Tuning Fork Reptile Company
A wise old man once told me that we travel through life as tuning forks. We emit a specific tone that sets us apart. He said that if you take a pair of tuning forks and ring one, the other one will start ringing too. It just can't help it! He told me when things in life just seem to click, when things seem to be going as they should, it's because the things and people around you are similar tuning forks. That is how we feel about our connection to our animals and to our customers. Connecting with similar minded people with the passion that matches our own is what we are all about. Let us show you the difference!
Logo by Ken Macek of Ken's Creative Tatoos. Thanks Ken
In the never ending search for information and practices which improve the way we care for our animals we decided to experiment with African soft fur rats (ASF'S) as a prey item for our ball pythons. We were so impressed with the results that we set up a whole room dedicated to breeding these interesting (an apparently delicious) rodents. We have decided to include some information and some of our opinions on these animals. Sharing information, tips, and successful practices is what makes our hobby and industry grow.

WARNING!! Feeding ASF's to your ball pythons has the potential of making them horribly addicted. Many of our animals now refuse any other prey item. They are also undeniably cute and you may run the risk of actually keeping some as pets!

The African soft fur rat Praomys natalensis are from the Natal province in South Africa. In appearance they are more like giant mice than the Norway rats most of us are used to. They are a major pest species there as they are a real danger to crops and agriculture. They come in a variety of color morphs and are very inquisitive. They generally live 2-3 years in captivity, thrive on commercial rodent diets, and are simple to care for. They also do not have the same pungent odor as the common feeder rodents!

   Breeding is quite simple, we house groups of 1 male and up to 4 females together in lab cages. We feed a mix of lab block, sunflower seed, and high grade dog food. They produce 9-12 pinkies per litter (although we have had numbers into the teens). They become sexually mature around 4 months of age and after their first litter, can become pregnant with in hours of giving birth. Usually a litter is fully weaned at 4 weeks which is just after the second litter is born! Multiply this type of production by 4 females and it is easy to breed Biblical plague quantities in no time flat. Litter sizes decrease with age so holding back babies to form new groups is a continuous process. ASF's have a reputation for being aggressive towards their keepers but we have not found this to be true with ours. They are handled regularly during cleaning and have been very tolerant of us even with new born litters.

   As far as feeding goes, we have never seen a reaction to a prey item (by ball pythons at least) this strong. Even problem feeders rarely refuse a ASF. The only draw back, as stated above, is that once we get a snake eating them, they want nothing else. On our opinion, there is also a nutritional benefit as well. The snakes we feed ASF's to have put on more weight per meal than snakes fed mice or Norway rats. We have found this to be true even if the Norway rat is much larger than the ASF. This means that we are able to feed our animals smaller meals with the same frequency and maintain healthy weights and conditions. We highly recommend ASF's as a prey choice in for ball pythons. As our colony grows we will be offering them for sale. Please contact us for pricing and availability.