African Soft Furred Rats (ASF’s)
Odd eyed white
The African Soft Furred Rat is a popular choice for a picky Ball Python. I believe that every Ball Python breeder can benefit from having at least one colony of the little devils. They breed fast and are great for getting a stubborn feeder eating again. The African Soft furred rats body does not produce a smell, like mice. I have read about them being odorless. That’s entirely false. They produce very strong smelling urine. I notice a urine smell from my colony a few days before my normal rats after cleaning. The good thing about the Asf’s is that they usually pick one corner to urinate in. That makes them very easy to spot clean.
African Soft Furred Rats are also known for their attitude. They are very territorial and are not afraid to give a good nip. I have tried to breed the attitude out of my colony. I have had a lot of success but still handle them with caution. It is not uncommon for Asf’s to charge and attack an unwanted hand or finger in their territory. All of my brave aggressors end up being featured on the snack menu for my Bp's. My colony has mellowed out over the past few years. I believe that a lot of the aggression is hereditary and can be bred out.
I started my first African Soft Fur colony a few months after acquiring my first few Ball Pythons. I was instantly addicted to Ball Pythons. I wanted a Soft furred colony established, just in case I ever had a picky eater. I purchased a 1.5 group from a reptile show. I did not know anything about them. I did a lot of research on the internet. I found a lot of good and false information. To make a long story short, I did not get a picky Ball Python right away. I had great luck with my Soft Furs. They started producing like crazy. I was scared to death to feed one to my snakes. I was practically giving the little boogers away because I thought that if I gave a Soft fur to one of my snakes that they would be hooked for life.
My collection of Ball Pythons quickly out grew my normal rat colony. I had supplied a local Rattery with Soft Furs for a year or so. That relationship went bad when I fronted a group of animals for a reptile show and never got paid. Feeding day came and I was short on normal rats. I had plenty of Soft furs. I fed Soft Furs to all of my snakes. I was totally shock the next week when my snakes took normal rats. I think that was a turning point for me. There is a lot of good information on the internet, but …….
I finally got my picky eater and my Soft Fur colony paid off! I bought an underweight Enchi male. The seller told me that he could not get him to eat. I got a great deal on him! Emit my Enchi took an African Soft Fur the first time that I offered him one! I mainly feed him African Soft furs, but he will take a rat every once in a while if I’m low on Asf’s.
I currently have a larger collection of Ball Pythons. I feed all of my snakes mice, asf’s, and rats. I have never had a problem switching from one to another. I have bought a few mousers that will take rats, but take mice and asf’s more consistently. I have one extremely picky eater that will only take 1 to 2 normal rats a month left in overnight, and she will not touch a Soft Fur. I truly believe that each snake is an individual and a picky eater is going to be a picky eater.
When I first started out and was growing up my Ball Python girls, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I started mingling in selectively breeding African Soft Furs. I started with a 1.5 group of Pied ball ASF’s. My first litter had 2 pieds with a little more white on them then their parents. I held back the different looking ones from all of my litters for future breeders. I quickly realized that the higher white animals create even higher white offspring when bred together. It took me about a year to create a pure white soft fur with black eyes. My colony is now, one of the most extreme high white colonies in the United States.
Asf Photo Gallery
Close up of the odd Eyed White
Black Eyed White
Platinum
High White Odd Eye
Ruby Eyed Whites
Pink Eyed White
The next groups of photos are Soft Furs that I call odd ears. The first one that I ever produced had one white and one dark ear. I have been working with this mutation for about a year. I'm not sure where I'm going with it, but it seems to be genetic. I have produced a lot of babies with oddly marked ears.
High White Odd Ear
High White Odd Ear
Odd Ear White
A group of Odd Ears
