Would you buy an ASF eater?

I breed ASF as a source of food mostly for my non-snake animals. When I have some excess I'll feed a round or two(or three) to my snakes and it doesn't seem to affect their affinity for the F/T I typically feed.. These snakes that get hung up on ASF are ones fed them from hatchling status or what?

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Originally Posted by spitzu

I have a hard time believing the results too, based on all of the fear mongering I've been seeing around here. :rofl:

And ASFs are way easier to breed than rats, by the way. Have you tried, or are you just repeating what you've read?

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No need to try to flip this around into something it isn't :) I'm here to learn too.

You're the first handful of people that I've heard say great things about ASF. I have a lot of friends in the hobby and some even have... *gasp* ASF colonies (or had them). No one has ever told me they are easy to keep. I haven't bred ASF because I don't have anything I feed eating them. They aren't readily available in my area (or many areas) either. Reptiles aren't as prolific where I live. The community is much smaller than many parts of the US. I've only seen a few colonies in person and they weren't local. Rats are easy to keep, breed, and are almost universally available in all areas. That's why they are my preference.

How did you get into ASF rats?

Regards,

B

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Originally Posted by Simple Man

No need to try to flip this around into something it isn't :) I'm here to learn too.

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Yeah sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out quite like it did.

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You're the first handful of people that I've heard say great things about ASF. I have a lot of friends in the hobby and some even have... *gasp* ASF colonies (or had them). No one has ever told me they are easy to keep. I haven't bred ASF because I don't have anything I feed eating them. They aren't readily available in my area (or many areas) either. Reptiles aren't as prolific where I live. The community is much smaller than many parts of the US. I've only seen a few colonies in person and they weren't local. Rats are easy to keep, breed, and are almost universally available in all areas. That's why they are my preference.

How did you get into ASF rats?

Regards,

B

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ASFs weren't plentiful here when I was looking for them either. It took me over a month to find a guy nearby that was getting rid of some. I didn't buy them because I had ASF eaters... I went out and bought them specifically because I wanted to breed them and feed them to our snakes.

Yes, they can sometimes be nippy when not handled much, but I have been maintaining anywhere between 500-1000 of them daily and have probably been bitten less than 10 times since I started. None of those drew blood. You just have to learn how to handle them.

I think the best thing about them is that they're the perfect size. I don't understand why people complain about having to feed 4+ to their BPs. Those ASFs are either too small, or they're way overfeeding. We don't usually feed more than 1 or 2 a week, and almost every single one of the hatchlings we bought last year has put on over 1000 grams.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

Yeah sorry, I didn't mean for that to come out quite like it did.



ASFs weren't plentiful here when I was looking for them either. It took me over a month to find a guy nearby that was getting rid of some. I didn't buy them because I had ASF eaters... I went out and bought them specifically because I wanted to breed them and feed them to our snakes.

Yes, they can sometimes be nippy when not handled much, but I have been maintaining anywhere between 500-1000 of them daily and have probably been bitten less than 10 times since I started. None of those drew blood. You just have to learn how to handle them.

I think the best thing about them is that they're the perfect size. I don't understand why people complain about having to feed 4+ to their BPs. Those ASFs are either too small, or they're way overfeeding. We don't usually feed more than 1 or 2 a week, and almost every single one of the hatchlings we bought last year has put on over 1000 grams.

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No worries. Things can come across wrong on "teh internets".

That's pretty amazing. Have you switched over to feeding ASF exclusively?

Regards,

B

Yep, we switched around March or April once we had our colonies producing enough for everyone.

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Originally Posted by rjk890

Ya' got, I said Ya' got the wrong plumbing son.
:8:

... and I hope that does not mean they started breeding after 3 Months.
(Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
:rolleyes:

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:rofl: No, they were breeding the whole time, which is why I didn't suspect anything for 3 months.

I bought one that was eating ASF's and he moved over to rats with no problem.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

Yep, we switched around March or April once we had our colonies producing enough for everyone.

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You and i sound to be on the same page, i have switched mine over about year and a half ago, been bittin 2 times and its my own fault (had my hand in their food cage) but once i wean mine everytime i feed they are usually in a big pile in the tub so i just rub them all like i would my dog and i dont seem to have any aggression at all. Dont have issues with chewing, and my snakes seem to be packing on weight like crazy with these guys, and i only feed once a week, usually a touch under girth.

I feel kinda like this--

IF ASFs were a reliably available feeder in this area and IF they were readily and reliably available as frozen feeders, I would not hesitate to buy ASF feeding snakes.

They aren't, in my area. The availability is spotty--mostly only at the monthly reptile sale, and not always even there. They aren't available f/t around here either. Those that are available are priced higher than rats of a comperable size.

For the benefit of my snakes, I prefer to feed that which is readily and most reliably available--rats. I do have a few rodent colonies started up but there will probably be times when my production runs short and I don't plan on putting my snakes on a fast when that occurs, I plan on buying them food. That food has to be obtainable, and I can't count on finding ASFs locally.

Next year (hopefully) when my girls are old enough to breed, any offspring are going to be started on rats. When I sell or trade them I want the new owner to receive an animal that they can obtain prey for easily and relatively cheaply. If ASFs were readily available and rats were not, I'd be starting them on ASFs.

I feed what works for my hatchligns, 100% of them will take asf,rat,mouse no problems for the customers.

Adult asf/mouse eaters are a different story as their harder to get to switch, But IMO dont matter what their eating so long their eating.

Theres a few online suppliers that sell frozen ASF which is legal in CA and GA to have.