African Soft-Furred Rats

I'm on the African Soft-Furred Rats bandwagon. Yesterday while at a little local pet store I saw that they had some ASFR's. So last night I read up on them, got a basic gist on and how to care for them. Thanks A LOT Heath for answering my questions! Today I went back and bought a trio of 1 male and 2 females. Set them up and they are good to go. They are adorable but I won't dare to touch them. The girl who got them for me had one latch onto her hand... yeah that wasn't pretty! http://primevalbeauty.com/gallery/ma...serialNumber=2


http://primevalbeauty.com/gallery/ma...serialNumber=2


Last thing... does anyone know anything about needing a license from the USDA to own these animals? I was told today by someone that I'll need one here in Maryland, but I've not been able to find anything about it.

Oh. My. Gosh! They are SO cute...I just want to cuddle them :) I imagine seeing one bite the snot out of some girl is a deterrant...but I don't know if I could keep from holding one for long.

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Originally Posted by AzureN1ght

Oh. My. Gosh! They are SO cute...I just want to cuddle them :) I imagine seeing one bite the snot out of some girl is a deterrant...but I don't know if I could keep from holding one for long.

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They are mean...don't let their cute looks fool you. Whenever I open their cages they stare at me and if I make a move toward them the male comes after me:mad: . So now I wear gloves whenever I work with them.

But the biting is really a minor issue - they stay small, don't stink and so far breed great.

Allison...I am sure Heath told you but if not he started a great site about them to share info on for all us new breeders.


http://www.asfrats.info/index.php

See you there.

Aww... they look like little possums! :aww:

Nice pics. I breed ASF rats as well and got rid of my mice once I got them breeding.

Do all of yours look the same? black coat, white head and white tail area? If so then all the babies will look exactly like those. And a dilute (tan) version of the same if you have the pink eye dilute gene in them.

At first all that mattered was the producstion. Now that they are breeding so well, I'm actually trying to breed them for the various possible coat types and colors.

Awesome! I've actually been checking my IM list to see if you where available so I could ask you if went back and got them. Very cute to look at and watch indeed but ALWAYS practice quick hand/eye coordination when trying to grab one for feeding LOL. I think you will enjoy them and feel free to keep the questions coming.

Cool looking rats. Im in MD too. If you dont touch them how do you clean there containers? Do you use tongs?

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Originally Posted by Tony25

Cool looking rats. Im in MD too. If you dont touch them how do you clean there containers? Do you use tongs?

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In my case wear gloves and be very quick :D

Alli, a couple quick tips on these rats, I have been doing them for awhile and love them....and hate them. they are very prolific. make sure you get a chew proof water bottle(super pets). and put a couple small blocks of wood in with them to chew on, dont even think about touching them. :P I am not a wuss, but have been bitten soo much I use a fish tank net to move them around with. dont think you can handle them with their tails, that will be a bloody mistake. :)

My first female is an aggressive biter, and VERY rarely one or 2 others but only if I'm disturbing their nests.

I wear thick leather gardening gloves when dealing with the nasty female, but no gloves needed when dealing with the other tanks. I still don't attempt to hold them though, quick grab at the base of the tail and move immediately to the waiting enclosure.

To me, it's a plus that they aren't all cuddly and nice like domestic rats. Makes it much easier to kill them or feed them off.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ct/AFS004l.jpg

Oh yeah I think I'll be investing in a nice, thick, heavy duty pair of gloves very soon.

Ed, yes the girl at the store tried to pick them up by their tails. X_X

Flagg, I have no problem feeding off little mean snits!


Does anyone here know of if you need to own a license for these animals? Some lady on another forum said I'd need a USDA license. On Heath;s forum, I've been told that I do not since they don't fall under the federal stuff... but to look into the State laws on them. So far I've found absolutely nothing on or about them with Maryland. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places on the Internet?

I have no problem getting a license if need be, but I don't want to "illegally' own these animals and get busted when I can't seem to find anything about them and Maryland exotic pet laws. Any help would be great!

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Does anyone here know of if you need to own a license for these animals? Some lady on another forum said I'd need a USDA license. On Heath;s forum, I've been told that I do not since they don't fall under the federal stuff... but to look into the State laws on them. So far I've found absolutely nothing on or about them with Maryland. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places on the Internet?

I have no problem getting a license if need be, but I don't want to "illegally' own these animals and get busted when I can't seem to find anything about them and Maryland exotic pet laws. Any help would be great!

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Just to give you the quick background...several years ago there was an outbreak of Monkey Pox carried by ASF (amoung others) so the governement outlawed them from importation. All the current colonies are pre-ban so no license is needed (and shouldn't be carriers). However, if for some reason you wanted to bring in new blood lines from Africa then you would need a license from the FDA and USDA. This is the federal law...as for your state you would need to check but I wouldn't expect to find anything as Maryland isn't a typical import destination for animals.

Adding a chunk of wood or something like Ed mentioned is top notch advice. I haven't had to much of a chewing issue on my tubs but they definitely chew on the wood. In some tubs I'll toss in bits of untreated wood and in others I've made crude wooden hide boxes they like to chew, climb, and sleep in. I use a mesh "column" that hangs from the lid of my tubs that holds both food and the water bottles...before doing this it frustrating losing water bottles!

Actually, ASF rats were not included in the original monkeypox scare, it was gambian pouched rats, groundhogs and some other african rodents. Since then there has been a general ban on ALL imports of African rodents of any kind.

Warren, next time going past a petsmart pick up a couple super pet chew proof bottles and you wont lose any more water bottles. they are all glass and metal. :)

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Originally Posted by TekWarren

Adding a chunk of wood or something like Ed mentioned is top notch advice. I haven't had to much of a chewing issue on my tubs but they definitely chew on the wood. In some tubs I'll toss in bits of untreated wood and in others I've made crude wooden hide boxes they like to chew, climb, and sleep in. I use a mesh "column" that hangs from the lid of my tubs that holds both food and the water bottles...before doing this it frustrating losing water bottles!

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Yeah, I put a piece of a branch in there with them... they were going to town on it last night! The water bottle I have right now has one of those metal guards on it, so far they have not figured out how to get past that. Also the little buggers can jump! One was jumping up and hitting the screen top on their 10 gallon tank this morning. Looked like he had springs in those little legs.

Why would someone have these lil "possum lookin" cuties if you can't hold em?

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Originally Posted by 4theSNAKElady

Why would someone have these lil "possum lookin" cuties if you can't hold em?

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They're used as feeders. Snakes love them and generally prefer them over any rat or mouse.

What pet store did you find them at? I've been looking for some in my area but I didn't think pet stores had them yet since they were too aggresive to be pets.

Neither did I and I was in complete shock when I walked by their rodent section and saw them. I'd check your pet stores out and not like Petsmart or Petco but "ma & pa" kind of little local pet stores. I found them at a pet store here in Towson MD called Sea Breeze Pet Center. Just a little store that's been around for years.

Yes they certainly can jump, and they seem to have NO fear of heights or falling. If you pick one up it will eagerly jump away very quickly and from any height.

I've found the only way to handle them is by the base of the tail. I don't normally like doing it that way with rodents, but with these there is just no other choice.

I handle mine by picking them up by the base of the tail. I have only been bitten badly once, my the original male I got as I was walking him over to the snake cage....Can't blame him for biting, but wasn't too guilty about watching him die as I held on to my bloody finger :)

Sometimes, when I go to pick them up, I get one or two brave little ones who stare me down and I have to push them with a paper towel roll or something (best to grab them when they aren't looking at my hand) but other than that, no problems in five months that I have had them.

They are great jumpers too! When I clean their tub, I put them in a bucket with a screen lid, even the\ough the bucket is deep and smooth sided, they can jump out!

The only pet shop around here is a ma and pa shop. They verbally trash all reptile shows that come through here and I noticed they started carrying asf rats.....at 40.00 a pop! 60.00 for a pair...ridiculous considering I got a trio for 20 bucks and the pet shop is advertising them as "dwarf rats"...as in...PETS! Ticks me off a little, someone might buy these guys thinking they will make a great pet for their kid and they are MEAN! Oh well, good luck with your trio!

I don't have a problem with people selling ASF's as pets. Anyone buying a pet for themselves or for their kids should research and learn what they're buying before they do....that's their responsibility. Some people don't mind anti-social rodents because they think they're cute to look at and fun to watch without having to play with them. Hamsters are often very mean, bitey creatures, but they have been a staple in the small-pet trade for as long as I've been around, at least. As for the price....~I~ sure wouldn't spend that much money on a rodent...but hey...if someone wants to, that's their perogative.

Thanks! Yeah the ones I got were labeled as "Miniature rats" and of course in where all the small animal fuzzie pets were. I thought the same thing I was like "some little kid's gonna get bit real good by one of these things". I got mine for 4.95 per male/female. No way am I going to pay more them $10 for any kind of rodent! I guess they don't really know what they are or how much they usually go for. I sure wasn't going to say anything about how cheap they were! One of my females has mastered the "jump, do a semi back flip, hit the screen, and hang on ... then walk around upside down". I cracked up when I saw her do that a few times last night.

For a pet shop, $5 is probably about right, especially on the east tcoast where they are a lot more common.

At my local show they go for $3 each now. When I got mine when they were first available in November, they were $15 for females and $3 for males.

The breeder I got them from bought his for a LOT more back last summer. I think he paid over $100 for a trio and had them shipped in from Florida. I'm glad he did or not many in this area would have them now. He made his money back easily the first day he was selling them in November.

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Originally Posted by BaLLPAddICT

They're used as feeders. Snakes love them and generally prefer them over any rat or mouse.

What pet store did you find them at? I've been looking for some in my area but I didn't think pet stores had them yet since they were too aggresive to be pets.

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Not always true! I have three females who won't even sniff them.