# African Soft Furred rats



## ballpython2 (Sep 22, 2008)

Does anyone have these as breeder - feeders? and/or regular pets?

how are they temperment wise?

Do they produce bigger litters than regular rats?

Where would I buy some of these at and how much do they go for?


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## GailC (Sep 22, 2008)

I have some. They are quite wild, impossible to hold without them jumping away and some bloodlines can be very nippy.

They don't produce more then regular rats. The biggest litter mine have had is 12 but that is unusual. They are also smalller then regular rats, about the size of a gerbil. The babies are just a tad bigger then a mouse pink and seem to grow slow.

I was lucky to find some on craigslist for $10 each. You should be able to find some at a reptile show but they can be expensive, last time I seen them it was $50.00 for a pair.


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## ballpython2 (Sep 22, 2008)

ALright thank you very much


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## ScorpDemon (Sep 22, 2008)

My rodent supplier sells them for either 3 or 4 bucks each at shows, but I'm not sure if he ships rodents. PM me if you want more details.


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## ballpython2 (Sep 23, 2008)

ScorpDemon said:


> My rodent supplier sells them for either 3 or 4 bucks each at shows, but I'm not sure if he ships rodents. PM me if you want more details.


he probably cant thanks though.  its illegal as far as i know to ship rodents/most animals


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## UrbanJungles (Sep 23, 2008)

ballpython2 said:


> he probably cant thanks though.  its illegal as far as i know to ship rodents/most animals


Not true.  You can ship them, just have to use airline $ervices like delta Dash.


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## jwmeeker (Oct 5, 2008)

I have heard that they can be nippy, but the line that I have has never given me any problems.  If you are looking for a feeder, I give them a definite thumbs up.  All of mine usually have 8-15 babies at a time and they stink less than mice.  They usually urinate in a corner of their cage so spot cleaning is very easy.  I feed mine to monitors, ball pythons, and kingsnakes.  I also feed the ball pythons rats and have had no problems with them getting "hooked" on the ASF.  The only drawback that I can think of is that they have a pretty short lifespan.  They will produce non-stop and then start to get tumors or skin tags after about 6-7 months.  They also seem to tolerate heat much better than other rodents.  They are slowly becoming much more popular in the US.  I don't know of anyone who breeds them around the MA area, but if you ask around you should be able to locate them.  I've seen them for sale on KS for 2-$10.


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## JColt (Oct 5, 2008)

Give these guys a try  

http://asfrats.info/


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## ballpython2 (Oct 6, 2008)

jwmeeker said:


> I have heard that they can be nippy, but the line that I have has never given me any problems.  If you are looking for a feeder, I give them a definite thumbs up.  All of mine usually have 8-15 babies at a time and they stink less than mice.  They usually urinate in a corner of their cage so spot cleaning is very easy.  I feed mine to monitors, ball pythons, and kingsnakes.  I also feed the ball pythons rats and have had no problems with them getting "hooked" on the ASF.  The only drawback that I can think of is that they have a pretty short lifespan.  They will produce non-stop and then start to get tumors or skin tags after about 6-7 months.  They also seem to tolerate heat much better than other rodents.  They are slowly becoming much more popular in the US.  I don't know of anyone who breeds them around the MA area, but if you ask around you should be able to locate them.  I've seen them for sale on KS for 2-$10.



Will a regular male rat  mate with a female ASF?


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## GailC (Oct 7, 2008)

No, they are completely different species. That would be like trying to breed a horse to a giraffe.


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## ballpython2 (Oct 7, 2008)

waldo said:


> No, they are completely different species. That would be like trying to breed a horse to a giraffe.


so where can i buy some online at? anyone know


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## jwmeeker (Oct 11, 2008)

CV Exotics has them for sale in New Hampshire.  Looks like the closest place to you that I know of.  You can always post a WTB ad here on the board.


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