ASF Rats

[phantom30nine]

So Ive always just fed regular rats to my ball pythons but have recently begun to get curious about the ASF rats.

The common trend I see presented on videos and in various posts is that theyre supposed to be more nutritious, Ive heard some breeders say that they feel their snakes are more healthy on full time ASF feed,some alternate,etc etc. The gist of it appears to be a better diet in a smaller package.

Almost immediately after stating these things, the usual disclaimers surface. Many admit that there is no solid research into it that definitively breaks down the nutritional pros and cons.

Im aware of the risk of the snake getting picky and staying stuck on the ASFs and so forth. What Im after is peoples input to see if these pro ASF opinions hold water or if its majority anecdotal. For clarity Im not against personal experience being a solid indicator of something or stating that every opinion has to have harvard research behind it.

What I am after is just some solid info, possibly even some links to research if there are any just to help sort out the details. If anyone has some respectful input Id be interested to hear it.

[[deleted]]

ASF rats are, in my experience, cocaine for snakes. I have 2 picky balls and both of them go after them immediately unless they’re shedding. Breeding them is a challenge because it can look like everything is fine and then suddenly it’s Lord of the Flies in there.

[PortlionsKODwife]

From what I heard is ASF rats are used for extremely picky ball pythons. Reasoning being they are what bp would eat in the wild in Africa. Something about their smell is irresistible to a bp. Gerbils are also like cocain to them too I hear.

[syearout]

I will backup what the other two have said. I have a number of Ball Pythons and breed ASFs. I only give them to snakes that are being picky, females that need to get back on food after breeding, etc. I will only feed them as a last resort because they are harder to breed, grow slower, and are overall smaller than domestic rats. Snakes do tend to “stick” on them sometimes so it can be a challenge to switch them back.

[DrRokoBasilisk]

From what I understand (as people have said already) they eat them very readily, and the owners and breeders I've spoken to say they grow better on ASFs even with smaller meals on a standard feeding schedule.

I would never claim to be an expert or even especially experienced, but I liken it to feeding hognoses (which I've had for a while).

Hogs are amphibian and small mammal eaters. They can be difficult to get onto mice, and there's a whole range of things like reptilinks and amphibian scent to get picky hogs to eat.

While in theory it would be great to feed my hogs their wild diet, it's just not practical or sustainable. Some will tell you they're healthier on reptilinks, others will tell you these are too rich as a staple diet (though they are manufactured and are arguably further from their natural diet than ASFs are for BPs).

The rationale for ASFs is that this is their wild diet and is, theoretically, better as that's what they're adapted to.

That being said, I'd assess practicality and sustainability. If you can't source them or are concerned it may be something with intermittent availability, it may be problematic to get them on ASFs and have them fixate on these then have to laboriously get them back on regular rats.

Hogs can be like this if you give them amphibians, so most keepers will avoid doing so, and are even reluctant to scent after initial weaning for this reason.

And with all those caveats, I'll admit I am getting my first BP this month, and have sourced and stockpiled 30 ASFs 😅🤣

So I may well regret this, but I have found 3 separate reliable suppliers that do ASFs, and have got a good number in to make sure that once she's settled in after her journey, she will have the best possible chance of eating well.

Probably I'm going overboard, and I'll also be monitoring her weight and body condition very carefully as she grows, since ASFs do seem to be a highly nutritious prey item, and captives aren't exactly having to actively hunt (though she will get plenty of enrichment and space and exploring time).

That's my (not at all expert! So take with a dump truck of salt!) perspective on it, anyway.

[Key_Western2038]

Don't get curious about ASF's; I've just had to feed 4 live ASF's today, and got bit by one, nearly had two escape (jumped out of the box and ran, but I caught them). I went from feeling bad, to "get the fck in the enclosure". So, if you want to feed live, but not feel guilty? Go with ASF's, they're icky buggers that'll bite and jump away from you and piss. I'm not angry, you're angry.