Some questions about ASFs

by moonstarfc Wed 13 Mar 2019, 4:11 pm

Hello everybody,

Ever since I got my pet mice (3 does), I've also been considering getting African Soft Fur rats as pets (also called natal multimammate mice). I finally located a breeder less than an hour from me who breeds a "pet line" of ASFs. I just had a couple questions about their care - I'm not really sure where to ask these questions, exactly, but I thought I'd try here since I figure some people probably have ASFs housed with their mice. But to be clear, I plan on getting a group of ASFs, not having them in with my mice.

1. Would a tank with a steel mesh screen top + multiple cage clips be secure enough? I have read that they are strong chewers and even more so than mice. I would want to make my enclosure absolutely escape proof as I have no way of escape-proofing an entire room. I live in an old row house and every room has numerous gaps in the trim - and who knows what would happen to them if they made it into the next house.

2. What kind of group should I get? Can male ASFs be housed together? Or should I just stick with a group of 3-4 females? (As stated before, it would be all ASFs being housed together, I don't plan on housing them with my mice)

3. For my mice, I have a large plastic bin that I put them in for out of cage time, to play. Do people do the same with their ASFs? Further, would ASFs and mice appreciate playing together in the same bin, or would it be weird to put them together just for playtime?