question???

[jeffh231979]

ok I just got my first set of ASF's today 1.3, the guy i got them from said atleast 2 are prego, and that i need to pull the male soon as he will eat the babies cause they are not his.. Is there any truth to this??

[Kevin_Hornby]

none whatsoever. In fact the females may not accept the male back after they are seperated. Leave em together and let them do there thing. The female will actually get preg again a few hours after giving birth. Enjoy the ASF's I love em.

[llovelace]

Unfortunately, yes if he did not father the pups they could possibly get eaten. When I picked up my 2.5, a couple of the females were already pregnant.

The place where I purchased them had the males & females all housed together; I was fortunate, all my first litter pups survived.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Personally because you have no idea of their age, I would wait until the girls are just about to pop, then pull the male and feed him off. Then keep the best looking babies for your 1st real breeding group.

When first starting a colony out, I believe it is best to start with a young group so you know what you are working with.

The breeder had to know what he was doing. By what he told you it sounds like he knows the male probably isn't the father of the pregnant moms... and that could end in disaster.

[jeffh231979]

Personally because you have no idea of their age, I would wait until the girls are just about to pop, then pull the male and feed him off. Then keep the best looking babies for your 1st real breeding group.

When first starting a colony out, I believe it is best to start with a young group so you know what you are working with.

The breeder had to know what he was doing. By what he told you it sounds like he knows the male probably isn't the father of the pregnant moms... and that could end in disaster.

Mike thank you so much I was hoping you would chime in on this one!!! I will do this now should I feed off the females as well after about a month when the babies are about to be weaned?

[Shawn]

if your just going raise them as feeders I would just leave one of the male offspring with them so he will breed with them. it would seem to be a waste to kill off the females, unless you dont mind starting over again. I would also do as Mike suggested and keep the best from the litters for the next breeding set

[jeffh231979]

how do you determine which are the best? or is it just what you want?

[Shawn]

to me it is just the patterns I want to keep and, I always keep the larger of the offspring for they are the strongest.

[jeffh231979]

Thanks for the input I want ASF's for my collection but any hatchlings will get rats as not everyone will have the ability to get soft furs

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Mike thank you so much I was hoping you would chime in on this one!!! I will do this now should I feed off the females as well after about a month when the babies are about to be weaned?

If it were me, I would pull the male and feed him off. then I would keep the kids in with the parents for a LONG time. They will consider to nurse off the mom even when they are eating... this will get them up to size even faster.

you know... the kids like milk with their cookies!