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Thread: ASF's vs Rats

  1. #1
    Registered User kenncarleton's Avatar
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    ASF's vs Rats

    i recently got three more ball pythons subadults so now i have 3 redtails and 5 balls..
    now rats here have gone up in price to 10.99 ea for live or frozen.
    so i am thinking about breeding my own and for a fellow snake owner..

    witch brings me to my questions.. i found a guy that has asf for 15 for a breeding threesome 2 females to 1 male.. and the same for rats
    what are your pros and cons for these??
    he even offered to thro a breedin set of hairless rats are these even worth the time?
    whats better to keep this in tubs or racks?
    what tubs work better?
    i not looking to breed a ton maybe like a 4 f to 2 m

    Any thought or concerns are greatly welcomed!!!

  2. #2
    BPnet Royalty DooLittle's Avatar
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    Asf's smell the least. The have a "toilet" corner, which is much easier to spot clean. They have tons of babies. They can be nasty little bitey things once they have babies too. They also take longer to grow up, plus you have to feed multiplies. Some snakes won't eat multiples, some of mine won't even eat asf's. Rats can be cute and friendly, still have large litters, smell a bit. But their babies grow up faster, and you can then have one appropriate sized meal. I actually prefer the rats, imo. And we have both.

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  3. #3
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    Re: ASF's vs Rats

    I use to bread both rats and ASF and I would never breed ASF again

    Pros for ASF

    1. Ball pythons love these

    Cons for ASF

    1. They are escape artists
    2. They are mean little things
    3. They take to long to get to feeding size
    4. I had two balls that would not go back to normal rats after having ASF
    5. They cost too much money
    6. Sometimes they are hard to find
    Last edited by Stewart_Reptiles; 09-30-2012 at 05:41 PM.

  4. #4
    Reptiles EVERYWHERE! Foschi Exotic Serpents's Avatar
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    I have both.. The ASF are the best for starting hatchling BPs since I refuse to have mice in my house.. They STINK!!! Omg do they reak! So I use ASF to start hatchling BPs who won't start on rats. ASF move a lot when born and have fur so even the pickiest hatchlings will take them. Then the next meal is almost always a rat fuzz.

    I also breed rats and yes they have more of an odor and require more cleaning than ASF but do grow faster. Males have more odor so you just keep less males and more females.

    I've never had a single problem with escapees as far as ASF goes. Making the proper tubs (check the stickies) for them works wonders. Plus aggression can easily be bred out.

    I kept my ASF colonies even after I greatly thinned my ball python breeding collection just because I enjoy having them around. Plus I always have regular buyers for any excess I may accumulate. They do grow incredibly slowly though. It takes about 3x as long to become breeding age/size for them, and then even longer for them to be considered XL sized as far as ASF go.

    So I will continue to breed regular Norway rats for all of my snakes (I euthanize and freeze excess to feed later) and I'll continue to breed ASF even tho I'm not breeding BPs nearly as much simply because they're easy, clean, cute, and fun.

    It just depends on what you prefer, what you think will benefit you more, and what there may be more of a market for in your area.

  5. #5
    Registered User kenncarleton's Avatar
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    anyone try feeding hairless rats to snakes its just i question i saw some free in a local news paper and my buddy and i are just wondering we are not going to do it but just curious.

  6. #6
    BPnet Veteran satomi325's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kenncarleton View Post
    anyone try feeding hairless rats to snakes its just i question i saw some free in a local news paper and my buddy and i are just wondering we are not going to do it but just curious.

    Yup. Its no different from feeding rats with fur.

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    Registered User mustang91302's Avatar
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    I have always heard its unsafe to feed a ball python hairless rats. I was told they dont produce enough saliva to swallow the snake safely.

  8. #8
    BPnet Veteran satomi325's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mustang91302 View Post
    I have always heard its unsafe to feed a ball python hairless rats. I was told they dont produce enough saliva to swallow the snake safely.
    They why are we feeding pinkies to hatchlings?

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  9. #9
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    ASF are banned in some states where rats are not. *raises hand* =P No ASFs for me. This also means you have to be careful if a snake gets hooked on ASFs to not sell it to a state where they can't get any ASFs.

  10. #10
    Registered User DesignerGenes's Avatar
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    We breed both ASF and rats, I even forgot to close a lid on an asfs bin and he was just sitting on the lid when I got home didn't go anywhere, the only problem we have had with breeding asf in colonies is one situation where some of the older hoppers killed the next litter of pinkies. You need to make sure you're weaning them out before that happens but not too soon so they die. We sex the weanlings and put them in with the grow up adults which seems to work really well they all get along and don't pick on the smaller ones, as long as there is enough food and water. Breeding in colonies can be tricky because once a colony is set they will kill any other rat introduced, so we start up new colonies as smalls. ASFs do love to chew so we give them sticks and wood (after freezing it for a few days) and they end up making their own tunnels and nests in the logs, keeps them busy and from destroying the bins. We use bins not tanks, easier to clean and stack. We rarely feed the asfs to our bps, we prefer to have them all on rats but we have one female we will never sell who is an asf only eater and alot of hatchlings we'll use asfs if they refuse rats just to get them to eat something rather than nothing before switching them to rats. Breeding ASFs and rats can be expensive and ASFs take a long time to grow to size, females will grow faster if breeding some will be maxed out at a smaller size without breeding.

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