I've got ASFR babies, progression pics!

[Susielea]

I went in to check on the African Soft Furred Rats earlier this evening, because I'd heard some squeaking

I had the camera at the ready, in case Big Momma had given birth and this is what I found, ahhhh! They were not there at 7pm, but they were just after 9.30pm

I count 8 at the moment, not sure if she's finished, she still looks rather plump. I'll leave them alone until the morning and check on them again then.

These pics have got the other 2 females in the box with the babies, who seem to be helping with their care. Big Momma was getting a nice long drink when I opened the box and not one of them tried attacking me, although I haven't touched the pinks.

Anyway, thanks for looking

 

[Nanci]

They are so cute!!!

 

[susang]

Oh! How cute, I'm not falling for the cute rodent thing again, but if I did those be on my list. LALALALA, I'm not looking at those babies.

 

[Susielea]

Thank you! They really do look cute, they have very fine downy fur on them already and they can't be more than 2.5 hours old, you can just about see where they will have white heads and rumps, with a darker middle (I think it's called pied?) like the parents and I love the little one in the middle of the pile with it's bum up in the air...lol

I'll post update pics as I get them

 

[Velvet]

They really look like alien little things don't they? hehehe Not like other rodent pinkies at all. Wait a few days and they will go into what I call their "Mad scientist" phase! lol

 

[wade]

Way cute Sue. I'll be interested to see what the Mad Scientist stage is.

 

[LBoz]

Aww, they're so cute, Sue! Congrats on the little pinks, and I agree, that bum shot is adorable! :laugh:

 

[anendeloflorien]

Sweet! I just got 1.2 ASFs so I'm hoping we see some pinks soon. It's getting really hard to find live pinkies around here and some of my baby corns won't eat F/T yet. :wavey: Good looking little guys! Don't forget to keep your fingers away from the momma I hear they can bite to the bone :fullauto:

 

[Susielea]

Thanks for the nice comments!

Just thought I'd pop another pic of the babies on, these were taken at 24 hours old and I can just see some changes in their colour and size, so it looks like Big Momma is doing a good job. That's Momma next to the babies, looking up at me

Oh and I've still not been attacked, even though I quickly touched the babies with Mum in there

 

[Susielea]

Sweet! I just got 1.2 ASFs so I'm hoping we see some pinks soon. It's getting really hard to find live pinkies around here and some of my baby corns won't eat F/T yet. :wavey: Good looking little guys! Don't forget to keep your fingers away from the momma I hear they can bite to the bone :fullauto:

I'm not sure that the size of these pinks will be small enough for young hatchlings, as they are bigger than mouse pinks, about twice the size, so you may have to rethink that idea, sorry :awcrap:

And I haven't been bitten yet, fingers crossed

 

[LBoz]

You must spread some rep around yada yada....

Those are absolutely the cutest things in the world! Cheers for cute pinky bums! :cheers:

So I take it these rats are meaner than your regular petstore variety? Or is it just when there are babies about?

 

[Susielea]

You must spread some rep around yada yada....

Those are absolutely the cutest things in the world! Cheers for cute pinky bums! :cheers:

So I take it these rats are meaner than your regular petstore variety? Or is it just when there are babies about?

Glad you liked the bum shots :grin01:

We used to keep rats when the kids were young and I had no fear of putting my hand in the tank and getting them out. But after reading all the care sheets and information I could find about these African Soft Furred Rats, I've been led to believe that they can be bitey, especially when babies are around, so I've been more wary of them when cleaning etc.

So far though all they have shown is curiousity towards me and they even let me pet them in the tank. As I said in my previous post, I even touched the babies with Mum in there, when I took the photos and was quite prepared for a bite, but it never came, she just sniffed my finger and that was it :shrugs:

Maybe I got lucky with these, or maybe they are being bred to be more docile now, we'll see

 

[anendeloflorien]

well my babies are about a month old and already taking good sized pinks so I don't think they'll have any issues with them at that size but y'know if they don't there's always the gas chamber and then the freezer . I hate doin it to things that dang cute but thats what you get when you have multiple predators as pets :twoguns:

 

[anendeloflorien]

Oh, I still have yet to be bitten by my ASFs but they are just soooo jumpy right now. They remind me of gerbils but on crack lol. I was able to hold one for a couple minutes last night and I'm gonna try to tame the breeders a little bit but I still don't ever expect them to act like my big rats.

 

[Flagg]

From what I have come to understand, it's the ASFs here in the US that are more aggressive and bitey. I've heard of several people in the UK and Europe that have ASFs that are quite tame.

Possibly it's due to the fact that the US allows no imports of any ASFs, so we are stuck with whatever strains were here before the ban. They have all been bred solely for feeders so there has been no effort made to selectively breed for tameness.

So yours are probably quite tame, or at least much more so than those we have over here.

 

[Susielea]

From what I have come to understand, it's the ASFs here in the US that are more aggressive and bitey. I've heard of several people in the UK and Europe that have ASFs that are quite tame.

Possibly it's due to the fact that the US allows no imports of any ASFs, so we are stuck with whatever strains were here before the ban. They have all been bred solely for feeders so there has been no effort made to selectively breed for tameness.

So yours are probably quite tame, or at least much more so than those we have over here.

Ahh, now that's a good possibility and would explain why I've not had any major problem with them at all, even the male has let me pet him since the babies arrived yesterday. When I pick them up, they are still quite jumpy but not at all aggressive and one of the girls will even sit on my hand for a while, before deciding she'd rather be back in the tank

It's such a shame that you can't get fresh stock over there

 

[waldo]

I think ASF pink are the ugliest little things Have you picked them up yet? When they are about 1.5 weeks old they start to jump and squirm when, they remind me of jumping beans LOL.
Flagg, my ASF aren't mean either, I've not been bite, not even by the wilder ones. I have a couple I can even hold though not for long before they jump from my hand.

 

[Susielea]

I think ASF pink are the ugliest little things Have you picked them up yet? When they are about 1.5 weeks old they start to jump and squirm when, they remind me of jumping beans LOL.
Flagg, my ASF aren't mean either, I've not been bite, not even by the wilder ones. I have a couple I can even hold though not for long before they jump from my hand.

I wasn't sure when to start picking them up, I just touched the babies for the first time today at 24 hours old. How soon would you suggest I start actually picking them up? As I've read lots of conflicting things about the timing, some say a day old, others say to leave them for at least 4 days :shrugs: The mother didn't seem at all fazed when I touched them today, she just went back to them and started washing them *cute*

 

[waldo]

It really depends on the mom, I can pick up babies at 1 day old now but when I first got the ASF, they would get stressed and some times eat the babies if I touched them too soon.
If you can touch all the babies and mom doesn't mind, then she should be ok with you holding them.

 

[Susielea]

Ok here's another photo, this one taken at 48 hours old and then the batteries died, so I didn't get pics when I held them

Mum didn't seem to mind and took the opportunity to eat and drink while I held a couple for a few seconds, darn they are cute but ugly :laugh: I can't believe how quickly the fur is coming in and they are all wrinkly and squidgy!

Enjoy!