ASF's not making babies??

[Truzzieart]

Hey all,

I'm totally new to breeding asf's or any kind of rodent.
I went and built a breeding rack and put 3 females and 1 male together.

They were medium sized when I got them and have done some growing since. They definitely seem to be fully grown or at least almost there.
They've been together since 12/06. It's 01/20 now and they haven't produced a single offspring yet.

Is this normal? Should I wait longer or am I maybe doing something wrong? They have plenty of hiding spots, chew toys, water bottles and they're fed cat kibble.
Or should I feed them off and try again with a new set of male & females?

tyia

[Armiyana]

I know ASFs can be a bit more temperamental about the groups they're in...but I haven't bred them myself. So I don't know if it's easier to just start over.

If you're able to introduce a different male, I would consider trying that first. Assuming the females don't beat him up.

I had that issue with the first male in my rat colony. The male was actually sterile. Once I changed out a new male everything was fine.
The thing to try and keep an eye out for after that is if you don't have females producing enough offspring. I had 2 females I had to cull for feeders because they were dropping litters of 6 and my other females are having 13+.

[Bogertophis]

I've bred "zillions" of mice, rats & hamsters, but never ASFs. However, it's a bit like waiting for water to boil when it comes to the first litters. It matters if these are mature enough, or only just getting there- and new homes are stressful for rodents too, especially if there's a lack of privacy; from what I've heard, I think ASFs are the most particular. New colonies of all kinds usually take a bit longer to get going, then once they're breeding, you have the "opposite problem". I hope just a little more patience is all yours need- a month & a half isn't all that long for new animals.

Off-hand, I'm not sure that cat kibble is the proper diet for them? But even if it is, you still might want to add some enrichment, nutritionally speaking. For example, I share bits of raw kale, carrot, & apple with my mice on a fairly regular basis; also nuts & seeds, especially in cold weather. I wouldn't be so quick to replace any of them, especially if they seem to be getting along.

[Malum Argenteum]

I used to breed ASF's. Never again. Anyway, I don't recall that they took longer to mature than rats, but a month and a half after medium sized probably isn't enough time for them to mature.

I fed regular rodent chow (20-23% protein) and they did well and produced (checks records) millions of offspring. Other breeders report the same. I don't suspect cat food is the right diet, but I never did any research into that aspect since it didn't seem relevant.

[Truzzieart]

Thanks for the reply!
I remember reading that asf breeders use dog food for their colonies so I just assumed cat food would be ok. They eat it well and seem to be a healthy weight but I'll start feeding them rodent food just to be sure. I do also feed them kale occasionally whenever I feed my uromastyx.

I think I'll give them another month, maybe even a bit more. If nothing pops out then I'll try introducing a new male. These lil guys are actually really chill and haven't tried to bite me yet so I'd hate having to start over with a new colony.

I'd like to try with mice or even rats instead, but asf's hardly give off any smell & I know for a fact rats have a musk and mice are just stinky lil boogers.

[Bogertophis]

FYI, dog chow is VASTLY different from cat food- Do some homework next time- a cats diet has a much higher fat content, for one thing, & other differences too. Personally, I don't (& wouldn't) feed either one to rodents of any kind, only professionally produced rodent chow from reliable brands. Give your ASFs time to recover from whatever nutritional imbalances you probably created with this "experiment". Maybe they're "chill" because they're not feeling well?