Thanks. They’re on a daily helping of Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet, as I’ve been unable to source any 6F locally and it seems that when I try get any of the local distributors I was referred to by Mazuri to discuss getting me some, they start hearing me speak another strange, incomprehensible language when the conversation turns to “Can you order me this?”… Other than that, I’m feeding everyone a mixture of fruits and vegetables every other day, and giving the adults protein like chicken and eggs at the same time. I’ve been doing scrambled eggs, and maybe it won’t make a difference but they might distribute sliced hardboiled eggs better, it’s probably the only change I can think to make right now though that may help any.
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Mine seem to enjoy the boiled eggs with shell. At first they were freaked out when I just put a solid egg in their bin. I figured I needed to crack it pretty good so they can smell the white and yolk.
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So, thoughts on this? I have a couple of juvenile females I’m thinking about taking back out of The Mile and putting back in the colony, my favorites of the litter I left for last, I guess. It’s been a few weeks since they were moved over, after they were weaned. What are the chances they’re allowed to integrate, grow and breed with the colony, going to a 1.5, without any issues?
And the boiled egg in shell recommendation was excellent, thank you.
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You could always try introducing them back and watch them closely to see if any fighting happens.
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I’d recommend starting them as a new colony if you can.
I took babies (grown on babies, I just like to call them that) out of the colony. I kept all of them together, I didn’t add anymore and they still attacked each other 
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I personally have not introduce new asfs into an established colony. But I would think as long as there are no babies or young in the current colony, it might be ok. Like @ashleyraeanne stated, keep a close eye for fighting. Best method is to start a new colony as to avoid any issues if you have the space.
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I also ended up finding a somewhat local source for Mazuri 6F, and it seems to have made a huge difference, I have zero loss from recent litters, and they have it scattered all over to eat for later still, they don’t just bury it and wait for more food like they were doing with the Mazuri Rat & Mouse formula. And I’ve been going down the list of foods, seeing what I can feed them and use for other things like isopods at the same time, and man, they LOVE apples. Just love em. I slice up and chunk up apples (I’ve been using Gala apples, also, they’re a good local option, inexpensive and delicious) and that’s the first thing they go for now.
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Mine love apples as well! Also sweet potatos and popcorn
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Ours love apples also. They really like the occasional orange & lettuce.
I haven’t tried popcorn but they didn’t seem to like potatoes.
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If I recall normal potatoes are toxic to rodents, not sure about sweet potatoes. I know when I kept pet rats feeding them normal potatoes risked killing them due to the way their bodies process cyanide or something like that.
Edit: Just read up on it again, the skin/eyes of the potatoes are toxic but the meat of the potato is fine.
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I’m trying to find someone in the coastal Carolina (near Myrtle Beach) that has asf rats. I want to start a small colony.
Check out your state and local laws, some places down in the South, and not just there, have restrictions based on the Lacey Act’s injurious wildlife list, and they’re on it, unfortunately. Hope you find some if there’s no hang ups though, this is by far my favorite feeder/rodent to keep and breed.
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Best bet is looking for local Facebook groups and/or Craigslist. That is what worked for me where I lived. Was able to get with a local BP breeder, and they sold me some of their asfs to start a colony.
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I’ve been through the states laws regarding exotic pets and imported wildlife. I couldn’t find any mention of asf rats.
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Natal multimammate is the proper name, they also refer to them as a multimammate mouse in some forms of legislation. If you don’t see anything like that or anything mentioning restrictions based on the Lacey Act, which is where that ultimately comes from, you should be alright.
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Why is nothing illegal in FL, that will be invasive later 
I used to be super frustrated that I couldn’t get them one state up, Georgia. Our winters will kill off most ever few years like they do burms a iggys up north.
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Started breeding almost 2 months ago. Got a litter of 12 and had 3 runt deaths. Not bad for my first time. They definitely get really fat.
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I have and I’ve only ever had one or two fights breakout. What I did was separate the “alpha” female or the most aggressive one, and after removing her the colony basically clicked. No more fights broke out. I think it really depends on where you got your ASFs from and who you got them from.
I picked up 3 fully brown males at a show because I wanted to hit a fully colored ASF, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. Those rats were jumpy, flighty, bitey, etc. It was freaking ridiculous and a real eye opener about the differences of a high quality ASF breeder vs a commercial breeder.
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That is true. I have fully brown asfs that I selective bred, and they seem to be more social then the others. But think this is something that just takes a lot of time and interaction. Most the time, when I walk up to the tubs, they hear me, and most will go up to the front and know I will talk or bring delicious treats for them. Some will want nothing to do with me and hide in the back. I do not breed for pet quality, but I have gotten to the point where they will not bite me if I move slow. I can run my hand in their tub confidently and push the mothers off the pinkies so I can count them out, or snag two for my baby kings to eat. I use to be scared to grab them to move them from one tub to a clean tub, but that has gone away now as they have gotten use to me, and me of them. I use to use tongs, and they would bite the tongs, now I carefully grab them by the base of the tail, and some will kick, but none so far have turned and bite. Of course…what I currently have is from ‘pet quality’ line, I had some ‘feeder’ line from a local ball python breeder and they were bitey, and got fed off…
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