Might switch to Regular Rats, info needed

So i'm thinking about giving up on the ASF's (maybe, not 100% sure yet). Just wondering how different breeding regular rats would be. From what i've read you don't keep the male and females together after the female gets pregnant, correct? Other than that is it pretty much the same?

Just my two cents... from my own experience.

the rats produce a lot more poop and pee then ASF's... There are some that will disagree completely, because they are used to it... But the bottom line is, even with the correct substrate and ventilation... Unless you are willing to change the cage out every 3 or 4 days, they STINK.

If you are talking about Ball Pythons... the mom and dad rats get to big to feed off. Bottom line is, unless you want to keep them as pets when they are done breeding and still have another year to live... or have a really big snake (not ball python) to eat them at 500+ grams... you will get stuck with big rats that you can't use / dont want.

I am in no way an expert. I am pretty new to the breeding rodents thing. These are just the reasons I have gone with ASF's over rats... after trying both.

mike

Thanks for the feedback. I do enjoy not stinking up the house with the ASF's. I'm probably going to give them a few more weeks to see if I get any production out them before I completely make up my mind.

ASF's obviously have their drawbacks too. They grow slowly... are pickier eaters, and when they are adults, they get plain old mean. Some say that they don't recomend ASF's because once a snake eats them, they will not eat anything else... and that could be a problem if you ever had to get rid of your snakes. BUT I have heard of several people that switch between ASF's and normal rats without issue.

I will never go back to rats. the single biggest thing for me is the amount of poop they produce... and the smell. My wife is very patient with me and my hobby. She does not like rodents. Making her live with the stink of rats in the house was not cool. And now I have discovered not necessary either.


Mike

I hear ya man, My wife doesn't like snakes or rats....Got her to clean out a tub today though :D The ASF's are going to be just for my breeders for now (If i ever get any damn live babies!). Whatever babies I produce will get rats since like you said it may pose a problem when selling them comes around. I'm hoping by next year ASFs will be more readily available though and I can just stick with the ASFs.

I think they will become more and more popular... BUT they will never be available like Rats and Mice. 19 out of 20 pet stores will never cary them. They make terrible pets compared to mice and rats. They are breeding machines, do NOT have a nice personality, and chew up anything they can get their teeth on. There are some that claim they have "nice" ASF's that don't bite... but I honestly don't believe it. I would love to see a video of one of them sticking there hand in the tub and "play" with a mom nursing her babies! when they are young they are nice. as soon as they reach adulthood, they must be treated with great care!

How long have you had yours?

I have been breeding rats off and on for a long time. They tend to get big fast. I find that unless you do f/t you will have a hard time keeping the right size when you need it. If you do f/t then you won't have that much of a problem. It also depends on how many snakes you have.

You do not have to remove the male as long as he ALWAYS stays with the females. If you take him out then put him back in you are asking for problems. I usually leave 1:3 in my large cage (they also require a larger cage) and in the summer I have plenty of babies. In the winter (they are outside in a cover unheated building) they usually stop producing or slow way down.

They do smell more. They eat more and they go thou a LOT more water (so more pee). HOWEVER, they are MUCH more friendly. They are not inclined to bite and they make great pets.

Good luck on your decision. If I where you I would get 1:1 or 1:2 and see how you like them before getting rid of your ASF's.

They are evil little devils :D I've had them for just about 6 weeks now. Only had 1 SMALL litter so far (3) and they all died after about 12 hours :mad:

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Originally Posted by akaangela

I have been breeding rats off and on for a long time. They tend to get big fast. I find that unless you do f/t you will have a hard time keeping the right size when you need it. If you do f/t then you won't have that much of a problem. It also depends on how many snakes you have.

You do not have to remove the male as long as he ALWAYS stays with the females. If you take him out then put him back in you are asking for problems. I usually leave 1:3 in my large cage (they also require a larger cage) and in the summer I have plenty of babies. In the winter (they are outside in a cover unheated building) they usually stop producing or slow way down.

They do smell more. They eat more and they go thou a LOT more water (so more pee). HOWEVER, they are MUCH more friendly. They are not inclined to bite and they make great pets.

Good luck on your decision. If I where you I would get 1:1 or 1:2 and see how you like them before getting rid of your ASF's.

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Thanks for the info! I'm not giving up on my ASF's just yet, just curious about the differences at the moment.

I just got my asf rats. I chose to try them out instead of regular rats for many of the same reasons mentioned here. Actually, the fact that they are so mean as adults was also a plus for me, because then I don't have to worry about getting attached and not wanting to feed them to my snakes. Also, with the ASF's, if they don't work out then I can just feed them off. I don't have to worry about being stuck with rats that are too big for my ball pythons.

From what I've heard normal rats are easy to breed, mostly friendly and don't eat their babies as often. I was breeding mice with little success and have completely switched to rats. I've had a 1.2 group together for 2 weeks now, so I'm crossing my fingers for babies in the next few weeks.

The wifey doesn't like rats OR snakes? Dude...I feel for you...

I get sick when i smell rats, its just something about it that makes me get headaches and want to puke:weirdface Mice on the other hand have been great, they smell more but when rats smell its alot stronger. Ive tryed breeding rats twice and got nothing, but mice have been great. I will never try ASFS, Unless you breed just for pet snakes it will be a pain trying to sell baby snakes stuck on ASFs to people who have little or no access to them. :spork:

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to pick up 1.2 for now just to see if I get more production out of them. So now my question is this, if I get 1.2 can I add another female down the road if I decide to scrap the ASF's and just go with rats? Ideally I'd like to have two colonies of 1.3 (have 6 snakes now with a few more coming). Also what size/age are the females breedable? I think I read somewhere that males are ready after 5 weeks and females atleast 4 months? That sound about right?

You can add another female as long as the females you have are not...(what is a nice way to put this) pissy about it. I had one female who would not let any other females except "her" females in the cage with her. But MOST of my other females (as long as they where introduced in a neural environment (I usually used a different cage) cool about it. However I never did it when the others where pregnant. So this meant removing the male before the females gave birth, waiting till the babies are weened THEN adding everyone back in (the male and the new female) in a different cage. Good luck. One thing to remember is they need more space, 1.5ft cubed per rat to get litters. I try and give them at least 2ft cubed per male and 1.5 for females as long as the girls are not too big.


I breed females about 6 months old. Males 3 months. That is a LOT of babies as the females usually give birth about the same time. My litters usually run about 13 babies per litter.

What kind of cage are you using? What do you plan on feeding them? Good luck :D

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Originally Posted by akaangela

You can add another female as long as the females you have are not...(what is a nice way to put this) pissy about it. I had one female who would not let any other females except "her" females in the cage with her. But MOST of my other females (as long as they where introduced in a neural environment (I usually used a different cage) cool about it. However I never did it when the others where pregnant. So this meant removing the male before the females gave birth, waiting till the babies are weened THEN adding everyone back in (the male and the new female) in a different cage. Good luck. One thing to remember is they need more space, 1.5ft cubed per rat to get litters. I try and give them at least 2ft cubed per male and 1.5 for females as long as the girls are not too big.


I breed females about 6 months old. Males 3 months. That is a LOT of babies as the females usually give birth about the same time. My litters usually run about 13 babies per litter.

What kind of cage are you using? What do you plan on feeding them? Good luck :D

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Thanks for the info, it's a great help. I have 72qt tubs dedicated to my rodents, and was planning on feeding what I feed my ASF's, Lab block, fruits and veggies and a seed mix for a treat once in a while.

Ok so i picked up 1.1 normal rats......I really need to stop this my basement is turning into a zoo and my wife wants to kill me :8: i'll keep you posted, they seem to be getting along great, if all goes well I'm going to grab 2 more females next weekend. I still have my ASF's as well, going to give them a little more time to prove their worth to me :D