ASF Cannibalism

[monk90222]

I have 6 breeding groups of ASF's going strong, I'm weaning babies left and right.....now...I have them set up as 1.3's....so there are anywhere from like 10 to 30+ babies (pinks to wean) at a time in the tank. I am usually very good about writing down the birthdate of the litter with grease pencil on the tub or tank and promptly removing the weaners 24 days later.
Now this week I had a little medical issue, hospital stay and I was unable to remove this weeks sets of weans....
I went in there today and all the babies that were weaner size were killed and partially eaten....(they all had plenty of food and water all week), Now I'm talking about the weans that are in tanks, the ones in the tubs, the ones in the racks....it seems like they get 24 days then have to leave or be killed....anyone with a similar experience?

[Rapture]

Sorry Charlie... I have had a 1.2 group breeding in a 10-gallon tank for a few months now. One of the females actually got sick and died a few weeks ago. Otherwise everything has been smooth sailing. This past litter I saved back two females to replace the one that died. They are still doing great and past weaning age. I also have a male saved in there for a friend, and so far there has been no aggression between father and son even though the son is almost as big as daddy now. There's also a litter of hopper sized babies in there and everyone is getting along.

[aaajohnson]

I have not seen that either. I do have a newer group that I got to "mix" blood in, and they actually picked on 2 of the larger males (picking fur at their tails), but have not noticed them eating weans at all. Maybe it was something environmental, since it was all of them, including different groups at the same time?

Neil

[littleindiangirl]

Maybe the dominant male may have killed his competition, or thinned the population? (I dont know if they are actually that territorial, just throwing around ideas)

[frankykeno]

I can't say that I've noticed this Charlie. If my big breeder tank gets a bit too full, I have seen a female "recycle" a newly born litter in preference to her older babies but I've never seen a good sized weanling eaten. This occurred across a number of different enclosures? Could something have highly stressed the entire colony? Since you were ill was a stranger tending them or anything very different in their normal routines?