I just tried it with this:
class Thing < ActiveRecord::Base
after_save :test_me
def test_me
puts self.id
end
end
and in the console:
$ rails c
Loading development environment (Rails 3.0.4)
>> x=Thing.new
=> #<Thing id: nil, name: nil, created_at: nil, updated_at: nil>
>> x.save
2
=> true
>> y=Thing.create
3
=> #<Thing id: 3, name: nil, created_at: "2011-04-27 15:57:03", updated_at: "2011-04-27 15:57:03">
What else is going on in your model?