• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

New pickup: ASF

ghosthousecorns

ghosthousecorns

Well-known member
I wanted to get some African Soft furred rats for a while. I am really hoping the pinkies from these will be as good as I have heard for getting stubborn babies to eat.
I got a really good deal on these 3 because I helped the breeder shuttle home some rodents from a herp show. In the 100 degree weather he was really worried about them arriving DOA in his vehicle, I was going in the same direction so I offered to drive his rodents in the cab of my truck since I have A/C.
These are kind of freaky looking. They look so much more 'wild" than the mice I have. They better not bite me! He said they are nippy..
 

Attachments

  • DSC02232.JPG
    DSC02232.JPG
    147.7 KB · Views: 273
  • DSC02234.JPG
    DSC02234.JPG
    145.7 KB · Views: 274
Nanci said:
They look like they are plotting something, or telling secrets.
Click to expand...

LOL Yeah, they do look like they are plotting something... :rofl:

I was thinking about getting some of them this winter... but I don't know if my patience will wear out or not.. lol *not sure if I want to wear the gloves.. haha"

Hope all works out for you though, :)

Cheers,
 
Right now they are not that much bigger than a mouse, but I don't know how much bigger than this they will get. The breeder said they are juveniles.
 
Average adult size, tends to be around 55-75g. Large breeders top it out around 90-100g

Perfect size for a ball python, adults a little large for corn snakes but my 03 male Okeetee will take a 55-65g once in a while.

Corn snakes all put on a lot of weight rather quickly on a heavy diet of ASF. Not sure if thats due to their nutritional content or the fact that it is much easier to feed them slightly larger prey than you could with adult mice.

For the most part I would cull and freeze them as juveniles around 30-35g, probably 4-5 wks of age if I recall correctly.
 
Nothing bites like an ASF! They really do bite HARD! lol I'm seriously more afraid of being bitten by one of them than I am of being bitten by the snakes.

They do tame down though, especially if you raise them from babies.

ASF babies are too big for newborn corns though, even new,new borns. I wouldn't feed them to hatchlings, too much of a regurge risk.

Something i have noticed, the ASFs you guys post pics of and the ones we have here differ in colour, yours seem much lighter than any I have seen here. White patched with colour is the same but the colour seems lighter. lol

PS: ASFs are VERY social as most rodents are and I find it strange that you have had them fighting...mine NEVER fight EVER, not even with two adult males in the tubs...

Did you add the other female to the colony after the colony was established? This may explain why they attacked the other female...
 
These guys seem so freaked out by their new circumstances, I really have not seen them move around much. Maybe they are just active when the lights are out? Anyway I felt they needed a bit of extra security so I gave them a plastic log that I think is not safe for snakes since it has a small opening a fat snake might get stuck in. They love it and have been hiding in it.
I knew the pinkies would be too big for newly hatched snakes, but I have been also considering the possibility of rubbing a mouse pink on one of their pinks to transfer the scent. Can't hurt to try.
(I am about to pull out my hair with my mouse situation. I am up to four ten gallon tanks with 1.3 mice in each, and not one litter of pinkies from any of them. I really need some live pinkies pronto!)
 
I found mine were quite freaked out when I first got them, although they were more adventurous at night. I took the opportunity to pet them while they were like this and they seem to have got quite used to me now and are more inquisitive when I'm doing something in the tank. I don't actually pick them up much, as they are very jumpy ;)

I've got a largish plastic tub in their tank, like an ice cream tub (2 to 3 litres) with an entrance hole cut in the side and a piece of plastic drain pipe, that Hubby cut a couple of holes in, along the length, so they can duck in and out, they love them.

From what I've read and from experience, they do not make nests, which is why hides are recommended. Even when my first litter was born, the female just gave birth in the corner of the large tub and over the last few days has pulled a little bedding round the litter, but not enough to stop them moving around the tub, one of the babies even made it out of the tub today.

Another thing I've found, after being told by the breeder, is if you put a glass jar in with a little bedding in it, they will more than likely use it as a toilet, which is really handy :D

Hope that helps a little :)
 
When I kept mice I used to line the bottom of their cage with a thin layer of cat litter. You can put the normal substrate on top of it. Not only does it cut down on the smell, but it keeps the cage cleaner and dryer for longer periods of time.
 
Jessicat said:
When I kept mice I used to line the bottom of their cage with a thin layer of cat litter. You can put the normal substrate on top of it. Not only does it cut down on the smell, but it keeps the cage cleaner and dryer for longer periods of time.
Click to expand...

Do you think that would work with gerbils? They burrow so much that I am going to say probably not... Also, I use the "Arm & Hammer" type of kitty litter which (I'm assuming) has baking soda in it for odor neutralization. Is this harmful to the rodents?? I know that my kittys sneeze right after I clean their box because it gets up in the air..
 
shed'n my skin said:
Oh really! What kind of bedding? I might have to try that.
Click to expand...

I've been using the small animal bedding we get over here in the UK, which is like aspen shavings, because I already had it and shredded aspen, because a lot of what I've read recommends aspen, so I will go more with that once my small animal bedding runs out :)

Here's a couple of links to site that I've found most useful :)

http://goto.glocalnet.net/natal/ This is Eva's natal rat page

http://asfrats.info/index.php? This is a forum I found about ASFR's

If you need anything else, give us a shout :)
 
Update...I have five now! After I got the first three, I was given two more. (Thanks Angela!) So hopefully with a 2.3 group I should see some babies soon. And I haven't gotten bit yet! *knocking on wood*
I'm a little annoyed with them though, because they have been chewing holes in water bottles, after they destroyed the first two plastic ones I finally got a glass one for them.
I also gave them a hamster wheel which they seem to enjoy, I am seeing them out a lot more since I put it in there.
 
Congrats on the new additions :cheers:

I still haven't been bitten yet either and I think I've been lucky, as mine have not chewed through their plastic water bottles, so far. ;)
 
Here is a pic with my new ones in it. I really like the solid colored one because it's not quite so opposum-ish!
They love the hamster wheel.
 

Attachments

  • ASF rats.JPG
    ASF rats.JPG
    144.8 KB · Views: 79
some info

When I got my first breeding pair they took about 2 months to have a litter and they were the size of yours weanlings. Once they started thou it was every 3 weeks with litters ranging 16 pups. This fed my 3 snakes just fine.

I tend to feed alot of stuff growing at my place. So varity is a big thing also I buy the yogurt bites so they have a calcium supply. They are extremly active so must have a wheel and lots of room to run. If male can't chase female enough when she is ready litters will be small for she will fight him off. Give them wood to chew also that will help with water bottles or anything else they can chew. There teeth grow too so they need to chew. I also have a salt and mineral disks in their cage.
Good luck with your new additions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top