Our ASF Personalities:
All of our soft furs at TGR are pretty laid back and love cuddling together in big piles. They will accept pets and often will come over to sniff you but usually will not seek out attention. They love to explore new toys in their cage but eventually will all pile into one hide/corner to sleep.
Also known as soft fur rats, these guys are really neither rat nor mouse. They do well housed with mice (but never rats!) and at TGR we simply call them soft furs to try and avoid confusion.
We currently only have cinnamon saddleback ASF.

Quick and Dirty Facts:
- Gestation is about three weeks
- Babies are born with fur, unlike mice and rats
- Large litters: anywhere from 4-20 pups
- Lifespan: 2-3 years
- Avid chewers
- Love to pee in their food bowl
The easiest cage you can get for a soft fur is a glass tank. Cleaned properly (ie: before you notice a smell) tanks are perfectly acceptable methods of housing. A 10 gallon tank with at least one hide, one toy, and preferably a wheel can house 2-3 mice. We recommend twenty gallon long tanks as a minimum as it allows for much more enrichment and space to roam. The more space the merrier, but make sure to clutter up the tank with lots of toys and hides. It seems counter-intuitive, but if an ASF feels safe with things to hide in you will actually see them more!
We do not recommend critter-trail cages or similar. They are simply too small for ASF (and pretty much any pet).
Really easy toys come from trash: toilet paper rolls (cut open to avoid ASF getting stuck), egg cartons, small boxes (rip off bottom to avoid pee-soaking), or ripped up paper for extra nesting material. There are so many YouTube videos on how to repurpose stuff for toys so I won’t go into too much detail here. Just make sure to change out toys/hides before it starts stinking as paper and boxes soak up pee and that built up ammonia can lead to sick soft furs.
One of the easiest forms of enrichment is treat balls (wrapping up in paper or hiding in paper rolls) or simply scatter-feeding. There is nothing wrong with having your pets work for their food. This works their brains and keeps them active physically as well.
Most ASF will enjoy getting out of their cage for a time as well, so feel free to pick them up and set them in your lap or in a designated play space they can’t escape from (tub, table, large box/bin). Always make sure to supervise during free-roam time and remember that ASF prefer quiet areas, and can get spooked easily. Do not take your ASF out in public, as it is simply too easy to lose them and if taken to a pet store they could easily pick up diseases from animals there.
Adopting
Only knowledgeable homes are able to take home new pets from me. I will not adopt to you if you have obviously not done research on your new pet, so please use this page to help you do just that! You must fill out the following adoption questionnaire and provide proof of proper housing before you can adopt.
Thank you for choosing TGR!