well, I do know that my three male rats, which are housed together in a large 30g breeder tank, by wed or thursday, it smells close to what a barn/farm animal pen might smell like. Well, thats how my hubby describes it. As for the water, doesn't matter how much they do or dont drink, I change the water usually every other to two days. I think there shouild be a sticky listing the pros and cons of ASF's, Rats, and mice, as well as a comparison sticky of the differences between all three when it comes to breeding and such.