger than the others when she delivered. I don't know that it makes any difference though. Maybe the male was having an "off" day? lol. My girl gave me 12 pups :)

3 have gone to heaven from the cat's antics (2 are in the freezer):halohorn:

I was wrong, I have TWO litters of african rat babies! The ten gallon tanks are right next to each other so I heard squeeking, assumed it was the one litter. Today I saw the other trio also has a litter! Only 6 in it, but since its the FIRST litter from other than the one pair, I'm excited about this mazuri diet.
Wolfy

rock on! I weaned a couple litters a few days ago and have a few more getting close.

Congrats on all the pups guys! lol

10 days old and almost fully soft furred. :P http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...g?t=1171859601