I own the meanest ASFs!!!

[Mitch21]

Holy hell!!

I've had my ASFs for a few weeks now, and I've got to say that I love them purely for the zero-smell factor. HOWEVER, these are the meanest buggers on the planet! I know some people say that theirs are fine and nice. But mine have just plain aggressive. Before they even popped out their first litter, all three of them were just very aggressive with me. If I put my hand in their tub, they would run over and bite me. One time, the male actually jumped a solid 8 inches across the tub to bite my hand!!

And I just had my first litter Friday early morning. The aggression (mainly from the male) has increased ten fold! I try not to bother them at all just to make sure the mother is stress free. But dang! They're out for my blood!!

Oh well... The babes will be snake food in a few weeks....

[JeffFlanagan]

The first group I brought in was extremely aggressive, but the next generation was more comfortable with me, and by the third generation I can safely pet them. You may never tame these particular rats, but you can create a tame colony over time.

Another group I brought in was completely docile from the start. The seller said she hand-feeds them as soon as they start eating to tame them.

[RandyRemington]

I would expect genetics to be a bigger factor than experience in aggression. I don't have enough experience with ASF's yet to prove that to be the case but I've seen big differences between colonies. There are nice ones out there and I would recommend replacing your aggressive ones with nice ones or at least working them into your breeding groups if there are other qualities about the ones you have now that you like (i.e. 20 baby litters or really big or fast growing etc.).

[littleindiangirl]

We are lucky in that ours give huge litters (16-18) and are also very hand tame. I've never been bitten, or attacked and even have a couple that take treats and things direct from my hand.

With time, I'm sure your colony will move towards being less aggressive.

[RandyRemington]

If the difference is genetics the mean colony might need some new blood rather than time to change.

Good to know that yours prove that high production and good temperament aren’t mutually exclusive.

[m00kfu]

If the difference is genetics the mean colony might need some new blood rather than time to change.

Good to know that yours prove that high production and good temperament aren’t mutually exclusive.

The guy we (littleindiangirl and I) got our ASF's from, his girlfriend spent time hand taming them everyday by socializing with them. Don't know if it makes a difference.

Another thing to think about, like you were saying genetic aggression, if you hold back female domestic rats that are nervous and very skiddish, more often than not their offspring are also very nervous and skiddish, being very hard to work with and get them over their initial fear of us.

We have seen this happen for a couple of generations, nervous mother, gives nervous daughter, and nervous daughter to nervous offspring.

It is possible for us to choose the most outgoing rat from this line, and we have done so, by pairing up with a really mellow male there are bound to be easier going rats. I've gotten both results in our colony, so it seems to me you can breed for less uptight rats if the effort is put in without breaking quarantine in an established colony.

[Mitch21]

I guess we'll just have to see what happens a few generations down the line.

On a bad/sad note, my first litter of which I think I had about 10 babies... There's only maybe 5 left. The mother tossed a couple ( that were still alive!) out of the nest. And it just seems that the amount of babies is diminishing...

I'm not messing with them at all, so I'm assuming this is just a 'first litter' sort of thing.

[twh]

i've had my colony for about a year now and they do calm down a lot,but i'm not using my hand for a test dummy = long hemos with rubber tips !

[skunksweat]

feed them carrots! believe it or not.. i have been raising my asf for a while now and have about 75-100 in my colony. i was told by the breeder i got mine from to feed them carrots. and it really does work. if i get any of them out of the group that are alittle agressive, they are snake food. when i do my weekly cage cleanings i pull the tray out for a minute let them settle down then pick each one by the tail and they dont mind one bit. take the more dominant female out first then the less dominant then the male. (more dominant female is usually the one protecting the young while the other is scrambling) wait for her to get off the babies then snatch that one up. thats what i have been doing and it works for me!!