Quote Originally Posted by evan385 View Post
I currently have four snakes. I breed my own soft furs. They are hands down the best way to get a stubborn BP to eat. I feed live because it's convenient. You put the rat in with the first one on the list, that one won't eat, pull the rat and move to the next one, and so on. But I work third shift so I don't have time to thaw seven rats. It costs me about $20 per month for bedding and food for the six soft furs that I have. Soft furs hardly smell at all. A soft fur colony can go much longer without changing bedding or water than domestic rats. And they eat less too. They are native prey, so soft furs are ideal for BPs through all life stages. If you can find soft furs I would go one male, one female per snake and one extra female just in case. Soft furs are much more inexpensive and easier to care for than domestic rats. They do take longer to grow but once you have an established colony you should have plenty to feed your BPs. Also soft furs usually have more babies than domestic rats.
ASFs are really great for very picky Balls, or if you need a lot of small pinks. For just 4 (I'm assuming) medium-ish sized Balls, especially if they're already eating well on rats, I'd suggest sticking with that. ASFs can be hard to find, and between the slow growth, large litters, and the tendency to bite (only about as bad as mice, but worse than rats), I just don't see ASFs between quite as worthwhile for a small collection.