why do people prefur ASF?

whats the reasoning why so many people prefur ASF over any other rodent out there for feeders? just curious.

From what I've heard they are the ball python's natural prey item. Apparently they also breed very quickly as they can usually support more offspring than a rat colony. They also never get too big for a ball python.

I've personally never fed an ASF to my pythons, but if I ever got into breeding my own feeders again, I might give ASF a go.

ASF's work great for picky or non-eating ball pythons. I have heard, not experienced, that sometimes they won't go back after being fed ASF's for a period of time. Selling a ball python that only eats ASF's is definitely harder than a rat eater because not everyone can get ASF's but suppliers are growing.

roughly how big are they in size compared to a dollar bill. i know nothing about them lol

I would guess a full grown ASF to be equal to a small rat. I'll have to double check that when I go to my brothers house.

I'll try to find a sizing chart

http://www.sapphiretigress.com/Softfurs.htm

Size
Head/body length 15 cm; tail length 11 cm; adult weight 60g.

http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index.php/2007/05/14/meet_the_african_soft_furred_rat

ASF's do not outgrow Ball Pythons like rats do. They have very large litters of babies. They are small enough when born that very small ball pythons can eat them. I had a boob baby that was only 29 grams. I fed him ASF pinks and he is healthy, growing and eating mice and rat pinks today. ASF's do not smell near as bad as rats or mice. So, they are better if you keep your colony in the house. I've also heard from breeders that ball pythons fed ASF's grow faster than on rats or mice.

I've heard the thought that Balls on ASFs will not switch back, but I have not had that problem. My adults have been fed on ASFs, then I decided to go back to rats and they all made the switch just fine. I'm trending back to ASFs now and they don't seem to mind. I feed my baby BPs that I plan on selling mice then switch them over to rat pinks. In addition, the babies that I sell I also will feed them F/T every once in a while. Most of the babies I sell will eat just about anything. The only reason I don't feed the babies for sale ASF's is because of this misconception. My hold back babies are fed ASF's and if I run low they get rats. None of them refuse to eat rats.

I'm sure there is the occasional ball python that will not eat anything but a single preferred food (ASF's, Rats or Mice), but I do not believe that it is as common as many fear. The only down side of ASF's is that they grow very very slowly.

hmmm may have to consider a breedin project. rats are gettin expensive around her. like 6.99 a pop.

We can build you a rack for breeding if interested lol. My boyfriend has started building them, 6 or 5 tier... The second set are coming out better than the first set. Can take a small deposit to build and hold for XMas too

Once my parent's garage is done we are going to start breeding rats... maybe we will have to make a rack of ASF ?

If you do make a rack for ASF's do not use the 1/2 inch wire. The little ones can squeeze through that hole. You need to use either 1/3 or 1/4 inch wire. You don't want those things running loose!

smb2585- yea that may be something i could be interested in. probably a snake rack with the same set up though if thats not to much to ask. gonna have to think about it though a bit. im movin in march to hopefully a house with a garage, im currently in a apartment so rat breeding is on hold till i can start some wheres other then inside my small apartment. and i will remember that about the wire screening.

Also, those suckers can jump, especially when they are young. I even had one jump out of a five gallon bucket once.

OK _ just PM me or e-mail me smb2585@gmail.com and we can work something out for you.


Thanks for the heads up Don... I didn't know about that but it is really good to know before he goes into build mode.

I have bred ASF's in the past. I started because I had a picky feeder and he would eat the soft furs. At one point my entire collection was being fed ASF's and I had no problems switching them back to rats. The main reason I went back to rats is because of size. Yes they outgrow ball pythons but they also get up to the size you need quicker. It takes forever for mice or ASF's to reach full size. A 3-4 week week old rat is the same size as adult ASF.

so rats grow faster then mice your saying? i had a small breeding project of mice a while back but i fifgured it would take rats longer to grow then the mice would but rats would have been what i really wanted.

They can be SO hard to come by though! Every show I've been to sells out of them in the first few hours!

I can get you ASF's if needed NOT a problem at all... Just hit me up I dont have a steady connection to the internet but you can hit the cell if needed.... Personally If a Ball Pythons isn't eating rats I dont want it... I dont really know why but thats just me...

I hate ASFs... they are mean, they can chew through plastic rat tubs (i had to set snap traps out all over my house after I discovered this) and nobody wants a ball python that only eats ASFs

I do use them as a last resort before assist feeding, if a baby ball is having trouble eating. Sometimes they work wonders getting imported adult ball pythons to eat.

But I prefer rats over soft furs

ax2austin wrote:

so rats grow faster then mice your saying? i had a small breeding project of mice a while back but i fifgured it would take rats longer to grow then the mice would but rats would have been what i really wanted.

I don't know if the actual growth rate is different between the two or not. What I'm saying is the rats reach usable size for feeding quicker. A four week old weaned rat is bigger than an adult mouse. An old retired mouse breeder may be slightly bigger but it is probably over a year old. I think I have one mouse left in my feeder tank. I'll post a picture of a mouse and different size rat babies for comparison after I get the kids on the bus.

Here is a comparison pic. I don't know the exaxct age of the mouse but it is probably over two months old. The rat is probably 2 1/2 weeks old and not even weaned yet. Although they look about the same size the mouse weighs 17 grams and the rat weighs 33 grams.

I REALLY HATE ASFs. Those little monsters will bite you faster than you can blink your eyes. I picked one up by the tail once and got ninja bit by the furry rat.

That and people say they don't smell?? Thats bull.. Maybe if you have them outside in a shed but even in a garage, you wont like going near that corner.

And I cant seem to get rid of them.. The lady I just got the baby boas from asked me if I wanted her "feeder mice", so I of course said sure, and she came out with a 10gal tank with 5 ASF's in it..they were her breeders, I was less than thrilled. My Irian Jaya wont eat anything that isn't white and the boas aren't big enough for them yet. I bought a 50c mouse trap and now they're frozen.

If anybody wants them around Richmond I'd be happy to sell them for dirt cheap or trade for some fuzzies.