EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BREEDING RODENTS FOR BALL PYTHON FOOD. RATS, MICE, ASF! 

It’s definitely a ton of work but running down stairs to get free food never gets old

Since getting asf rats I no longer mess with mice. Make sure you use 23% protein for the asf rats.

I’m adding ASFs for the same reasons. With my rats, I keep 2-3 females and 1 male per tub, they have huge litters, consistently at 17-19. I think it’s because there’s more to go around😊 I only remove the females once there’s a 2nd litter in the tub. When I take one female out I add another nearly ready to breed female, reduces fighting. Once the pups are weened I add the first female back and leave the 3rd female. Once there’s another litter I move her and her litter out and repeat. I think they’re similar to rabbits in that that can be pregnant at get more pregnant, increasing the litter size.

ASF are great, slow to start but once you get going it's all good. Just leave them alone and they will do their thing. Just make sure you give them a high protein diet. I always give them mealworms once a week and if I see a new mother I will give them scrambled eggs usually the only time they cannibalize their young is if the protein is too low or there's too much stress like overcrowding. Be patient and you will really enjoy them

Great video I just started last week with mice I was told to keep 1.2 or 1.3and I was only able to get three female and two male ASF so I got them in 1.1 and 1.2 to start great video

a lot of breeders run 1.3 in 10 series tubs for the ASF's, then use the 70 series for grow outs from all those litters (which at weaned, you can mix them up just fine)

My ASFs as adults are about the size of a large Syrian hamster

Love breeding asfs. Never had a problem finding one that is the right size to feed my snakes. Having bred asfs for a year now, you will know immediately if you put an adult asf in the wrong colony! My rat snakes love the asfs too although i had to back off a little cause they were getting chunky. Good luck!

I run my rats 1.10 in the large concrete mixing tubs and pull the females when they’re pregnant I usually put two females together in the smaller concrete mixing tubs to raise up their babies to wean then put the females back into the breeding rotation and put the weans in a grow out tub until they are fed off. My mice I run 1.4 or 1.5 in the small freedom breeder tubs like you use for your female rats and I just leave them together with the babies and just takes them out to feed off as I need. So far it has worked well for me. I might try an asf colony again but I had them all chew out of my bins last time I tried to breed them.

To my understanding. ASF need a bit more protein to do well.

Best thing about multis is you can grow out females together from mixed colonies and same with males, i like to put a couple males in with the female growout tub so when i pick out breeders, theyre bred and the rest gets fed, u can hole punch or notch ears on offspring from big litters so u dont lose them in a big grow out tub

Glad you are switching to ASF. I've started hatchlings with ASF vs Norwegian rats and even tho I feed ASF half the weight of Norwegian rats, they had better growth weight and less chonky. Less smelly, smaller snake poop is a bonus.

I use hides ( toilet paper rolls ,ect) for my mouse bins and they do better when not kept to close with rats in my experience. I also keep them at the top levels close to exhaust the males are stinky lol

Add some dry cat food kibble to your mouse food it's what stopped my cannibalism in my mice

ASFS ARE A LIFE SAVER!!! I love breeding my asfs. Like you said, the adults are still like a small rat. They massive litters and they are healthier. The Asfs are definitely a good choice. They also only need cleaned every other week. I breed mice to for my Sanzinia and hatchlings but honestly, the fuzzy asfs are basically the same size and jump around enough for the hatchlongs to take them, and again, they are healthier then mice. I'm by State College,btw. I'm hoping to make it out to Pittsburgh soon to checkout Garrett's place at Reach Out. ASFs - I do a 1.4 in a 20g tank or a concrete tub in the rat rack. I keep the male in there and as long as your protein levels are good, the mothers and male won't eat the babies.

Sorry to ask this but how do you get them ready for freezing

💚💜

I started with white mice and they have HUGE litters. I move out my male so the females are able to give birth without being stressed by the male. Only have one 1.5 colony going at a time of mice and 1.3 ASF colony. And grow out the juvenile mice and asf in the same bin. I no longer have any cannibalism in my mice after taking out the male before the females give birth. I believe males stress the females or the males cannibalize the babies.

How are you doing with the ASF's

what are the clear totes you have the mice in I'm interested in them

I've watched a bunch of rodent breeding videos but none really say how many rats you need to feed x amount of snakes. For instance maybe 10 adult females and 5 adult makes requires? Or 10 subsadults need?

You are spot on! Asf and mice, you have to respect the colony principle. Rats don't mind and females even benefit raising their pups alone. I would use the small freedom breeder thubs to have a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio for your asf and the bigger ones for your weaned ones. Take them out every week when they are ready and you clean them ;) They somehow benefit to being crowded and feel more comfortable. Go see the cd exotics youtube on them ;) Finally, mices will never do good as long as they can smell rats from what I heard. Canibalism, small litters and poor reproduction occurs only because they know their life is in danger when rats are nearby 😢 Learned that watching the biggest mice breeding facility of the US tour... Breeding only asf is a nice idea since they thrive at ball python room temperature, they eat less (and grow slower) than rats and they never become too big.

Don't waste your time on mice. Asf are the way to go. Hit me up if you ever have any questions. I can give you tips with asf.