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ASF or Rats?

Katie.Shinkle

Katie.Shinkle

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I still haven't gotta into the position to get any ball pythons yet (grrr....), but I'm still doing a lot of research. I see every so often someone saying they won't feed ASF's or buy ASF eaters. I know they are an addictive food for BP's, but then I hear so are mice but no one is going to turn down a young snake still eating mice.

Is there a specific reason most won't deal with ASF eaters other than the addiction thing?

The main reason I ask, is because I'd like to breed my own food. I do so for my insect eaters, and feel a lot safer doing it. I was planning on getting a colony of ASF's since they are smaller, and supposedly not as smelly (plus, not as friendly so I don't get too attached...lol), but I'm now having second thoughts on it. Would love to hear your opinions!
 
most people dont like ASF only feeders becuz ASF's can be hard if not impossible for alot of people to get

I generally hate my ASF's lol...cuz they are annoying and eat more then my rats and are just a general pain in the booty

but i breed them, along with normal rats....I do have ASF only eaters....so it works out fine for me
 
ASFs are amazing. I breed them and feed them to all of my breeders. The problem is, like Willow said, that they can be hard to find.
 
I've fed soft furs to many snakes over the years with no issues of addiction. In my experience, that phrase is untrue. I'm sure once in a while you might find an animal who will prefer them, I had a WC female who preferred gerbils, but it's not as common as the internet would lead you to believe. Sometimes it's just a phase and they eventually snap out of it. I've talked to several breeders whose big females wanted nothing but mice after they laid, and then eventually went back to their normal rodents. Would I feed them exclusively? Nope. But it doesn't hurt to toss one in once in a while.
 
i feed most all of mine ASFs, because that's the only thing i choose to breed. (aside from mice that i'm starting)

for one, they don't get as big as rats. (they won't outgrow your snake)
secondly, their teeth aren't as big.
thirdly, they don't smell AS bad.. (unless you never clean them).
fourthly, they are breeding machines and have big litters

there's plenty more reasons, but i'm damn tired and i can't think right now. :D

in my own personal experience, i call BS on them getting stuck on eating only those. most every snake i feed ASFs to, will eat regular rats as well. i think it's harder to get a mouse eater to switch to rats than it is for an ASF feeder to switch to rats. a word of advice on ASFs, i wouldn't suggest more than about 3-4 1.2 groups of them unless you have a large collection because when they start going... it's hard to stop them. i had 6 1.2 groups and i was producing about 200 a month from those alone. seperate the sexes after weaning! another common misconception in my experiences with them is they are aggressive. mine aren't at all. there are a couple established groups that can be nippy when there are babies in the tub... but that's it. i can stick my hand into a tub full of 50-60 without the worry of being bitten, and if they bite.. it doesn't really hurt.

drawbacks:

what everyone else said, for some... they can be harder to come by.
 
My biggest complaint about ASFs (when I bred them) is that they chewed through a lot of food. Seems like a pretty common experience, from what I have heard.
The other thing is that they can be pretty unaccepting of new additions to their groups.
 
I breed ASF, rats, and mice... and feed the ASF to a few of my snakes. I like the ASF because if you have a baby who is a slow starter usually it is easier to start them with the ASF. I had to do this recently and it was very easy to switch the baby over to mice after getting him started on ASF. After 2 mice rubbed on ASF he took a mouse without being scented and now he has taken 2 f/t mice on his own. I usually have no issue with animals only accepting one type of food so I'm not worried about getting him on rats.

So I don't really believe in the addiction thing. I've fed ASF to various snakes on and off for several years with no problems like that. Of course there are going to be examples of animals who refuse to eat anything else but it isn't the rule :thumbsup: I don't feed ASF to any of my solid rat feeders though, just because no ASF gets big enough for the snakes I'm feeding rats to anyway so it really is pointless. I have a smaller girl who won't eat regular rats (was fed mice only) so I've begun giving her ASF and she loves them too. I'd rather have an ASF eater than a strictly mouse eater personally, but I know it is illegal to have ASF in some states so doesn't work for everyone.

I have 3.8 breeder rats, around 5.35 breeder mice and a single 1.4 group of ASF. I usually run out of rats pretty quickly since they are my main source but luckily most of my females have litters of 15 babies. I sell some rats because I have dumbos, rex, double rex, merle, etc so I also buy supplemental Rodent Pro every once in a while. Seems to work for me. I'd need a bit more breeders to fully sustain my collection and I don't have that kind of space at this time. I'm glad that most of my BPs are ravenous f/t eaters in the times my live feeders are dry.
 
hhmoore said:
My biggest complaint about ASFs (when I bred them) is that they chewed through a lot of food. Seems like a pretty common experience, from what I have heard.
The other thing is that they can be pretty unaccepting of new additions to their groups.
Click to expand...

I second both those issues. But they smell less bad than rats and incredibly less bad than mice...if less bad is even a proper term.

And while they don't get as big as rats I'd rather have an ASF eater than a mouse eater any day. ASFs seem to do a good job of putting weight on snakes even though they are smaller. In fact if everybody had access to ASFs I'd probably feed them exclusively but since they don't I try to start any baby I plan to sell on rats and only resort to ASFs for trouble eaters or holdbacks.
 
Thanks so much everyone for the input!!!! I may just have a small breeding group of each then, just in case. I do get terribly attached to rats though...love the cuties lol!
 
I breed all 3 (ASFs, Rats & Mice) The ASFs are awesome breeders and Mamas, But, Are a PITA! Why? They bite more readily than either a mouse or a rat & They are messy! LOL. They dump as much food as they eat. But, They need less room than Rats. There are Pros & Cons & You have to decide for yourself. I will continue to keep them because I like having a variety of Feeder choices. PS: The only snake I have that won`t eat anything but an ASF is a yearling Corn snake...Go Figure! LOL
 
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