Any pre-breeding tips?

[philbaker76]

Hi guys,

I'm considering having ago at breeding my Axolotls (usually, I just find eggs in the tank a couple of times a year). This will be the first time I've planned it.

Last year a friend gave me some excess eggs to hatch (only one survived due to my inexperience) - this year, I successfully hatched six from a batch of about 20 (again, lost a few due to inexperience).

Now the little ones have grown up and left home; and I'm two years wiser - I'm eager to prepare for the next lot.

Is there anything I can do? i.e. feed them certain foods to help ensure a healthy batch of eggs?
Any tips appreciated. :blob:

Cheers, Phil

 

[damien]

First of all: Daily water changes (I keep them in a small tank, about 10cm*10cm so it's easy). You'll need 2 BBS hatcheries so you always have newly hatched brine shrimp to feed. (don't forget to put the bbs the tank after you rinsed them with fresh water.) I pour them in a piece of cloth so the water dan pass, but the bbs don't. I still need to find a way to separate the eggs from the bbs when harvesting.. but I don't see the eggs post a problem. If the axies eat them, they'll just poop em out.
You should keep this up until they've developped at least the front legs. I'm not far enough to know what comes afterward.. since my first axies currently are busy developping front legs.

It's not inexperience that kills the axies, it's nature's way. I doubt anyone can raise all the axies that hatch.

ps. instead of bbs you can also feed them baby daphnia. All about preference I think.

 

[philbaker76]

Thanks Damien, is there anything you do to prepare your adult Axolotls before they breed? Are there any recommended foods, or anything to avoid???

...I always try and vary their diet, but is there a certain type of food they'd eat pre-spawning in the wild? ...any particular vitamin or mineral?

 

[Jake]

Nightcrawlers!

Feed up the male and female on nightcrawlers. You'll notice the female will take on a pear shape and then they're ready. If you keep them separately for a few weeks prior to the spawning, then you should just be able to introduce them in a larger tank and if they're healthy they'll usually spawn in a couple of days.

 

[philbaker76]

Perfect!!! Thanks Jake!

 

[Jake]

You can also use salmon or trout chow with similar results, but I find they eat more and gain more weight when given a healthy supply of worms.

Good luck!

 

[ellenc]

Axo breeding

To bring our axolotls into breeding condition we keep them with long dark period (12 hours) and just before we want them to breed we chill them a bit. We put them in a cooler at 12 degrees Centigrade for 2-3 days or add blocks of ice to the aquarium. Chilling too long seems to adversely affect egg quality. The rationale is that in their native lake, Xochimilco they breed in late winter when days are still short and cold meltwater comes down from the mountains into the shallow lake.

 

[philbaker76]

Great tips! Thanks guys - I'll continue to feed them up; I'm hoping for some spawn mid-September (we're expecting a warm winter, so should be plenty of food for the hatchlings).

Again - thanks for the advice!

 

[Bellabelloo]

My female produced eggs while I was away on our holidays , during a heat wave ( yep, there was one!). I had been feeding them slightly more the previous week , leaving them with a batck of live river shrimp. I supect having the curtains shut was enough of a trigger ( not totally dark as I left a small window uncovered). I suspect they had been layed only a day or so prior to our return and Jeffrey was tucking into a snack when I first noticed them!!

 

[Jake]

Yep, leaving them alone and in a quiet, dark place can be enough too.

Don't try to "plan" so much on the spawnings though because they'll normally spawn when you least suspect it. It's best to just prepare for the unexpected and be ready for them any day. I've gotten spawns every month out of the year, but I usually get more toward the end of December-April.

-Jake

 

[philbaker76]

Yeah - I might leave them to it - there is a guy on the For Sale section who has some Ablbino/Gold eggs; if I can get some of these I'll leave my adults alone to spawn when they feel like it

I'll be in a good position over the next month to bring up some hatchlings (still plenty of food around; and time to keep a close eye on them).