Tuesday, April 6, 2010

African Soft Furs - a tale of 2 breeders

Breeder A -

I got ASFs to breed as an alternative to ppl feeding rats to snakes because of the loving and social nature of rats as compared to the lack of socialization in the ASFs. While I found the ASFs to be awesome little creatures to watch as they cared for their young and play in their wheels and hideys.

I housed them in whatever tanks I have. I had a 1m 4f colony in a 15 gallon tank, 1m 5f colony in a 20 gallon long tank, 1m 10f in a 55 gallon tank and a 1m 12f colony in a 55 gallon tank. When I separated the males and females from litter, I kept them in 2 separate cages. The boys cage was a 10 gallon tank with a homemade tank topper on it that was twice the height of normal tank toppers. The girls cage was a 10 gallon tank with a standard tank topper on it. All cages had wheels and places for them to hide.

Bedding I used a mix of Pine, Cedar and corn cob bedding. I used cardboard boxes, hamster balls and small toys for them to play and hide in. One cage I even had a large cardboard box that they used for nesting. I felt that just because they were being bred for snake food did not mean that they had to be treated inhumanely.

For food I used a mix of Sun Seed hamster food and fruits and veggies. In all of the ASFs that I bred in the 6 months or so that I was breeding (a family member became allergic to them, so I had to sell my colonies) I only had 1 case of cancer. I had one ASF female that developed a rapidly growing tumor on her chest. In a matter of hours is almost doubled in size. Because I did not want her to suffer, I humanely euthanized her and disposed of her body (she was not fed to a snake because I did not want to take the chance of hurting a reptile by feeding unhealthy food). On the whole, my colonies were relatively healthy. I lost minimal litters, had minimal aggression (that was uncommon for the ASF species) and did not have that many that died.


Breeder B:

How I housed my ASFs: I kept them in 10 gallon tanks and used shredded newspaper and Aspen bedding.

What I fed them: They were fed a diet of cereal, oats, fruits and veggies, dog food, cat food, mealworms, crickets, chicken, Alfalfa blocks, Timothy hay and table scraps. (kept to a minimum) I was not feeding any soy because of my own sensitivity to soy products.

Illnesses: I never had any that got ill while being kept this way.

Diet change: I was in my 5th generation of ASFs when I changed their diet to strictly lab blocks. I figured it would be healthier for them as it contained complete nutrients for them. Up until this point, I had no issues with any of my colonies.

After the diet change: Within a month of the change, I began to notice tumors. Within a very short period of time, my entire colony was suffering from these tumors. Mainly on or around their tails, but it was enough to kill all of them off. It affected not only my adults, but also my weanlings. Any ASF that was eating on their own  was affected. I lose my entire colony from this within a very short period of time. The nursing and pregnant mothers died off, I lost all of the babies due to starvation from the mothers dying and all of the males and weanlings died from the tumors. I lost over 100 adults and weanlings, not to mention the litters that died from the lack of a nursing mother.

My conclusions: I would not recommed feeding lab blocks to any ASF (or just about any rodent) because of this experience.



I would like to thank the 2 breeders for taking the time to share with me their story about their own experiences with their ASFs. While I know that they are not rats, it does show that there may be something to the soy and it may not be just the rats that thie is affecting.


Tami
Social Rats Adoption and Rescue