Adding to a pre-existing ASF Colony

I have heard over and over that if you had a setup where you needed to add another rat, just give up and and get all new rats because they will kill each other.

I'm not sure if this meant if you had a colony of girls you can't add a male if another dies you can't replace it with another male BUT if the belief WAS that you couldn't add another male to a pre existing female colony then I believe I may have proved that belief false.

I have 30 tubs going with my ASF's. 2 females to 1 male. I set all my females up in pairs a few weeks ago and just last night, I added a male to each of their tubs. I had 29 tubs where the males and females were 100% fine. Some squabbling, some mating, and some arguing, but nothing serious. I had one tub where the male was killed asap. I believe that tub has a female that is already pregnant and this is why it happened.

But 1 death out of 29 tubs sounds like a success to me. So if you're wondering how it will work putting a new male with a pre existing colony of girls, give it a try. For me, 29 out of 30 times it will work!

:)

I have some experience breeding gerbils and for the most part the same applies. I just recently saw a male I liked and brought him home to pair up with one of my females. I put them in a split cage for 24 hours and then put them together with no problems. A month later I tried the exact same thing. Found a male I liked he spent the night in a split cage with a female of mine. I put them together and immediately a fight broke out. I tried putting them together for the next 3 days, finally though they would be fine. Next morning the new male is cowering in the corner with a bloody flank (He healed up and is fine now). Long story short it took me over a week of split cage, swapping sides every 8 hours, getting them accustomed to each others scent. I am happy to say they are living together great now. I would say anyone who tells you it can't be done is wrong or lying. Anyone who tells you its hard to do and can result in injury or death is right on the money.

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Originally Posted by reptilegirl07

But 1 death out of 29 tubs sounds like a success to me. So if you're wondering how it will work putting a new male with a pre existing colony of girls, give it a try. For me, 29 out of 30 times it will work!

:)

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So you added a second male to each tub??

No. I added a male to a female colony as I said above :-)

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Originally Posted by reptilegirl07

No. I added a male to a female colony as I said above :-)

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We'll how would one of the groups already be pregnant then?

Were the males a good bit younger/smaller than the females? We've never had one killed doing it that way.

Nope, they're all the same size and i believe around the same age. Maybe the trouble with adding new rats to a colony is only if you add a new male?

I could have sworn I read somewhere that adding a new asf rat to a pre existing colony won't work :P


Oh and one of the groups were probably pregnant from when i got them. They were kept in large colonies with males. When I got them, i pulled them out and put females in tubs 2 per tub. I didn't have enough males to put males with everyone right off the bat so I picked some more up last night (about 3 weeks after I put the females in the tubs) and so some were pregnant. i just had one mom drop a litter 2 days ago and she's in a tub with another female :P That's how shes prob pregnant.

Yea I've never messed with groups much so I don't know.

I have taken a male from one established group and put him in another for a couple minutes. The females followed him around the tub smelling him. One started to go for his ears so I decided it was probably time to take him out before a royal rumble started. (There were babies in the tub to)

Yeah I think it best not to mess with groups unless they're not preggo and def not with babies. :-)

My colony will adopt other asf's babies. That is how I mix things up. I have about 6 colonies of 1.5 asf's right now. If I have a breeder that I want to retire, I replace her with a baby from another colony. As long as your asf's are currently nursing a batch, I have never had them reject it. You could also leave one of there babies in with them as well.

I do the same thing if a female gives birth to some newborns and their are a lot of older pups in the tub. I will take the little ones and give them to someone who has some more their size.

2 females isnt a preexisting colony, 2 females is 2 females.

Established colony= a boy and his womenz.

Okay, I've had ASF's for 2 years now.

And here's my observation from things I've tried (all my colonies start out as 1.2 trios):

• I cannot add an adult male or female to an established trio. They will be bloody the next day, possibly dead.
• I can mix new juveniles in the grow out tank without a problem by following this method: On cleaning day, move the grow outs into the clean tank, put the new rats in the dirty tank and let them roll in it a while then move them in with the other grow outs. Grow outs are separated by gender.
• If I want to start a new colony with fresh blood, I take 2 of my virgin females, put them in a tank and add a male bought from a rat breeder that has been rolled in the dirty bedding. I can't do this with non-virgin females. The male will be bloody the next day... like if I have an established trio and the male dies, I cannot just add an outsider male in there (even if he's from the grow out tank). He will be bloody, if not dead, the next day. Same thing if a female dies. I can't add a new adult female even if she's a virgin in there. The other female will tear her up. So, I always add fresh blood to a colony with virgin females and an outsider male.
• To replace old breeders, I just let babies grow with the breeders until they are breeding age, then I move out the old breeder.
• I can mix a baby from outside to an established colony with babies. I let the new baby roll in the dirty bedding and move him in with the colony on cleaning day. It doesn't matter what color either. I successfully mixed in a pink-eyed dilute baby with a colony of agoutis using this method. This is how I was able to "transform" my colony to all pink-eyed dilutes.