What tubs do you use on a rack to house ASF rats?

Hello guys I'm planing on buying some asfs from Bobbafett at an expo in a few months he had suggested housing them in tanks as they chew out... So I'm curios is there any metal tubs out there that you can buy? Also would buying standard tubs and buying sheets of metal from the store and coating the sides/floor of the tubs be a good idea? All feed back would be great I would like to have them in tubs as its easy to clean and tanks are a pain.

Hmmm.....i would think that metal tubs or even metal coated tubs would rust....

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I am using a rack with the homedepot mortar tubs. Also a few regular totes, modified with screen in the lids. I have had some chew outs, but that can be fixed/prevented by attaching a small piece of aluminum flashing over any holes. The mortar tubs for some reason have a small hole, as if for hanging, on the top of one end. This spot, and the holes for waterbottles in the deeper totes are the only points I have had chewing issues. I just screw the flashing to the spot with some short screws and it's fixed. Havent had any issues with either ASFs or regular rats chewing through the aluminum yet. Onlt downside to this is having the screw points sticking out where they can poke you. Can try to post a pic or two later if needed

You could take the screws out and replace them with pop rivets.

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Originally Posted by Darkbird

I am using a rack with the homedepot mortar tubs. Also a few regular totes, modified with screen in the lids. I have had some chew outs, but that can be fixed/prevented by attaching a small piece of aluminum flashing over any holes. The mortar tubs for some reason have a small hole, as if for hanging, on the top of one end. This spot, and the holes for waterbottles in the deeper totes are the only points I have had chewing issues. I just screw the flashing to the spot with some short screws and it's fixed. Havent had any issues with either ASFs or regular rats chewing through the aluminum yet. Onlt downside to this is having the screw points sticking out where they can poke you. Can try to post a pic or two later if needed

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We live in Canada. I could not for the life of me find any of these. They're also known as cement mixing tubs.

I just prefer aquariums for these guys. I've had one too many escapes.

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Originally Posted by dillan2020

You could take the screws out and replace them with pop rivets.

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I have been considering this, but the screws I'm using are only a quarter inch long so they don't stick out enough to be a problem for me. I will try to get some shots of the fix when i get home from work. once i went from tanks to tubs/bins, my life got a lot easier.

I honestly have had ASF's breeding for around a year in the regular mortar tub, same as I use for rats and I've never had a chew out. I've actually had the regular rats chew out a few times but never the ASF's. If anything I'd take a washer and a flat tipped bolt and nut and put them through the small hole in the end so they can't chew at it.

Hmm, we'll I'm going to be keeping them in my house... So if its not 100% safe I'm not even going to consider it... If need be ill go with tanks but a rack just seems to much nice and efficient. Ill keep searching i did not even think about rusting on the metal.

I had my ASFs in litter pans, with a completely smooth inside and they still managed to get out :/ little bums

My rats and ASF's are all housed in the mortar tub racks. I've not had any issues with chewing or escapes with either species. Any biters or chewers get fed off as soon as I find one and thus far I've not had any issues with them chewing or escaping. The only change I made to my ASF rack was to tighten the spacing between the tub lip and the rails, plus using 1/4" screen instead of 1/2" screen/hardware cloth on the top. I feed mine fresh veggies and fruits along with bird seed and lab block, plus I give them cardboard tubes and boxes to chew on, along with small chunks of pine lumber (non-treated). Mine don't have wheels or anything and are breeding and feeding fine with no issues as far as chewing or anything of that nature. I cut masonry bricks in half and put those in the tub to let the adults reach the water spouts since I use a gravity system with them rather than bottles. The one issue with mine is the spacing on the rails that hold the tub lips: they're fairly tight so it's a bit of pain to open the tubs but they've started wearing a groove from where the hardware cloth has worn down the plastic so they open more easily than what they did when I first built it. Otherwise it works great and is nearly identical to my racks for my Norways, with the exception of the bricks to give them some height to get at the water.