Number of offspring???

What is the average number of offspring a first time mother has??? because i went it in to the cage yesterday and she only had 4!!! will she have more or is that it, do they have babies over a few days???

the first litter is usually small. I've had litters of 2, 3, 5 from my first time moms

I don't think they can have a litter over a couple day period

They can have a litter over a couple of hour period, but I doubt a few days. I haven't seen any litter smaller than 10 except on our origionals that were old when we got them.

first timers that are young, may have small litters, until they get used to mating.

My first time litters have ranged from 8 to 19. I haven't been breeding them that long but it seems that their first litter is a fairly good indication of how well they are going to produce in the future.

I would try and hold back the litter they just had and make a trio with them.

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Originally Posted by TMoore

My first time litters have ranged from 8 to 19. I haven't been breeding them that long but it seems that their first litter is a fairly good indication of how well they are going to produce in the future.

I would try and hold back the litter they just had and make a trio with them.

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Or, you could hold back a male and two females. Then split off the original mothers with the young male and the original father with two young females. That way you have two trios and you are line breeding, not inbreeding. :gj:

Best,
Red

Some girls just have small litters. If you don't like her production, hold back a female offspring and switch out the mother.

Small litters is not the norm for first time mothers, but it's neither the exception that proves the rule.

it just depends on the female i guess one of my girls is on her 3rd litter first was 15, second was 18 and the 3rd was 3

My new mommys usually have 3 or 4 in their first litters. But by their third litter they usually start having 12 to 15.

i have two first time mothers about to pop ne day
ill let u know

one had 8 on her very first litter.... also my first asf to have a litter. there pretty small little guys. :O

and shes not feeding them either, 4 have died... and she ate one. needless to say im frustrated cause i have waited 3 months for her to have babbies lol. hope the other one does better

my first timers ate their babies too, the second litter was fine i waited about 3 months for mine to pop too

I have found that if mine are eating the offspring then it is usually something I did or didn't do (stress, diet, etc.). I have been breeding them a little while now and have produced hundreds. My biggest litter was 26 babies smallest has been 4, this seems to go hand in hand with the female rather then anything needing to be changed.

26 babies from one female? That has to be a record. Are you sure two females didn't go?

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Originally Posted by jpsshadow

My biggest litter was 26 babies smallest has been 4

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No. you did not have one mom give birth to a litter of 26.

Yes, It was one litter from one female she was the only thing in the tub besides the male. Unless your suggesting he gave birth to some or they snuck out in the night grabbed babies from their nieghbor and tricked me?

Yes 26, I was there

Just make sure that she has water & food, and try not to disturb them the first few days. some first time mommies are skiddish. Good luck :)

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Originally Posted by jpsshadow

Yes, It was one litter from one female she was the only thing in the tub besides the male. Unless your suggesting he gave birth to some or they snuck out in the night grabbed babies from their nieghbor and tricked me?

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Sorry, I just don't believe it. That is like 80+ grams of babies. how much does the mom weigh? where did you get the origional ASF's from? Do you have a size comparison picture? 26 babies is physically impossible. She would have had to been like 300+ grams... and I don't know of anyone who has seen an ASF that big.

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Originally Posted by llovelace

Yes 26, I was there

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Please explain. you sat there all day and watched her give birth to 26 babies? Or did you see a female sitting on top of 26 babies?

ive had a female give birth to 24 babies at one time. it was the litter before last and mom one gave birth to 9 and than 2 days later mom 2 popped out 24!!! for a total of 32 pinks in one tub... i did post pics around here somewhere...

You know, I've never actually sat down and counted the pairs of teats (maybe I should), but they are rumored to have 8-14 pairs of teats (normal rats is 5 to 6 pairs). Which would allow up to 28 young easily. I have just never heard anyone say that without a doubt, their animal had more than 20. Often it's people mistaking 2 litters of two different mothers as one large litter because one female did not show pregnancy very much.

If the female was by herself, I guess it's pretty irrefutable, unless of course someone was being dishonest, which I don't see any reason for when talking litter sizes. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Mike Cavanaugh

Please explain. you sat there all day and watched her give birth to 26 babies? Or did you see a female sitting on top of 26 babies?

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No mike, I didn't sit and watch the birth. Jody got his asf's from a guy in tampa, and I was there picking up rats one day, and was checking out his asf set up. I pulled open the tub and saw her on all those pinks, I even asked if there was another female.

His asf's are huge! I was there yesterday going through his tubs & opened the tubs of his original breeders, they are the size of med rats almost.

I am certainly not accusing anyone of being dishonest. Often times when people claim to have such huge litters, mistakes like connie pointed out are brought to the persons attention... and they say "oh"

Having such a large number of teats does not mean they were meant to have that many babies at once. I am sure in the wild it is quite common for a mom to be nursing her last two litters at the same time... and the other kids in the colony that arent even hers.

Bottom line is, having produced thousands and thousands and thousands of ASF's from many different unrelated lines, I honestly don't see how so many babies in one litter is physically even close to possible. The biggest ASF's just aren't big enough to carry that much baby weight. It just doesn't add up.

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Originally Posted by llovelace

His asf's are huge! I was there yesterday going through his tubs & opened the tubs of his original breeders, they are the size of med rats almost.

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Pictures please? preferably something in the picture to demonstrate size? (like a coke can, pack of cigarettes, beer bottle etc.

I am not here to steal threads, or to be on trial. I am sorry that this bothers you so much. The facts are she was the ony one in the tub besides the male, she was sitting and feeding them all and it looked quite silly. I counted just because it seemed like an awful lot previously she had litters or 18-22.

Its funny how you say it is impossable, I am sorry but it obviously is quite possable because she did it. I am not sure you can go by how many teats they have or size. In comparison many mammals with less teats give birth to large litters (humans included). Is it something that has happened to me often? NO but it happened. Sorry this bursts your bubble, not exactly sure why.

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Originally Posted by jpsshadow

I am not here to steal threads, or to be on trial. I am sorry that this bothers you so much. The facts are she was the ony one in the tub besides the male, she was sitting and feeding them all and it looked quite silly. I counted just because it seemed like an awful lot previously she had litters or 18-22.

Its funny how you say it is impossable, I am sorry but it obviously is quite possable because she did it. I am not sure you can go by how many teats they have or size. In comparison many mammals with less teats give birth to large litters (humans included). Is it something that has happened to me often? NO but it happened. Sorry this bursts your bubble, not exactly sure why.

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on trial? bothers me so much? bursts my bubble? uh yeah, ok. Sure.

For the third time, do you have any size comparison pictures of this mom?

bobbi are you sure it was 24 from one mom? haha Oh wait 24 is ok but now if she had 2 more then watch out, you better of filmed the birth, mentioning any such thing like that.

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Originally Posted by jpsshadow

bobbi are you sure it was 24 from one mom? haha Oh wait 24 is ok but now if she had 2 more then watch out, you better of filmed the birth, mentioning any such thing like that.

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haha too funny lol
no need to get snippy ;) its just very uncommon, i did show pics of my HUGE litter and still got ragged soooo... congrats on the big litter, enjoy it cuz it most likley will never happen again. like i said its very very rare. :)

well the 2nd one of my new mothers had 10 babbies. they all seem to be doing fine. so if i were to say on average for a new mother id say 9ish.