This little guy (yep, it's a male!) hatched out alongside three of what look like our 'normal' lessers that hatch.  He looks similar to a het red lesser, but everyone I've talked to says not quite the same.  You can bet he'll be going back to his mother as soon as he's breeding size to see if there really is something going on!

He just didn't want to be a normal, and he is anything but that. This guy is gorgeous, and we can't wait until he has his first shed. Clutch picture of his mates at the end of the post.

Cheers,

Now for the bad luck.  Our spider female laid her clutch last night, and it ended up being mostly slugs.  Two good eggs and nine slugs.  We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for a lesser bee or stinger bee out of one of those eggs!

We totally didn't expect any of our Sumatrans to go this year, especially our Hartwig animals as she only locked up once that we saw.  Fifteen nice big eggs, but a few looked like they might have been infertile when I candled them.  Few days in the incubator should be all it takes to find that out.

No news on the first clutch just yet, although they should be pipping anytime now.  We've had a few more ovulations and a pre-lay shed or two, but other than that it's been pretty quiet around here.

Here are better pictures of these two (but, not the best, sorry!)

I had the oppourtunity to discuss the amazing snow white ASF (vzm) rat with Stefan from Germany! Although he has since moved on to other endevours, he was gracious enough to answer some questions I had for him regarding the genetics and breeding for the elusive high-white ASF.

First, some explanatory remarks from Stefan:

I use this gene code:
Agouti: +
Cinnamon: b/b
Argente: p/p
Ruby Eyed: r/r
Silver Fawn: b/b p/p
 
I use these names for the different White variations:
Platinum: White rat with black eyes, black ears (B/B) or gray ears (B/b)
High White: White rat with black Eyes and white ears (b/B)
PEW: White rat with pink eyes and white ears (p/p)
 
I have no experience in breeding Ruby Eyed. I assume that this is a new variety based on a recessive dilution. If anybody has Ruby Eyed rats with b/b or p/p, please send me a picture!

Find more on Stefan's website at ratfrett.jimdo.com

1. Can I get some of your background? What first interested you in the African Soft furred rat?

I needed some company for my single fancy mouse buck (male). Many German websites and forums recommended Mastomys as great fellows. So I got my first group from an [exotic animals expo] especially for reptiles in 2002.

2. How long have you been breeding small mammals?

I began breeding fancy mice in 2003. I met some people who wanted to build the first German community of mouse fanciers. We decided to found a club and agreed upon a breeding standard. A [little while] later I bought some fancy rats and started colour breeding. Rearing other exotic mice wasn't something I would call "breeding".

3. What other species do you own?

At the moment I am breeding Mastomys and Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters. I also keep Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Deer Mice are not often kept in Germany. I think I am the only fancier who has offspring for sale.

4. Let's discuss the high white ASF. Are they your creation, or did you learn about them someplace in your readings?

I got my first platinum ASF rat in 2004 from a animal dealer in Netherlands. These have actually been the first white Mastomys I have ever seen (and they've been the last for three years). My specimen was very small and did not mate. In 2007 a friend of mine gave me a little group and I decided to breed with them.

5. How many generations did it take to get the high-white ASF?

When you mean the Whites with white ears? It took me two generations by using a Platinum male and a Headspotted Cinnamon female and inbreeding the F1.

6. Do you have any insight into the genetics behind the high white appearance?

In my opinion the Whites (regardless which ears or eye color) only evolve from two pied alleles and a special modifying gene, that is obviously only found in Europe. This modifier maximizes the white of the pied ASF so that the offspring are clean white, or with only little coloured spots in the neck. These spots are very insistent and appear on and off.

I believe that the platinum modifier is diluting the colored coat areas: A white rat that has one white eared and one black eared parent has grey ears. I would take the non-white counterparts of these (Agouti and Cinnamon) the offspring has black ears.

7. Can we discuss your opinion about a special gene? Do you believe it is easily identified just by looking at the rat that it is a carrier for the gene?

When you mean the special modifying gene of Platinum mice: I don't know. I have never seen Solid Agouti rats with a platinum-gene.

8. Can you give an example of how you have bred the high-white into the other base colors? For example, a Fawn crossed with the H-W (high-white) to make essentially a Pink Eyed White rat?

In my case a Pink Eyed White came up in a litter randomly. I did not know that my mice had a heterogous Pink-Eyed-Gene. But it is very easy to combine Platinum/High White with argente or silver fawn. Just like I described it in question 5. It doesn't matter if you take rats with or without bb (brown lightening/brightening). The results are simply snowy white rats with pink eyes.

9. Speaking of base colors, do you also share my opinion that there are 4 colors of ASF's available? What are they named in Europe or your native language?

Yes I think we have four base colours. but I am not sure if the new "Ruby Eyed" are a new variety. I have never seen one and I don't know if anybody did test breedings to find out how this colour behaves in combination with others. German breeders do not have a common nomenclature for the colour varieties and their genes. We call the wild type (very dark, greyish-brown looking, black ticking, black ears and eyes) "Agouti".

The brightening/lightening (?) gene is mostly called "Cinnamon". I don't think the name fits but I don't know a better word.

For the two red-eyed varieties (Agouti + pink eyes and Cinnamon + pink eyes) I do not know any popular name. Most breeders and keepers do not differenciate between these colours. Looking at the british nomenclature of fancy mice breeds I propose the symbol b/b for for the Cinnamon Gene and the symbol p/p for Pink Eyed Gene. The fancy mice with the gene code p/p are in europe called "Argente". Fancy Rats with b/b p/p are in Europe often called "Silver Fawn". So I would propose Argente (p/p) and Silver Fawn (b/b p/p) as declaration for the two pink eyed colors of Mastomys.

10. What are the names of the H-W on the different colors? I have heard of Platinum to describe the H-W on the wild Agouti color, is it different for Cinnamon?

The first whites in Mastomys came from Agoutis and have black eyes and black ears. I think a German breeder called them "Platinum" (named after the black eared white variety of pet pygmy hedgehogs) and this name is common in Germany and the Netherlands. But only for the black eared variety.

I chose the name "High White" to label the dark eyed whites with white ears (b/b). There was no other name known before (in 2009)... We know the term "High White" from snake varieties.

Between breeders and keepers of ASF rats this name is not well known and there isn't agreement about the nomenclature of the different white combinations. I would propose the names:
      Platinum (for a White Agouti): white coat, black eyes and black ears
      High White (for a White Cinnamon): white coat, dark/ruby Eyes and white ears
      PEW (White Argente or Fawn): white coat, pink eyes and white ears.

I think there's no need to differenciate the PEW with b/b and the PEW with B/-. They look the same. Breeders of other species (fancy mice) also call white mice with red eyes "PEW" (and there are many combinations that produce PEW).

11. Do you have any advice for other breeders working towards the H-W rat?

My advice is very simple: Take time and be strict: The main criteria for a good selection are healthy and friendly mice. The color is coming on their own.
I am ready to help if there's any question. (I will answer much faster in German than in English).

There you have it! The high-white ASF should not seem so far fetched now . From Stefans explanations, it does appear that there is a European gene that can easily be bred for HW ASF. I'm always interested to know if anyone in the US has this variety, or what they believe may carry the gene. Perhaps we will be able to import this variety someday? Who knows!

Thanks again to Stefan for being so patient, since I took almost a full year to get this posted on our website!

Please feel free to comment or reply by email.

:: Connie

Here's what she normally looks like for comparison.

First is the pastel.

This is the 'normal' normal from the clutch.

And last but not least, probably my favorite from the clutch.  This is the girl that seems to get more orange every time she sheds.

This pairing should be interesting!  I originally got this girl with the sole intention of pairing her up with a black pastel, but after seeing this thread, I just had to throw our lesser in with her.  If the lessers come out looking anything like the ones Anthony posted, I'll be one happy camper.

Maybe some of you forum go-ers have noticed a marked emptiness in the kingdom of words.

I've been absent from my normal forum, Ball-pythons.net, but I have a perfectly good reason. I've been working my ass off.

Yes, that is usually how things go, but do not despair, my S.O. Chris keeps me up to date on the latest and greatest happenings.

I'm sure he thinks that I am lazy and don't want to get online, this is mostly true. I sit in front of a computer all day, please don't hold it against me that I am not ready to jump right back online again and delve into the stress of the forum life.

I have very much enjoyed my absense from the online world, where I can now take on other means of destress and creativity. For instance, crochet. Ha, didn't know I enjoyed crochet, but apparently I do.

As an update for the breeding of the Black Bloods, not a whole lot has been happening so far. Chris and I have a bit of a bet, and It's looking like next year, he has to do things MY way. Fear not friends, they will breed someday, and we will have some super fantastic super blacks available for sale.

For now, peace.

:: Connie

And here is why to use this page.

I am pleased to announce that we will be hosting an ASF Breeders listing on our website. We are not in competition with any person or forum, but want to offer this for informational purposes. You are invited to be a part of this listing and I do hope you join.

Over the past year, our website has grown to be one of the top search engine results for African soft furred rats, with 58% of our new traffic coming through search engines alone. This is a globally reached site, with hits coming in from 38 different countries, and easily reaching between 600 and 800 visits per month. We are currently forecasting 630 views will be rolling in each of the comings months ahead to the end of the year.

Since we have a strong share in the search engine market, we would like to help out fellow ASF Breeders get their names to those interested parties looking to buy ASF rats.

Whether you only sell a few a year, or if you run your own small feeder business, we would like to get your name added.

This is totally FREE, we do not expect anything in return, but we certainly appreciate recriprocal linking back to our website.

There is currently no limit on the size of the listing, but please include all pertinent information that you would like to see posted. They can always be changed and updated, so please do not hesitate to email me. 

I must note that this really is a cautionary venture, and if it doesn't work out (flame wars, bad vibes, drive by's) we can remove the listing for the best interest of those involved, but I want to see this be a success, and I wan't you to ride on those waves too!

"December 10, 2009 Wilmington, NC-

Driven by powerful special interests and much media sensation S. 373 aka ‘The Python Ban’ is likely to move forward despite lack of scientific justification. Pushed by Sponsor Senator Bill Nelson and the Humane Society of the United States S. 373 could devastate the trade in high quality captive bred reptiles in the United States.

Today the Senate Committee on the Environment & Public Works (EPW) will hold a business meeting on S. 373. The Committee Chair is Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and the Ranking Member is Senator James Inhofe (R-OK). The committee will hold a mark up session where they will consider S. 373, to amend title 18, United States Code, to add constrictor snakes of the species Python genera to the Injurious Wildlife list of the Lacey Act. The committee is expected to amend the bill to include the 9 snakes listed on a recent controversial report by the US Geological Survey (USGS). All tolled the bill could stop the import, export and interstate transport of as many as 45 species of Boas and Pythons.

The USGS report being used to justify these extreme measures has been called into question by a group of independent scientists in a letter to the EPW Committee on November 24, 2009. The letter characterized the USGS report as “not a bona-fide scientific paper”. The US Department of the Interior (DOI) and the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) stand by the report and have recommended to the committee that all 9 snakes reviewed should be included by amendment to S. 373. The independent scientists, who include professors from University of Florida, Arizona State University, Texas A&M and The National Geographic Society, go further to state, “this document is not suitable as the basis for legislative or regulatory policies, as its content is not based on best science practices”

The United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK) made an agreement in principle with Senator Bill Nelson’s office to limit the damage to a 3 billion dollar a year trade in these reptiles, but was informed yesterday that the agreement would not be honored. Senator Nelson has justified his position based on the recommendations made in regards to the USGS report by USFWS and DOI. Andrew Wyatt, president of USARK, commented that “it is a real shame that Senator Nelson has changed his position on this issue”. If the bill passes approximately 4 million boas and pythons already in captivity would be rendered valueless overnight with no provisions for disposition or compensation. Wyatt added, “it could create a situation where millions of people will be in possession of injurious wildlife. It is ludicrous to put so many law abiding citizens in that position and diminish the Lacey Act for the sake of political expediency.”

Passage of S. 373 would result in the loss of thousands of American jobs bankrupting an entire industry. Without strong evidence to support the injurious wildlife listing, USARK calls on the Senate EPW Committee to give an unfavorable rating to S. 373.

Contact:

Andrew Wyatt
president@usark.org"

I'll leave you with a little picture of our heterozygous peibald male breeding with his possible het. daughter from last year.  She's up to size already, but there's no follicle development, so who knows what will happen there.  Got my fingers crossed though!

It seems so often that we rat breeders never have enough product to meet demands. Demands from our collection is certainly the highest, but there also comes from time to time, a request for a large number of rats for a customer. It always seems like I never can produce enough to feed my own group of animals, but then to turn around and supply someone else.

Then it gets to be time to make a decision. Take into account the needs of your own animals to feed. What is our goal?

Our goal here at MMX is to ultimately produce and sell ball pythons, blood pythons, and maybe down the line, corns and Brazilian rainbow boas.

To have an edge in the market, we need to make sure we can give our customers the best animal we can. Once aspect of this is having the animal imprinted on a readily available food type. African soft furs are not what I would consider "readily available". In some densly populated areas of the country, it can be easier to get African soft furs to begin breeding your own, but at the same time, it is very rare to see them in a Pet Food store, much less for sale as a feeder animal.

Secondly, our goal is to run our business as profitably as we can. I am convinced that raising African soft furred rats is far more expensive than their more common counterpart, the Domestic Norway Rat.

This may not be true for everyone. Certainly, if you have only a need to feed off small prey items, the ASF can easily fill that void, but for anyone who is trying to feed breeding female ball pythons that can take a larger meal, or trying to feed the ravenous fat sausages that are blood pythons, then the small snack of an ASF seems so much more inefficient.

You may say, "Connie, just feed off multiples". I would reply, "Tell Chris to spend even longer in the snake room feeding multiply little meals!"

What this all boils down to is simple; increase our Norway rat production, and we are doing just that. We are growing our rat colony by 3 times it's size to fill the gap the ASF's had in our colony. Chris has begun switching our animals over the the Rats, we are optimizing our turnaround rates, our space management, and also, downsizing our ASF colony.

We used to run with 6 groups of ASFs, generally a 1.3-1.5 across the board. At the same time we are downsizing, we are also cycling and holding back new groups.

I think I may have over estimated our needs for hold backs, over the past several weeks, we have 4 colonies still going, and no one eating enough to make a dent in the numbers we have. We are literally running out of room!!!

So, check for it soon, there may be bags of small to medium sized ASF's going up for sale within the next two weeks as we cut our production, and once we successfully have all of our animals over to domestic rats, we will be selling ASF's full time for our customers.

That's a win-win right?

This has been a long pondered issue. Should this site include any links to ASF owners and breeders? At first, I did not believe it was necessary or justified, but with the expansion of interest in the African soft furred rat and the sparce availability, I've decided I will begin to take admissions. 

I will not monitor this as a "board of inquiry" and any flammatory comments or inquiries will be deleted without notice. This listing will only serve as a list of contacts who are willing to sell ASF stock; and yes, I can and will censor this listing if I feel it is in the best interest of this site, it's owners and users.

This is a temporary project, and I will reserve the right to take it down if I feel it is for the best. But if it works, and if it provides people with ASF contacts or breeders, than it may stay up. Until then… Just leave a comment or send an email to mmx@metalmonkeyexotics.com. Please give me as much information as possible in your request and I will notify you once the listing has been approved.

I will begin accepting for the USA, Canada, Europe.

Also, just thought I would mention that the hypo enchi HAS been produced. The Bells from Reptile Industries had one for sale at Daytona this year, but unfortunately no good pictures of it surfaced. SES Reptiles, whom I believe are located in Sweden, also produced one.

It's okay though, we have next year!!!

Chris has started pairing up animals, and there are two animals in particular that I am SUPER STOKED ABOUT!!!! I will post some pictures soon, but I may wait a while just to tease you blog readers! (not to mention, blogging is hard to do when work is so busy!)

Alrighty, check in soon, maybe we will be blessed with a lock picture during the next week.

::Connie

Just out of the egg.

Now, after having shed twice.

It's pretty interesting to see how these three are maturing color wise.  The girl in the middle has been getting more orange with every shed.

On another note, just finished up another 41qt rack today.  I'm really liking the last one I built as far as the larger footprint for the snakes to live in, and it might just be my imagination, but it seems as if they've actually been growing faster in the two months they've been in there.  I built the new rack out of pre-cut melamine shelving to attempt to cut down on build time.  It was quite a bit quicker, basically just had to make a couple of cuts and then screw everything together.  Man is it HEAVY though!  Not satisfied with that part of it.  Back to the drawing board for the next 41qt rack I build.

Remember these guys?

 M. Richter ©

Of course you do! Who wouldn't remember the pure white African soft furred rats found (so far) only in Europe? Well, I have been able to get in touch with one of these ASF breeders in Germany with the pure white ASF's, Stefan, and I am hoping to get some of his input (and beautiful photography ) on the breeding for the high white ASF rats.

Do we in America have the right gene's to attempt breeding? How white can the American lines get? We will find out soon enough. I have my own small bits of high white groups I am attempting to work with, we will see how far I can get, and what I may be lacking in my own colonies preventing me from getting to that summit of a pure snow white ASF rat.

Check back in a few weeks, see where I have gotten with the article, and hopefully enjoy some good pictures.

Just as a side note, it's a serious pain trying to take pictures of what's going on in a 41qt tub six feet in the air!

Yep, I completely forgot that I put the male in with her last night.  The plan was to pull him back out when I was finished cleaning in there.  Whoops!  Guess they're starting early this year.

These are just a couple of locks from the past couple months or so that never got posted.  The first is our wild caught girl, who threw some really bright normals last year, locked up with our pastel.

This is the first lock I've actually observed from our lesser.  Apparently this girl being in shed was enough to get him going.

This is our lesser locked up with the same wild caught girl in the first picture, who happens to be in shed here.  He still hasn't started locking up regularly.  This is only the second lock I've actually caught him in, and it seems he'll only lock up with girls who are in shed at this point.  I can't believe how dirty these two managed to get here.  Yes, that is urate smeared all over the tub AND the both of them.  That all happened over one night.

On top of all that, I had pretty much written off our spider girl going this season as I hadn't observed any locks with her and her follicle development seemed to have stalled.  After this last shed I palpated her again and there's some definite growth since the last palpation, so she's not out yet.

STILL waiting for our hypo girl to go.  I can never seem to catch the actual ovulations and because of that I pretty much pick out the pre-lay sheds by palpating and how many sheds they've had since they started developing follicles and locking up.  So far I've been pretty accurate, but this girl has me confused.  Just before this last shed I thought for sure she had ovulated and I was feeling some eggs in her, but after the shed I don't seem to be feeling them anymore -- just a whole ton of follicles.  On top of that, last night she was ready and waiting for me to toss in a rat and ate with no hesitation.  Maybe I'm a shed early still?

That's about it for now, looks like I've got some work to do with updating the breeding projects page.  I had originally designed it around single snake to snake pairings, so now I've gotta figure out the best way to fit in multiple sire pairings.

This is a link to our facebook page. Stop in, be a fan, make friends and be merry.

Work has been crazy for me these past few weeks, and when I get home, I find I can't muster up a little bit of energy to write about anything snake related. On our side of the world, things have been relatively uneventful these past few weeks.

Chris did build a new 41qt breeder rack last weekend. Turned out costing far more than it should have. He feels he should have just built one at the shop from aluminum instead. While I think the metal racks are very nice, it takes forever for him to get around to building it! I often say, Chris flip flops more than a politician. Ha! I'll more than likely get a picture up of the new rack shortly. It was nice to move the Brazilian rainbow boas into their new larger tubs. They appreciated it!

Now the next big TO-DO is mustering up some cash for purchasing new Boaphile caging for the bloods. Every one of them has grown so much in the past year, it's time to upgrade!

I know you may have wondered how I was proven wrong. I'm not often proven wrong in our house, but Chris has almost 98% proven me wrong. You may remember a few weeks ago, I declared that we were only getting one clutch of eggs this year.... well, it does appear out Hypo female has ovulated and just had her POS (post ovulation shed) last weekend! This is exciting news for us, that means we have a 50% chance for each egg to contain a hypo or pastel! And something like a 1 in 4 chance any of the eggs could end up being a hypo pastel! Ah! The egg-citment is really strong with this one.

So here are the parents, and the offspring. Can you see the resemblance??

Hi, I breed natal rats and have a question about them. When the pups are 3 weeks old they start licking the parents mouth, why do they do this? Is it to learn what is safe to eat?
 
My original 2 breeding pairs I got when they were 5 days old, I hand feed them with an eyedropper every 3 hours for over 2 weeks. I not sure if I just lucked out on having friendly ones or if me raising them made them so nice. I have not had any bad behavior from any of my natals, I sell them as pets and everyone who gets them are so happy with them. Mine are just little sweeties.

Hello,

Yes, I would definitely say your observations are correct, and the pups are learning what is good to eat, although I think observing it at 3 weeks of age may just be a coincidence since I have observed the pups eating and drinking before their eyes are open, right around 2 weeks of age. While they are not ready to stop nursing, it's not uncommon to see them eating the food that is small and crumbled. Domestic rats can often be seen sticking their noses by another rat's mouth, and they will grab the food or use the smell for reference on what is good to eat and seek out that "good" food.

I strongly believe it is easier to work with the animals if they are handled daily from a very young age, this is reflected in domestic rats as well, while personality is somewhat inheritable (nervous animals tend to have nervous offspring) I personally feel that consistent daily interaction creates an ASF that will welcome handling by humans in their own quirky way.

That said, I wouldn't tell anyone that the breeding of these two tame parent animals, will automatically create offspring just as tame as the parents unless the young is also interacted with as heavily as the parents we're. It just doesn't seem the ASF are completely domesticated like domestic norway rats, given that domestic norway rats have been bred for centuries, and ASF are fairly new in comparison.

I hope I might have answered a question or two, these rats are quite interesting little animals, and it's nice to see there are folks out there working to create a pet quality ASF, perhaps North America will catch up with Europe in that regards!

:: Connie

Alright, I probably won't use that name for this new segment, but I thought it might be useful to post up a Q&A segment using real questions we've received.

Today's subject:

Unexplained ASF rat litter loss

I have a 1.5 group of ASFs that have started to breed. There are 2 females that are large enough, and have been breeding. As of yesterday, one female had a litter of 8 3-day-old babies. The other had a litter of 9 3-WEEK-old babies. I started to notice the female with the older babies has spent less time with her babies and hardly make any effort to "protect" them when I am around. This left the other mom to take care of the bad mom's babies.

Today I came in and every single one of the 3 day old babies were gone and, as usual, the 3 week old babies were attached to the wrong mom.  This is my guess... Because only one mom was taking care of them all, only one of the litters of babies could survive, and, of course, the older ones were the strongest and so the smaller ones were killed. Is that right? And if that's the case, should I use one of the babies for a future breeder and get rid of the bad mom?
 
My second problem is that I have had them since April 14th. All of the males are obviously of breeding size. But out of 11 females, only 2 are visibly pregnant for the first time, and 2 more are breeding (but had no more than 2 litters). The rest seem much too small still. I feed them Mazuri rodent food (5663, I think? Not the 6f or 9f because it is not available in my area) with some fresh baby greens as an occasional treat.

My response:

Hi, I would like to point out that if the older pups were 3 weeks of age, they have already begun to eat and drink regular water and food. However, if they are on the smaller side, they will still drink (or try to) from the females.

The ASF females (and males) all care for the pups indiscriminately... meaning that it's not uncommon to see each female caring for the others. I would be worried more so if this was not the case, because then one female wouldn't be helping out, which obviously isn't in the best interest of the success of the pups.

I have however seen that if the females are not synced closely in their litter timing, the older pups have a detrimental effect on any pinks that are born after them. If the dates are close, like within a week and half, the success of the younger pinks is much higher. But as the gap grows, the chances of the younger pinks being pushed away from the females teats, and possibly crushed/suffocated is significantly higher.

This is a situation I have seen in my colony of 4-5 females. The girls we're all different ages and were on different schedules, which led to the higher pink mortality than in my groups of 2 or 3 females.

I personally wean my pups when they are 3 weeks old. This is decided by the presence of the new litter from their mother, or just eye balling them and picking out the older ones if it's difficult to tell which female has given birth recently. The females have litters every 21-23 days, the pups are completely ready to be weaned after this amount of time passes. They will weigh anywhere from 7-19 grams. Obviously, it's your call if you feel they are not ready to be weaned, I have skipped a week if I feel they aren't big enough.

As to your pregnancy problems, try making the group sizes smaller. I have found the best ratio to be at 1.2 or 1.3. It seems the male is able to get these girls pregnant a lot faster. If it helps any, I seem to always only have 2 females pregnant in my 1.4-5 groups. I put that ratio together as a test of sorts, and I have recently decided to just stick with the 1.2-3's from now on.

If you find that they still don't get pregnant, get rid of the females and start over with young girls again, you can keep the same males. Sometimes it just takes a while to find a good group, so don't feel bad about getting rid of ones that aren't producing for you.

I hope this helps.

  :: Connie

Cross all crossables for at least ONE pastel! *crossing fingers*

I love hatching season. If it we're up to me, I would keep every single animal we produce here, but I know that is not possible. (I can try though! hahaha, don't tell Chris that.)

We've been candling the little suckers a few times, and 2 have been very obvious. Our ugly egg we can't see in very well, but it's still hanging in there, so we'll see what it's holding.

As an update again, our very sick female rat has completely recovered and successfully birthed 12 pinks, 3 still born, and lost one since then.  

That's about it from me for now, check out Vida Preciosa's blog entry, and drool at the gorgeous little super blacks in their eggs. www.vpi.com/2009/07/12/07_12_09

This year, it doesn't look too hot for us in the hatching arena. With only 3 eggs on the ground, it was a very disappointing turn out.

But, along with the hatching season, we are already thinking about who we will be pairing up for the 2010 season. I personally believe we will be pairing up two exceptional Sumatran short-tailed pythons this year. I am giddy just thinking about it. You won't believe your eyes when you see this pair, we haven't posted any pictures of them yet, but if you're really determined, the clues are around the web.

If you are into the 'black bloods', keep checking back for more information as we get closer to the fall season. While I hope we can start pairing them up in November, there is always the chance they get put together later... or sooner.

That's all for now. If any of you we're concerned about my female rat that was terribly ill in the last post, she has fully recovered with help from being kept warm, given lots of liquids, baby food and rest. She is also looking very pregnant too! We'll see if she ends up birthing in the next two weeks.

:: Connie

We recently had a middle aged norway rat here get quite ill. I checked on her Thursday of last week, she was scheduled to have a litter. Instead, she was cool to the touch, wobbly, thin, it makes me feel so terrible to find them like this. It always seems to happen on weeks that I skip checking everyone individually. Her water nozzle worked, she had loads of food, I don't know how she got sick.

The worst part about finding her like this was because we recently had a mouse in the house I caught a few days ago. I don't know how he got in, but we did get him in the trap after seeing signs (mouse poo, chewed wood). For people that don't know, wild mice is probably the most dangerous thing to a rat colony.  Mice can carry the Sendai virus, which will pass through a rat colony efficiently and likely kill most of your rats. Yes, I was very worried. Luckily, mice tend to avoid rats because rats hunt and eat mice in the wild. Mice will go out of their way to avoid any areas that smell like rats.

I was ready to put her to sleep, but she is a wonderful female and mother. I hate to see them suffer, so this was a very tough call to make. It is always a tough call to make.

We removed her to a nursery tub away from the colony, she was given water in a bowl because she could hardly move. I fed her baby foods and put a heating pad on the side of her tub to keep it near 80 F. She was dehydrated, she likely didn't have strength to reach the water nozzle, but the next day, she was doing better. Her ears were flushed and she slept most of the time.

I've monitored her progress through the weekend and put tight quarantine between her and my colony, which will remain for a month if possible. She has recovered very well, not completely better, but better than she was. She is bored, so I do plan on giving her a young weaner as a companion. It will also serve as a test to see if she had a virus or not. We will know in a few days.

She does continue to have weakness in her back legs, she is only a little over a year old so this is not normal to see. I plan to have her out today to check her motor skills and play with her.

So, that' what's going on here lately. We still plan on going to Taylor this weekend the 11th. Feel free to email or call about the date.

:: Connie

Also, the vast majority of pet snakes kept across the country could never survive if released into their local environment, much less breed and successfully multiply. What has happened in Florida should be dealt with in Florida. Creating national legislation that treats all snakes and exotic pets as equally dangerous and equally capable of "invading" our environments is preposterous.

I'm participate in a website called Ball-Pythons.net. This is a forum setting that specializes in teaching people how to care for their reptile pets. We have over 12,000 registered members with hundreds and hundreds that participate every single day.

As people who enjoy and appreciate snakes (and other reptiles) as pets, we come in all shapes and sizes. Personally, I am a white collar business woman. I currently own 40+ snakes, and would own more if my lifestyle did not make it impractical to do so at this time.

Should those who appreciate and keep reptiles be shown such disrespect and disregard of our rights?

If politicians are to ban animals due to their danger potential, whether to humans or our environment, compare the domestic dog to reptiles. (The following statistics were compiled from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey.)

1 out of every 16 dogs bites a human. With 783,000+ bites requiring medical attention. 30+ people die from dog attacks every year. There are a reported 4.7 million dog bites, which is the average for the US every year. Those are startling figures and eye opening, yet no one is out to ban dogs.

In the US, there are a reported 11 million reptiles in homes. There was recently (7/09) a death of a child by a large constrictor due to reckless, illegal and irresponsible ownership resulting in the escape of the python. According to the Humane Society of the United States, since 1980, there have only been 12 deaths involving pythons, a couple of those deaths were related to zoos and had nothing to do with pet ownership.

12 deaths in almost 30 years certainly is tragic, but far better than 900 deaths of dog bite victims from the past 30 years.

12 deaths from the past 30 years is a testament to the seriousness and personal responsibility that python keepers exercise in the care of their animals.

So, why is their an effort attempting to ban the ownership of snakes and other reptiles when our dogs cause so much more injury and death to both humans and native fauna and flora?

I don't support HR 669 or any bill that attempts to remove reptiles from our homes. I hope you have the clarity and don't carry any prejudgments brought about by exaggerated media reports and irrational fears. This is America, don't ban reptiles or snakes based on emotion, personal disgust, media, or biased reports that have been repeatedly rebutted by respected scientists, herpetologists and herpteculturists that work with these animals everyday.

Respectfully yours,

(This post was put together by borrowing words from Adam Wysocki at www.nohr669.com and Judy Clothier from www.ball-pythons.net, and throwing in a couple of my own. Many thanks to them for inspiring it, feel free to share it.)

Link to Gallery

I recently bought a gorgeous little spider male, (het for albino!) from Jon Courtney at Cold Blooded Addiction. Good guy to work with, and he has even followed up with us after the fact to make sure the guy ate. Superb service!

A bad pic from when he arrived.

Who can say ALBINO SPIDERS IN 2010! *Squee!*

In other news, it’s super hot today, a high of 93 F here and a rumored 100 F later today, since we don’t have air conditioning in the house, our rats are set up with high velocity fans, and a misting of water at lunch time to make sure they stay cool. Rats are prone to heat stroke, so make sure they are in a nice breeze when it’s hot. Mine LOVE getting sprayed, they really enjoy the quick cool shower.

They actually came to us after visiting a pet store, he wanted to see a full grown red tailed boa. Our male is a little on the short side, topping out at almost exactly 6 feet, but he is the biggest snake we have, but just a doll.

The boyfriend was impressed with his size, since the pet store  only had a small baby on display, I think it impressed him in a good way. He really likes the personable nature of our boa, and come on, who doesn't think boas are great companion snakes? Slow moving, alert, inquisitive, with their puppy dog faces, they are one of my favorite snakes to just hang out with.

If you're into snakes and reptiles, you can tell which people are really comfortable around snakes as well. This guy had it.  He asked us all the right questions about cage sizing, heating, care, feeding, handling, he knew what to ask and I was impressed. He will make a great snake owner!

In other news, I have been processing ASF images, and will hopefully have a photo gallery up shortly! Check back for it, there will be a button under our "What's New" on the right hand side of the blog page.

Myths are abundant in the rat fancy, I saw these two today and had to give a loud laugh at them.

1. Domestic rats bred to "wild caught" rats are hybrids.

Absolutely false. Seems like someone needs to go read the definition of hybrid. Don't believe anyone who tells you this load. (makes me wonder about some people...)

2. Feeder/pet store rats not from registered and anal rat breeders won't make good pets, and are going to be flighty, temperamental and unworthy.

Pardon my pointing this out, but how would the registered rat breeders "know" that pet store/feeder rats are ill suited as companions? Oh, did they know someone who got one, or did they read online about someone getting a feeder/pet store rat, and it wasn't as smushy rolly polly as this other registered rat?

I STRONGLY believe that daily interaction and play with any norway rat, even weeks after they wean, will produce a wonderful pet rat, that is loving, smart and just as worthy of being a pet as any "registered" rat.  Anyone who says otherwise hasn't the experience to make such a flippant comment.

How can I say this? I raise a LOT of these so called "pet store" quality / feeder rats, and ANY of them is just as sweet and smushy rolly pumpkin pie faced as the next rat.

Now, let me add a note, it would be incorrect of me to say that all pet store rats will be of the same health and longevity as rats from a rat fancier. Is it possible to get a normal healthy pet store rat? Yes, but just let that be a warning to you. Health and temperament do not go hand in hand.

So, for you folks out there being influenced by this society of pretentious, flippant and yes, prejudiced rat fanciers, I challenge you to go to Petsmart, Petco and the like, treat those rats just like it we're gold, and you too can have a wonderful, smart, affectionate and caring little ratty pet.

My little rant here today was brought to you by the letter H. For haters who can't pull there head out of their arses.

Remember kids, het means "one copy of the gene". Het pastels? They exist. The term "het" doesn't denote that a gene is recessive, it simply means that there is one copy of the gene, therefore, heterozygous. The expression of the gene is another ball game.

Why should I buy a feeder breeder rat from an actual breeder and not a pet store?

Well, for one, it'll be cheaper! Keeping in mind that pet stores are selling pets, chances are you will find only one sex, or the other.

Secondly, rat breeders are more likely to know their stock, and if they are open, honest and concerned about what they are selling, they will be open to answering any questions you may have.

Third, some pet stores carry sickly, under nourished, infected, parasite infested rats. Is this stock you want to start out with?? Irregardless, I believe it's important to treat the first rats you get for internal and external parasites, but it's easier when you have healthy rats to begin with!

Okay, so you may only have pet stores around, but go online and find reptile forums. There is more than likely a few folks that breed their own rats within driving distance. Let's face it, what is it worth to have high quality, healthy rats to use as a foundation for your own breeding colony? PRICELESS, that's what.

I wish I had known about rat health and care before I went and bought my first rats for a colony. Guess what, I've had crap rats, I've had rats with health problems, females that grow to barely 250 grams even on a high quality diet.... So yes, I feel it's priceless to get healthy rats from a known line of healthy producers.

And remember, cute or unique patterned and colored rats don't make the best breeders!!!

  :: Connie

I felt like going out to our local federal wildlife refuge Sunday.

I prodded Chris to go with me, it was a beautiful day and PERFECT for going out with the camera and hiking! We headed out there around 6 pm. There we're a few cars, we started onto the hiking path, camera in hand, when we hear screaming up ahead.

Okay, it turns out the screaming was the joyful squeals of a 3 year old. We see up ahead a young woman carrying her child back to the car, followed by the young father with an excited dog on leash and one more kid. Well, thats good, we don't need screaming kids and an excited dog scaring everything off the path. (Not to mention, pets aren't allowed on the path :/)

So, Chris and I head out, almost immediately the family is back out on the path, on our heels and just trucking. Regrettebly, we wanted to take our time to not miss anything herp-wise, so we sped up. A hundred yards in, there was a fork on the road and we saw this as our chance to take a different path as them. We had the choice of "woodland path" or "marsh path". We chose at first, the marsh path.

People don't know this about me, but I HATE mosquitoes. I get the worst swelling from their bites, and I wonder if I might be allergic to them, since I have a brother who is. We we're very unprepared for the trip, we didn't have any bug spray, and we're immediately swarmed once we started on the path. I was immediately freaked and upset. I'm a panzy, I can't handle mosquitoes.

I couldn't take any more and said we needed to turn around and go with the "Woodland" walk, following the family of screeching children. Anything had to be better than the biting bugs.

They we're well ahead of us by the time we started on the path, but the damage was done. Not one thing to look at, except for the cloud of mosquito's hounding us the entire time. I don't know why we kept on walking, maybe I was hoping we would see something, anything, I didn't care what it was...

There we're times on the walk where the damn bugs we're so bad, I could feel us speed walking just to get back to the open sunny areas near the river. The path quickly took us away from the river back onto what I suspect was the damn "Marsh" walk.

When I'm around mosquito's, I begin to physically feel little phantom pricks all over my body like I am being bitten by them, but this happens when I see one mosquito or hundreds, I know it's just me freaking out, but it makes it very hard to enjoy anything. I was pretty miserable.

Somewhere, we catch up with the young family, they had stopped and we walked past them, thinking maybe this time we could see something uninterrupted. NOPE!!  Then, the young father and some other woman start almost immediately after us and very quickly. Blathering on loudly about dogs, and pretty much tailing us all the way back to the parking lot.

It sucked. My fault for not bringing bug spray, and going to a popular spot... but seriously? I couldn't believe how LOUD this small family was, and how terrible the bugs were.

Very disappointed. That's what I get for trying to get out of the house and enjoy the day.

Edit: By the way, I got three bites on my right arm and hand. This caused my hand to swell up, not like a balloon, but significant enough to make my fingers look like stuffed sausages. And I still have a huge swollen spot on the back of my hand by my pinky knuckle about the size of a half dollar. Eeee

I've been looking, reading and doing research into different hog feeds for feeding ASF's, and perhaps the domestic rats, and let me tell you, this is no easy task. I've contacted Nutrena, and I am looking at some of their diets.

The problem is, finding a feed that doesn't have the "roughage" products, which I am suspect isn't easily digested by rats, and a feed that is NON medicated. Beyond that, many hog feeds have a lot of animal products and high copper levels.

While I am used to seeing animal porcine fat products, I'm not sure all of the meals being used. And the most troubling thing, some hog feeds have a really low amount of fat. Sometimes as low as 2%. I really like at least 6% fat, but I prefer 9% if I can.

I've also been looking at what a few local mills mix for their own hog feed, and I actually really think a local mill has something I can be happy with, but again, such a LOW amount of fat, it will probably cost more to have them add it in, and the main ingredient is corn. We'll see how this goes, I'll keep people updated with what I find.

Edit:

Well, some good news and some bad news. Bad news first.

Bad news, Nutrena doesn't have exactly what I want. The feed that sounds appropriate is the 18% grower, but is medicated, and a special order of non-medicated is more than I need a the moment. Especially when I am not 100% sold on it. Also, no mention of copper, as I know this is a concern for many breeders, of both snakes and rodents, since many hog feeds are very high in copper content. Zinc is high, but has been shown to be easily tolerated and rid by rats. (sources on request)

Nutrena 18% Grower:
18% crude Protein
3%  fat minimum
0.85% Lysine
5.5% max fiber
0.8-1.3% Calcium
0.65% Phosphorus
0.15-.65% Salt
0.3 ppm Selenium
123 ppm Zinc

The 14% finisher is non medicated, and that's better, but such a low protein level, I can only use it for geriatric rats and adult males. This is  something I would consider only for companion pets and males. (No mention on copper amount either)

Nutrena 14% Finisher:
14% crude Protein
0.68 lysine,
3% min. fat,
5% max fiber,
0.6-.65 calcium,
0.55% phos,
0.25- 0.75 salt,
0.2 ppm selenium,
97 ppm zinc.

Now on to the good news.

Purina Show Chow- Show Pig 16 is in acceptable ranges AND, non medicated! This may be an alternative source of feed for the ASF's and domestic rats. I am accepting that the copper levels are not extremely high, as other diets through Show Chow specifically say if the feed is high in copper content, whereas this feed does not mention it.

Things are going so well, I've revisited different tubs for building an ASF rack with.

I've always been hesitant because the tiny little pups, even before their eyes are open, will run out of the nest and drink from the water bottle. In a rack, the water bottle nozzle wouldn't be low enough with the normal soft tubing and water nozzle set up.

So, if we do go with this, we'll either continue to use water bottles, or have to figure out if it's worth it putting in a water line for them.

Except, I return in the morning to see this. Not one drop gone! What in the world? I know this group goes through a lot of water overnight...

So I start messing with the sipper valve ball, and water is coming out, the rats hear the ball and run over and start drinking like none other, having little wrestling matches over the water.

Feeling sorry for the guys, I gave them a couple of bowls of water to help quench their thirst. I thought it was a cute pic.

Turns out, if this particular bottle isn't straight up and down, the air bubble doesn't float to the top and let more water out.

Oh well, swapped it out with another of the same brand and size, and it works fine!

If you are allergic to rats, take an anti-histamine an hour before you go to work with the rats and wear a mask.

If you worry about being scratched, garden or welding gloves will keep you from getting scratched, although this can make it more difficult to handle the individual rats.

While you are holding them, it is a good idea to check them for physical defects (scratches, bites, shorn areas) and the presence of parasites. It's easiest to do with very young rats. Begin handling them while they are still with the mother, and you will find it easier to work with them when they are adults.

"Rats are highly intelligent and sensitive. They need attention and will usually come to the front of their cages when a human being approaches. Rats will stay cooperative and easily manageable if they are treated kindly and if their cage area is kept clean and quiet." (http://www.labdiet.com/)