Why I do not like African Rats *graphic*

Was in the room giving fresh food, water, bedding etc. All the rats were fine. Then about 20 minutes later, I come back to this:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/PICT2032.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/PICT2033.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/PICT2035.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/PICT2036.jpg

People say they don't like them because they are mean. I have never had that problem. Just problems with cannibalism...

That's insane. 20 minutes? sheesh.

Maybe a stupid question, but if you've had problems with cannibalism before, why do you keep them with others still?

Oh man, it almost looks. . .surgical. Like something out of a text book.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mindibun

That's insane. 20 minutes? sheesh.

Maybe a stupid question, but if you've had problems with cannibalism before, why do you keep them with others still?

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Because I don't have enough tanks to house 20+ African Rats individually.

wow:O..hannibal..

I have only been keeping ASF's for a very short time. but I do have a couple of questions.

1: Was that a male and if so was he housed with other males.
2: What are you feeding them and how are they watered.

I have not seen this in my ASF's but when I first started rats I saw it only once when I had a tub that ran out of water and I didn't know it.

Is this a common occurrence in your ASF colony or a one time thing? Are you sure this animal was alive 20 minutes earlier or could it have already expired in a corner and was simply being eaten as most rodents will utilize a free source of protein? More information might help to understand why this has occurred.

I house about 7 males together and I have 7 trios in a mouse rack and I've never seen anything like that. I only had one male killed in the first 2 weeks that i got the colony and a couple babies that might have died because the mother did keep some from that litter so my guess is they were sick or stillborn.. I would make sure the water bottles aren't getting clogged and feed them a little more so they never run out if you don't already. If it was a male with other males, then there's your problem and it'll probably happen again until you find the "zombie." If you're sure it happened very recently, next time check their noses for blood, hard to go "zombie" without some blood on your face...feed him off and move on...:gj:

i got a few questions how many per tub and sex ratio size of tub what kinda feed and protein content. also is it related to the others in the tub or not. on a side note so far this is pretty random from what ive found but im trying to find actual factors that lead to this

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I have only been keeping ASF's for a very short time. but I do have a couple of questions.

1: Was that a male and if so was he housed with other males.
2: What are you feeding them and how are they watered.

I have not seen this in my ASF's but when I first started rats I saw it only once when I had a tub that ran out of water and I didn't know it.

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1. No, females
2. Harlan TekLad rodent chow/diet; water bottles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Is this a common occurrence in your ASF colony or a one time thing? Are you sure this animal was alive 20 minutes earlier or could it have already expired in a corner and was simply being eaten as most rodents will utilize a free source of protein? More information might help to understand why this has occurred.

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It's been common in the past two weeks. All animals were alive as I just changed their bedding and had to take every one out individually.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nixer

i got a few questions how many per tub and sex ratio size of tub what kinda feed and protein content. also is it related to the others in the tub or not. on a side note so far this is pretty random from what ive found but im trying to find actual factors that lead to this

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4 tubs of 1.5; the one this female was in consisted of 1.6.

Food mentioned above.

I have a breeding pair and 3 generations of offspring living with them and so far have had no problems. Hope your situation gets better!

Sorry to hear that... I feel for ya hope everything gets better especially when its your snakes food

When I had AFR's I learned that I HAD TO pull out any males at early as 3 weeks old OR the adult male would eat their heads just like your picture.

Also I had a few females would would eat the heads of the male. I don't know why the females would do that at times, they all had food and water day in and day out.

I have had no issues with mine as long as they are kept in smaller groups.. 1.2 is what I usually have them in. And I seperate the babies as they wean and put them into their groups as needed and have never had this issue.