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Post by msav on Aug 29, 2014 11:04:37 GMT -5
After 4 months with mice and not having success getting them to breed (except the one litter that the female ate all the babies) I decided to go with rats, but not any rat. These rats are called African Soft furred Rats or ASF Rats. They do not stink, they breed like crazy, are half the size of rats and twice the size of mice, and have soft fur like fleece. OH did I mention they are the cutest little creatures. It is going to make it hard on me to dispatch them. I am now going to have to rethink the cage that I am keeping them in, while that may have worked for the mice. these little buggers are big time plastic chewers. I have only had them for a little over a week and they have already chewed the heck out of the cage. I am open to any cage suggestions. Here are some pics of them I have 1 male and 3 female juveniles, and 1 female adult.      |
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Post by raynebc on Aug 29, 2014 12:50:03 GMT -5
They're pretty cute for rats, they look a lot closer to hamsters/ferrets except for the huge ears.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2014 13:07:24 GMT -5
They really are awfully cute. You have a big heart. I'm betting six months down the road, you have a lovely colony of beautiful little rat families. (giggle) Are you planning on feeding Live? I've heard our Whole Prey feeders say that Rats can be pretty fierce. I know that katt doesn't feed live rats to her snakes. |
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Post by msav on Aug 29, 2014 13:12:18 GMT -5
no. I will have to dispatch them. I don't know if I can do it. They have everything going for them cutenesswise, if they develop a personality I don't think I could do it. Right now they are really skittish and wild although I am able to get my finger in there and scratch behind their head and they will stay still. The way they breed though I will have to do something or I will end up with thousands, and surprise surprise they are not legal in California either. LOL
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2014 13:21:13 GMT -5
Maybe gerbil tanks would be good for them the ones with the glass base and cage wire top. Gives them ventilation andlots of digging enrichment and bars should be small enough to prevent escapes. Something like the screenshot below?  |
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Post by msav on Aug 29, 2014 13:27:17 GMT -5
hmm. perhaps I could put something together with the tops of my cages with a tank on the bottom. I will have to think about this. It would be great to use some of what I already have.
Thanks
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Post by raynebc on Aug 29, 2014 14:21:08 GMT -5
My family had gerbils for many years and we usually just use a glass aquarium, corn cob litter and lots of soft bedding materials like tissue paper. We gave them cardboard all the time to file down their teeth with and that became part of their bedding as well.
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Post by msav on Aug 29, 2014 15:12:35 GMT -5
ok I will throw in some cardboard. I would not think that cardboard would be hard enough to file down teeth and satisfy their chewing. right now they have a beef nylabone that they are chewing on.
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Post by raynebc on Aug 29, 2014 15:26:55 GMT -5
Rats' teeth may be harder, I don't know. You can certainly get different levels of thickness with cardboard. Heavy cardboard tubes that are used to ship posters and the like are hard enough you'd need a serrated knife or a saw to slice through, or a set of strong, sharp teeth.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2014 15:37:44 GMT -5
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Post by Awaiting Abyss on Aug 29, 2014 17:11:04 GMT -5
ASFs are actually closer related to mice than they are to rats.  I'd definitely go with a tank rather than those critter trails. How friendly are yours? There is a breeder on the east coast who has fairly friendly ASFs, but overall they seem to be meanies. |
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Post by Heather on Aug 29, 2014 17:14:42 GMT -5
Hmmm, fascinating. I just picked up some ASF's for my guys to learn to eat. According to some snake people they say they taste different to the normal rats and are better received by ball pythons. I will see what baby ferrets think of them
ciao
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Post by msav on Aug 29, 2014 18:48:34 GMT -5
ASFs are actually closer related to mice than they are to rats. I'd definitely go with a tank rather than those critter trails. How friendly are yours? There is a breeder on the east coast who has fairly friendly ASFs, but overall they seem to be meanies. they are not mean at all. They have not tried to bite me. I lost count how many times those mice bit me. Normal rat rarely bite unless being threatened or frightened. These guys are really skittish. they freak out when I come near the cage or make sudden movements. For a few hours a day I will pull the cage done and put it on my coffee table while I watch tv. I will occasionally put my hand in the cage. the other day I put my finger on a couple of them and started to stroke their neck they did not freak out and they stayed still. I think they are starting to realize I am not going to hurt them,, YET lol. I have a feeling that it may take a new litter and handling when they are a little younger to get them more tame. I have not been bitten yet so I guess they are not too much of meanies |
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Post by msav on Aug 29, 2014 18:51:25 GMT -5
Hmmm, fascinating. I just picked up some ASF's for my guys to learn to eat. According to some snake people they say they taste different to the normal rats and are better received by ball pythons. I will see what baby ferrets think of them ciao I think someone said that the soft fur goes down easy for the snake, Or maybe they were just trying to be funny. I will see how my ferrets like them. I just got some rodentpro rats today so I will try them out first. post back if your ferrets liked them. I have not heard of too many people feeding them. I just like them because they do not stink like mice. |
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Post by Awaiting Abyss on Aug 29, 2014 20:32:48 GMT -5
Ball pythons like ASFs because they are more like the prey they naturally eat in the wild than rats. Same with gerbils. Ball pythons get hooked on gerbils and ASFs.
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