Question for those who breed feeders for their snakes.

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Originally Posted by Mr Sully

The Mice are Horrible, ... The 3 Rats Im going to Breed don't smell 1/8th as much as 1 mouse...

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Originally Posted by zina10

Rats definitely smell WAY less then mice !! ...

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Originally Posted by distaff

I've kept both. Mice stink, even outside, ... Currently keep two male rats...

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

Here's what I do, I keep rats, mice, and snakes all in the same room and there is almost no smell at all except at the end of every 5 days when it's time to clean the rodents. ... For my mice ... When I open the tank the smell about knocks me over, ... got rid of my ASFs, they produce way too slow. ... mice really stink, I can't even bring them home from the pet store without having to get them out of the cab of my truck and back in the bed of my pickup... I tried to keep mice without the carbon filter pads on top, forget about it. You can smell them the second you walk in the house.

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Originally Posted by predatorkeeper87

my rats, big males included, don't smell that bad... Mice on the other hand...smell like the devil himself crapped in tinfoil and microwaved it in your house.

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Many comments on how rats smell much less than mice, but not one on how ASFs smell much, much less than rats.

Re smell at end of 5 days: ASF's don't smell after 15 days.

Re ASFs producing slowly: we've seen this before when they were fed lab block. Given high protein/low fat dog food they are unstoppable (and their soft fur looks beautiful & shiny, not greasy & matted like it was on lab block). Mastomys natalensis are carnivores which consume plant matter only when animal matter is not available. Rattus norvegicus are herbivores which consume animal matter only when plant matter is not available.

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Originally Posted by Praomys

Many comments on how rats smell much less than mice, but not one on how ASFs smell much, much less than rats.

Re smell at end of 5 days: ASF's don't smell after 15 days.

Re ASFs producing slowly: we've seen this before when they were fed lab block. Given high protein/low fat dog food they are unstoppable (and their soft fur looks beautiful & shiny, not greasy & matted like it was on lab block). Mastomys natalensis are carnivores which consume plant matter only when animal matter is not available. Rattus norvegicus are herbivores which consume animal matter only when plant matter is not available.

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I would breed them but they're not something I can get locally. I called and dug around with no success. Half of these Mom & Pop shops within 60 miles never even heard of them. I actually showed a picture to a few shop owners and they new nothing.
I will check the next show I go to.. If they produced well I wouldn't have a problem feeding several to the burm but I also hear they fight eachother terrible and im not into worrying about that. Rats are much more relaxed it seems.

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Originally Posted by predatorkeeper87

Mice on the other hand...smell like the devil himself crapped in tinfoil and microwaved it in your house.

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I can confirm that this is indeed the case. There's a reason I keep my mice in the closet, behind closed doors, with an air freshener right next to the male's cage. The females aren't too bad though. And for some reason a lone male smells much wose than one in with females.

I wish I could get ASFs. No one out here knows what they are either.

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Originally Posted by Mr Sully

I would breed them but they're not something I can get locally. ... I will check the next show I go to.. If they produced well I wouldn't have a problem feeding several to the burm but I also hear they fight eachother terrible and im not into worrying about that. Rats are much more relaxed it seems.

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We see you are located in NY state. If you're near the Catskills shoot me a PM.

Live rodents are prohibited from New York state shows. The shows in Hamburg, PA, are the closest shows to the NYC metro area where live rodents are permitted. We were there 3 weeks ago, so much more diversity than the White Plains and Poughkeepsie shows, nice change of pace.

"Feeding several to the burm..." are you talking about that monster in your photos? She might need several colonies for a feeding, not several ASF's. Also, burms are a Southeast Asian (and Florida Everglades :P) reptile. ASF's are an African rodent. Go with prey items that her great ancestors were eating when her DNA was still in Burma.

One of the reasons why ASF's usually work for picky BP's, and work better for BP's in general, is 'cause they've been eating them since dinosaurs were pooping in puddles. Rattus norvegicus is not a natural food item for BP's, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of captive BP's grow fat, literally, on them.

Yes you are right re their aggression, but as long as sexually mature adults are not pulled from their colonies and mixed with sexually mature adults from other colonies there will never be any trouble.

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Originally Posted by Praomys

We see you are located in NY state. If you're near the Catskills shoot me a PM.

Live rodents are prohibited from New York state shows. The shows in Hamburg, PA, are the closest shows to the NYC metro area where live rodents are permitted. We were there 3 weeks ago, so much more diversity than the White Plains and Poughkeepsie shows, nice change of pace.

"Feeding several to the burm..." are you talking about that monster in your photos? She might need several colonies for a feeding, not several ASF's. Also, burms are a Southeast Asian (and Florida Everglades :P) reptile. ASF's are an African rodent. Go with prey items that her great ancestors were eating when her DNA was still in Burma.

One of the reasons why ASF's usually work for picky BP's, and work better for BP's in general, is 'cause they've been eating them since dinosaurs were pooping in puddles. Rattus norvegicus is not a natural food item for BP's, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of captive BP's grow fat, literally, on them.

Yes you are right re their aggression, but as long as sexually mature adults are not pulled from their colonies and mixed with sexually mature adults from other colonies there will never be any trouble.

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Ive fed him Rabbits, Rats and sometimes Guinea Pigs when I need to for the last 19 years... But Im not downstate and 2 local Petshops closed in my area within the last 4 years...the only one left isn't getting anything useful anymore. (Everything is small and the same price, Ive had to feed multiples).
I dont live in the country or id be breeding Rabbits, Rats, Chickens and all.. Hahaha
So I'll try Large Rats and I ordered 4'x6' Carbon filters to cut and use.