ASF Experiences!

by River Tue 26 Jan 2021, 8:29 pm

I was hoping to end up with a neutered mouse, but unfortunately the only clinic I could find who was willing to do it called him a rat (?) and said it'd be $300 so I decided not to go through with that. Laughing

(Edit: messaged another one an hours drive away, but I'm not sure how that'll go so...we'll see!)

If anyone has experience with soft furs, do let me know! I'd plan to get a group, either three or four. Smile

by Dee67 Thu 28 Jan 2021, 1:09 am

I'm also very interested in ASF's and people's experience with them. I like my male mouse and will probably only have males so I'm considering an ASF for their company. They don't seem to be readily available here in Canada though, I might have to make a trip to the States.
PS a vet who thinks a mouse is a rat is a problem Worry

by River Thu 28 Jan 2021, 5:49 pm

Dee67 wrote:I'm also very interested in ASF's and people's experience with them. I like my male mouse and will probably only have males so I'm considering an ASF for their company. They don't seem to be readily available here in Canada though, I might have to make a trip to the States.
PS a vet who thinks a mouse is a rat is a problem

Absolutely adore male mice. So sweet! I've been told that ASF's should be introduced when they're quite young (the fancy can be any age, though), so that's worth noting!

Thankfully there's a ton of breeders where I'm at. I wonder if there's a transport service that connects to Canada, or at least nearby states. Are they legal in your province?

+ Absolutely!! I'll give them the benefit of doubt and say maybe it was receptionist error or just feeling overwhelmed because of COVID but I won't take the chance. I said he was a mouse too many times! Laughing

by Dee67 Fri 29 Jan 2021, 11:05 pm

They are legal, however the nearest ones are in ontario, 1,500 miles away Shocked

and they do not live ship (which would be too stressful I'm sure anyway). But, I have relatives in Ottawa, so next time I make the trip driving I might come back with one. Very Happy

by elmtree Sat 30 Jan 2021, 9:58 pm

Ooh I'm excited to see this post... I absolutely love soft furs!
The biggest thing I'd mention is that lines vary a lot... so you may need to play things by ear a little bit. I'm by no means an expert but I've had about 20 multis from several different lines and they've all been really different. Weirdly enough, the only issue I haven't run into is aggression (despite how that's all anyone talks about Laughing

) : all of mine have been fairly OK temperament wise. Some have been a lot less confident than others but I wouldn't call any of them outright aggressive and I've not been bitten yet. Saying that, I did adopt one who had cage aggression from a rescue, but he was fine when he got moved to a bigger cage (he was kept in a 10 gallon at the centre and when I took him home, he lived in a single CN with his brother).

My boys were a bit hit and miss with needing neutering to live happily with each other, so if you don't know a vet that you think would be good with the procedure, it's potentially something to think about?

by River Sun 31 Jan 2021, 2:08 am

Thank you!! I really appreciate this.
Have you ever cohabbed them with fancies? Confused

by elmtree Sun 31 Jan 2021, 3:49 am

I haven't, no... I was at one point potentially going to adopt a male mouse with a couple of multi boys that had ended up in the same rescue centre at the same time but the fancy mouse kept on attacking them so they were separated and I only took the multis. This was quite a while ago and I think most people advise against keeping male mice with male multis now. So sadly it's not something I have any experience with!

by River Sun 31 Jan 2021, 1:19 pm

Thank you! It's great to hear about them as pets. Is there anything about them that you would say is notably different than the fancies, care wise? I've read they need a little extra protein / tend to like bigger groups. Confused

by River Wed 03 Feb 2021, 2:24 am

Update on this, I've reached out to one final vet and they seem confident and reasonably priced. There's a pre-op appointment and I have a few questions but fingers crossed it ends up doable. I do love ASF's, but obviously, some companions of his own kind is preferable so I'll check that box first.

Ah! And he's five or six months old already. Shocked

by River Wed 03 Feb 2021, 2:48 pm

No luck! Got this email this morning:

ASF Experiences! V7NC2O5

Blue pearl doesn't do preventative care, but I guess I'll try. I'm quickly running out of vets to contact. Laughing

EDIT: They do indeed do mouse neuters...for 1,660 dollars. Undecided

I've done a lot of talking with people from other countries and I know the procedure is nowhere near difficult enough to justify that. Lord. Who knew this would be a bad state for exotic pet neuters?

by Dee67 Mon 08 Feb 2021, 2:25 am

@River There is something wrong with their heads, you could bio-engineer sexless mice for that amount!! Bonk

I hope you can find someone sane soon.

by elmtree Thu 11 Feb 2021, 4:25 am

Hiya! Sorry for the really delayed reply... I wrote out a response and didn't post it. Embarassed

I think the protein thing is a bit iffy... to be honest, I just give mine a good quality rat mix and they do well on it. Their diet in the wild is mostly grains and I think a lot of breeders only give absurdly high protein (>30%) because they're such slow growers and they say they see more litters that way. They're naturally seasonal breeders so I'm not sure if the protein content helps in overriding their body clock and that's why they produce more litters with more protein? Total speculation there, though.
It's difficult to find good information on their diet, you can find people arguing all sorts but finding evidence to back it up is really limited. If you've got a great quality food for your own boy and end up cohabbing, I wouldn't worry too much about the multis.

Also.... what on earth is that neuter price??? Shocked

by Peachy Fri 12 Feb 2021, 1:19 am

$1660 is NUTS! But I paid BluePearl over $350 to have an old kitty cat euthanized late one night (and $900 for x-rays on a leg that was only strained, not broken, lol) so I guess I’m not surprised. What a shame that no other vet was comfortable doing it. Sad

Have you seen any posts from people who do their own surgeries at home? Yikes!

On the bright side, I’m sure there are plenty of people interested in your adventures with ASFs!!!

by EverythingAnimal Fri 12 Feb 2021, 7:28 pm

I guess better they refuse if they're uncomfortable than risk a delicate surgery on a small animal they're not experienced with!

I'd be more scared if they weren't confident but still wanted the money.

by River Sat 13 Feb 2021, 12:56 am

Peachy wrote:On the bright side, I’m sure there are plenty of people interested in your adventures with ASFs!!!

Yes, it is exciting!! That's looking like my last option. I'm in contact with a breeder at the moment about getting a trio of young girls...or a quartet? Confused

I've never seen anyone attempt at-home neuters...yikes! I could hardly trim my girls nails when I had to! How disturbing.

I don't think we'd have any luck with this here, but I thought this was interesting: in Germany it's rather common to house an unneutered buck with bucks who have been neutered for a while. Odd! Apparently it has mixed results, but better chances than two intact lads, as I guess there's less competition between them...just thought that was cool! Never heard anything like that over here. Laughing

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