Are ASF's going to replace regular rats in the BP community?

[Peter Williams]

I have yet to get into them, but they seem to be all the rage. I'm thinking about picking some up at the next expo I go to. I'm just wondering, is it a worthwhile investment? Here's my thinking. Sure they're great if you've got some stubborn feeders in you collection, or some hatchlings that just won't eat, but what happens if you decide to breed your bps, and you start selling babies that are feeding on ASF's? Wouldn't that discourage potential buyers that do not have access to ASF's? I'd love to start feeding all ASF's to my collection, but is that the direction you guys see this heading in, are we all eventually going to switch over? I know I'd love to.

Thoughts?

[jglass38]

I don't think they'll replace regular rats but for me they have worked well in getting stubborn eaters to feed. They also smell far less than regular rats. As far as snakes getting hooked on them, I haven't seen it. Mine have gone back and forth from ASFs to regular rats to mice and back again.

[frankykeno]

Peter, this is a hard one for me and I'll be very honest in that I was VERY resistant to breeding and feeding ASF's for the longest time. My husband finally talked me into purchasing a trio last August and I have to admit they have become an invaluable part of our feeding program for the BP's. Especially when dealing with the rescues, the W/C's or the picky feeders - well it's hard to beat the results you get offering ASF's.

What Mike and I are doing at this point is deciding right up front which of our hatchlings are hold backs and which will be available. Those that are marked available get started on rat pinks. When we know who will be that snake's new owner we offer them the choice of what type of prey item they prefer (ASF or regular rat) and what type of feeding style (live or f/t) and then we make sure their snake is on that program before it is shipped out. All of our holdbacks have been started directly on to ASF's.

I would assume that due to the ease of raising ASF's we'll likely see them becoming more and more available as much as mice and regular rats are at the big f/t rodent suppliers.

As far as prey imprinting, we don't see it a lot but we do see it some. A few of our snakes will not take anything but ASF's but that isn't the majority and they might well be like that on any type of rodent offered.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Down the road, I intend to feed ASF to most if not all my adult however I will keep breeding mice and regular rats for my colubrids and hatchlings.

Ultimately I will always breed all kind of rodents just to answer the different needs of my snakes.

[twh]

ASFR's are not the savior for BP breeders,there just A tool that can be effectively used and offer different options.

anything i plan on selling i start on mice or rats,i haven't seen imprinting on ASFR's but there seems to be a notion for most buyers that once on asfr's they stay there.

speaking of imprinting i have a big BP girl that was feeding on asfr's for some time and starting refusing meals,after the third refusal i thew in a reg. rat and she nailed it and has taken only reg. rats since,go figure! have fun !!

[Rapture]

I don't believe they will replace the bigger rats because of their size. It takes a lot longer to produce ASF's that are the size equivalent to a small regular rats. It is however, undeniable that the popularity of the ASF's has grown tremendously within the past couple of years, despite those who said they wouldn't. Look at a few threads here from 2 years ago or more, you will find there were many skeptics about this rodent.

[frankykeno]

Yep I was one of them.

[rabernet]

Guilty! I was a huge critic of them two, even just one year ago.

I've only fed one off so far, and that was to Murphy, who's will eat anything you offer him.

I've finally got a litter up to size to think about offering to more reluctant feeders to see if they respond better with them.

But just that one feeding has me nervous about refusals (ie, how the HECK will I get an uneaten ASF back OUT of the enclosure without it jumping out and escaping, especially in a tub set-up)!

[TooManyToys]

I have spoken with a few larger breeders, and their feeling is that ASF's don't get large enough to get females up to weight fast enough. Some BP's will only eat one rodent at a feeding, no matter what size the rodent is. Being that ASF's are much smaller than rats the female's food intake will be less each year.

This is only the opinion of a few others, feel free to tear it apart

[rabernet]

I have spoken with a few larger breeders, and their feeling is that ASF's don't get large enough to get females up to weight fast enough. Some BP's will only eat one rodent at a feeding, no matter what size the rodent is. Being that ASF's are much smaller than rats the female's food intake will be less each year.

This is only the opinion of a few others, feel free to tear it apart

A valid point, which would make sense to keep that female on rats if possible. If a female will take multiple ASF's rather than one appropriately sized rat, then I can see where the flip side of the coin would be advantageous.