Got my first colony of ASF's today

Like the title says, I am totally stoked to finally get a colony to help feed my ever growing ball python population lol. The guy I was able to finally find them even threw in an extra male so I have a 2:4 colony that should be producing in the next few weeks or so. And to top it off the pet store I go to likes to sell small rats at medium prices and so forth.

I'M THRILLED!!!

Congrats, African Soft Furrs are neat to own. They breed pretty quickly as well, I started out with a 1.3 colony and now have over 30 of them (after feeding some off). Just watch out they can pack a mean bite. One of the moms got me a few weeks back and it wouldn't stop bleeding for about 30 minutes.

Another thing is be careful with the hoppers those suckers are spring loaded and super fast. Them little buggers will hop up and bam they are gone running around the room like a lightning bolt.

Good deal. I've got some of his rats, too, and they're the sweetest I've ever worked with. Very docile as far as asf go.

Hope you get lots of babies.

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Originally Posted by Shadera

Good deal. I've got some of his rats, too, and they're the sweetest I've ever worked with. Very docile as far as asf go.

Hope you get lots of babies.

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Yes these little guys and girls are pretty tame. I've reached in there several times to pet them and they just stare up at me.

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Originally Posted by dillan2020

Another thing is be careful with the hoppers those suckers are spring loaded and super fast. Them little buggers will hop up and bam they are gone running around the room like a lightning bolt.

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Thissssss!

I call them popcorn.

So it looks at though the bigger male has gotten the end of his tail chewed a bit. I came home to find some blood flung on the side of the tank and then found one of the males tail has been bitten or chewed down a bit. Is this normal pecking order among them? Or is this something to be of great concern about? I do have a 2:4 colony, should I perhaps make that two 1:2 colony and break them up?? The other male is still very small and might be another month before he is mature enough to breed.

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

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Originally Posted by Ronin

So it looks at though the bigger male has gotten the end of his tail chewed a bit. I came home to find some blood flung on the side of the tank and then found one of the males tail has been bitten or chewed down a bit. Is this normal pecking order among them? Or is this something to be of great concern about? I do have a 2:4 colony, should I perhaps make that two 1:2 colony and break them up?? The other male is still very small and might be another month before he is mature enough to breed.

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

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Do 1.2 they'll breed better.:gj:

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Originally Posted by Emilio

Do 1.2 they'll breed better.:gj:

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Ok maybe I'll give that a shot! Thank you!

I personally have never been able to keep two males together. They have always fought till the death, regardless if they grew up together or not. I would feed off a male and go with one colony. They seem to work better with bigger groups of females in my experience.

Hmmmmm having a hard time deciding what to do. I don't know whether to keep to different colonies or just one and feed off the smaller male. :confusd::confusd:

make 2 colonys make a 1.4 for now and put the smaller male in with a rat or mouse until you're 1.4 start breeding then put some females that the 1.4 produce in with the smaller male

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Originally Posted by Ronin

Hmmmmm having a hard time deciding what to do. I don't know whether to keep to different colonies or just one and feed off the smaller male. :confusd::confusd:

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When you have 4 girls per group there is always 1-2 who don't produce. In my opinion it's much more efficient to run 1.2.

Well making two groups of colonies is out of the question. I noticed this morning that the smallest male had some serious mental issues going on. He was laying on his side and kept spinning around and around and wouldn't stop. Much like a death roll that a crocodile/alligator does when trying to kill its prey. So I decided to just put him out of his misery and feed him off. So not I have a 1:4 colony and hopefully nothing else bad comes out of it.

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Originally Posted by Ronin

Well making two groups of colonies is out of the question. I noticed this morning that the smallest male had some serious mental issues going on. He was laying on his side and kept spinning around and around and wouldn't stop. Much like a death roll that a crocodile/alligator does when trying to kill its prey. So I decided to just put him out of his misery and feed him off. So not I have a 1:4 colony and hopefully nothing else bad comes out of it.

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What are they eating?

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Originally Posted by Emilio

What are they eating?

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Kaytee, forti-diet

Bleh. I dont particularly like Kay-tee food products. They used to put ethoxyquin in their stuff, used as a preservative, but actually causes cancer. Id switch to mazuri or a decent dog food.

sent from my incubator

Ok I will make the switch next time I am out at the pet store.

So I don't know i I should start another thread for this but I got a video here of one of the females that is showing some of the same signs as the male did that I posted about earlier. Anyone have a clue what it could be? Could it be neurological, genetic, parasitic? As you can see in the video all the other rats are doing just fine and LOVE that wheel. For the record, the male that was fed off yesterday and this female has always seemed a little off or different. I really hope it's not something that can get passed on to the other rats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Xg5zQk7PY

Whoa that's bizarre. Do you know if they're related? Or exposed to extreme heat? I personally would feed her off.

Whoah....that is strange. Looks like neurological damage. Was she exposed to excessive high temps?

sent from my incubator

I'd definitely say neurological or virus that effects as such.

Sent from my warm hide

She should not have ever been exposed to extreme heat. Extreme as in 100+?

Well if we rule out heat exposure, I'm wondering if maybe she has some type of ear infection that's affecting her equilibrium? Was she in any type of accident or fall?

Not heat or neuro. If it was heat, more than one rat will show issues. Plus these guys have high heat tolerance due to being from Africa.

Looks like an inner ear infection. It messes with their balance so it makes them spin.

I would go ahead and feed it off.


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Yes I can see it being an ear infection. The only fall she could have taken was from getting thrown from that wheel. I have seen everyone of them get on that wheel at the same time before and its gets a little crazy with them trying to all run on it at the same time.
So there is no waiting an ear infection out? Will it only get worse and worse? The other male was displaying the same traits, wonder if they both got thrown off that wheel or something.

OK update, I ended up feeding her off. She looked like she was suffering so I put and end to it. So now I have a 1:3 colony, hopefully nothing else bad happens now. In fact I think I saw one of the females in heat!!

Our first colony of ASF took a bit to finally take hold and really get going. We do have a few males that tend to be a little more aggresive, but overall most are pretty docile. We now raise several colonies of ASF in addition to our normal rats. Good luck!

So I thought these guys are suppose to be a bit more tidy when it comes to pooping and such. After they start having litters will they clean up their act a bit? Just saying because they poop and pee all over the place, even in the food dish!

They'll usually pick a corner or two to pee in but they'll crap wherever.

My colony is super clean.

They all pee in one spot and shove all their poo through the front 'window' of their tub. I have hardware cloth on the lid and front of a stand alone tub for ventilation. And the females pick up all the poops and throw it out of the tub. Amazing little animals.

I now put a little tray in front of the 'window' to catch the poo for easy cleaning.

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So about a week ago I thought I noticed a few if the females in heat. Yaaaaa finally!! And now I have noticed the male has grown quite large in the back in area if you know what I mean. So it seems as though the male has been outcasted and the females are all huddled together in their hide. Is this a sign they could be popping out babies in a few weeks?

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Originally Posted by satomi325

My colony is super clean.

They all pee in one spot and shove all their poo through the front 'window' of their tub. I have hardware cloth on the lid and front of a stand alone tub for ventilation. And the females pick up all the poops and throw it out of the tub. Amazing little animals.

I now put a little tray in front of the 'window' to catch the poo for easy cleaning.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

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This made me lmao!!

sent from my incubator