1.2 ASF colony one momma eating babies

So one of my females had her first litter today. I kept a close eye on them to see what they would do. At first everything seemed fine. All three were laying together with the pinks, cleaning them off and moving them back to the pile if they strayed, but then one of the females (the one who is still preggo, has not had her litter yet) took one of the pinks and just started eating it...Alive. I didn't think much of it until she took a second one and started eating that one too!

I removed the cannabalistic female and put her in her own tub.

I just want to confirm with the rest of you that this is the best thing to do? The other momma seems to be doing a good job with her babies (not eating them) and the male is taking care of the babies as well.

Thoughts?

I have a 1:3. One mama had her litter, and she ate the babies. Second mama had her litter and everything is fine. The First mama is still in with the other babies and is doing fine. I'd put the girl back in, but if she does it again (whether to her babies or the others) I'd feed her off.

I'd leave her in with the other two if I hadn't noticed the other momma trying to take back her half eaten babies...She seemed pretty pissed that the other girl was taking her little ones and chowing down on them. How rude eating someone else's babies! Especially when she is willing to take care of them.

The litter would have been 8 if she hadn't eaten two of them. :(

Also I don't want to feed her off just yet because she is about to burst with babies. Perhaps if she starts eating her own I will. Is it possible to throw a bunch of pinks from the cannibal mom in with the pinks from my good mom?

I've never done it myself, as this is my first litter ever, but from scoping threads, it seems to be fine.

Some people will mix ASF pinks in with mice, if the mama dies etc. I don't see why it woulnt work.

I'd think culling the cannibal and all children would be best so that you can work towards breeding out this tendency.


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I have several breeding colonies and have bred over 200 asf's first time moms will eat their babies and so will the others. When one ASF is pregnant, any other females in the colony will start to lactate so they can help nurse. they are a milk factory. This requires a lot of energy and if they don't get enough, they will eat one of the pinkys to produce enough nutrient and fat they need to keep the colony going. Do Not remove the female. You will not be able to introduce her back without her being attacked. Leave them all together. Just bump up the protein and fat in their diet. Offer plenty of sunflower seeds. put in raw spinach leaves. on my very first litter of 11, they ate 10. after that first litter, when I offered more food, I had no losses.

within 2 weeks of the female dropping her litter she will be pregnant again soon after and drop another. don't worry it is a part of breeding ASF's not pleasant to watch but natural.

ASF's ingeneral are some of the best parents, even the males take part and when you have hopper, they will help clean and care for the new pinkies

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Originally Posted by MeinDraco

I have several breeding colonies and have bred over 200 asf's first time moms will eat their babies and so will the others. When one ASF is pregnant, any other females in the colony will start to lactate so they can help nurse. they are a milk factory. This requires a lot of energy and if they don't get enough, they will eat one of the pinkys to produce enough nutrient and fat they need to keep the colony going. Do Not remove the female. You will not be able to introduce her back without her being attacked. Leave them all together. Just bump up the protein and fat in their diet. Offer plenty of sunflower seeds. put in raw spinach leaves. on my very first litter of 11, they ate 10. after that first litter, when I offered more food, I had no losses.

within 2 weeks of the female dropping her litter she will be pregnant again soon after and drop another. don't worry it is a part of breeding ASF's not pleasant to watch but natural.

ASF's ingeneral are some of the best parents, even the males take part and when you have hopper, they will help clean and care for the new pinkies

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I've already removed her for a few hours. Do you think it would be okay to reintroduce her? She will probably drop her litter in the next few days.

I had a feeling it might be related to nutrition. I will grab some sunflower seeds and spinach and see how that goes.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I've already removed her for a few hours. Do you think it would be okay to reintroduce her? She will probably drop her litter in the next few days.

I had a feeling it might be related to nutrition. I will grab some sunflower seeds and spinach and see how that goes.

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Yes a few hours is fine. Its when they are separated for several days and then re-introduced is when you have a problem.

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Originally Posted by MeinDraco

Yes a few hours is fine. Its when they are separated for several days and then re-introduced is when you have a problem.

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Cool, I will toss her back in then. Hopefully she at least spares a few babies.. It's just so sad to watch the other mother try and grab her half eaten babies back!

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Cool, I will toss her back in then. Hopefully she at least spares a few babies.. It's just so sad to watch the other mother try and grab her half eaten babies back!

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yeah its rather disturbing because the ALWAYS start with the head. once the other one drops her litter and you have some extra food you shouldn'r lose any. If you do, just hang in there, they will get their fill and on the next litters yo uwill have more survivors. on my first litter where they ate all but one, we named the survivor Lucky and kept him to start his own colony. I figured he deserved it.

you may see the male try to eat one. if he does, it is because he wants to breed again and the two prgo females will ignore him to care for the new ones. The females may even beat him up a little out of frustration. it almost they are saying "I am a little busy raising your babies, you can wait" they will get into their cycle and produce well. it's just adjusting to a first time parenting thing for them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MeinDraco

yeah its rather disturbing because the ALWAYS start with the head. once the other one drops her litter and you have some extra food you shouldn'r lose any. If you do, just hang in there, they will get their fill and on the next litters yo uwill have more survivors. on my first litter where they ate all but one, we named the survivor Lucky and kept him to start his own colony. I figured he deserved it.

you may see the male try to eat one. if he does, it is because he wants to breed again and the two prgo females will ignore him to care for the new ones. The females may even beat him up a little out of frustration. it almost they are saying "I am a little busy raising your babies, you can wait" they will get into their cycle and produce well. it's just adjusting to a first time parenting thing for them.

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It was so funny/sad. At first, all three of them were cleaning the babies (aww), then all the sudden the one female just starts chowing down. Asfs are so cute when they eat! but this was so frightening watching her rip pieces of its head off with this cute little look on her face!

I've read that it is pretty common for them to eat their first litter. I even expected it to happen, I guess what was different was that it was the other momma that was eating them! Snatching them out of the pile and eating them out in the open. Gross!

Thank you for sharing your experience. It makes me feel a little better that I am doing the right thing leaving them together. So far they seem to be at peace, fingers crossed I have babies left in the morning! If not, there is always the next litter! I am just so happy to see babies finally!

It might be too early to tell, but it looks like she isn't interested in eating the pinks anymore. She is taking turns with the other momma sitting on the pile and cleaning them up. Hooray!

Mine did that too, it is disturbing when a baby is still squeeking with half it's face gone. Twitch-inducing indeed.

Just wanted to give a little update.

All is well! They are loving the spinach and sunflower seeds. Both females and the male are actively parenting and the preggo cannibal female just had her first litter. I can't get a good count of the pinks when them all squirming around but it looks like she alone had more than 10! I woke up to quite the pile of pinkies today.

They are just too cute!! And so fun to watch! I'm so glad I decided to start breeding my own feeders. As much as I hate to feed these little guys off, at least I know the exact nutrition that my snake is getting and if I get a refusal I don't have to send it to the garbage!

Thanks everyone for your help regarding the baby eating girl. I'm relieved I didn't have to watch her eat the whole batch of babies...That would just be depressing!

Cleaning day tomorrow should be interesting. I picked up a scoop, as per the recommendation of Metal Monkey Exotics, for scooping up the babies so it should be much easier.