Bitter Sweet Introduction

[Neurus]

Hello all
I have just rescued the newest member of the axolotl family here called Haedes. Looking very much like a she leucistic axolotl. I am saying she for now although she is only about 5 - 6 months old but has a very smooth rear.
Anyways i was in a garden centre with an aquatics section, i will even name and shame them it is a franchise in the uk called DOBBIES. They had 2 leucistics and two wildtypes being kept in a gourami tank. Yes a tropical tank of 24 degrees. it gets better. They had been put in that tank because the day before they were in with the newts who had bitten the rear legs off the two wildtypes (which had been left as shredded mess) and had nearly taken the foot off one of the leucistics.
The Gouramis where costantly eating their gills, they had no hides and they were on pea sized gravel.
So what would you do? I spoke to the person who was looking after the aquatics who got quite a stern but fair lecture and the same was given to the store manager. Credit where it is due, they were both very friendly and polite, they were genuinely interested in my words of advice and immediately took the axolotls off sale and took them to isolation recovery tanks. However more worrying is that this is a large franchise that sell axolotls and they were acting within the guidelines set in place by the head office. This is common practice for axolotl care at DOBBIES.
I have already set an appointment for monday to speak to the head aquatics expert at the head office on monday to put a few things straight. I will keep people posted how that goes.
I couldnt leave Haedes there in that place though. She has a fungal infection on her gills, they all did, and is walking around on a stumpy foot. She is in a quarantine tank at the moment to recover with a huge hide and plenty of bloodworms. Oh and judging by the poo she did today and the stink that came from them it looks like they are being fed on pond pellets.
In time and hopefully if she survives ok i will be putting her into my 3 footer with Kiro and Neurus when she is a little bigger. Pictures will follow

 

[Kaysie]

Sounds like your average pet shop.

By 'rescuing' the axolotl, you've just created a demand for them, and opened a space, allowing the shop to get in more. The best thing to do is to attempt to contact who is in charge and inform them of proper care, and NOT BUY THE AXOLOTL! It just shows them that they can indeed sell the axolotls, and they'll just get more.

 

[nikky]

i agree with kaysie, pet shops are not concerned about the welfare of the animals more concerned with making money only the other day i went into a pet shop and overheard one off the assistants giving out very bad advice about a bearded dragon , i actually own one and have done for a couple of years now i was fuming and i approached the the people who wanted to get one and i readviced them on how to keep it .funny thing is the assitant totally agreed with me which ment everything he had said was a load of rubbish , is it a wonder why so many animals are poorly looked after due to bad advice .on saying that no disrespect to kaysie and i agree with what you have said ,but good on you for rescueing the axie i would of done the same thing but i would also of reported them for cruelty and neglect to animal welfare.hope your axie recovers its traumatic ordeal

 

[Kaysie]

It's sad that most pet shops would rather make money than take care of their animals. This is why it's much more recommended to get captive bred animals, or even (under certain circumstances) collect your own.

I myself am guilty of a 'pet shop rescue'. It's hard to resist. For the most part, I just stay out of shops where I fear animals will need 'rescuing'. It's just easier to avoid them all together than to go in and not rescue the poor babies.

 

[Neurus]

Well i have an advantage with this being a franchise. They act under guidlines put in place and one person alone will be responsible for the research into this. I got no phonecall today from said office so i am calling them tomorrow to ask exactly what their knowledge of Axolotl care is and if it is as what was being displayed in the store then i can report the franchise to the royal society for the protection of cruelty to animals. Plus i think that Trading standards could play a part in this and also they have guidlines holding a Pet sale license which they can be reported as both a store and a franchise on. So plenty of headaches and aces up my sleeve.
Credit where it is due, Naivity is common and axolotls could be at sight thought to be tropical and also a species of fish. At least they were in water! The pet store acted immediately upon my stern lecture and removed the axolotls. We even went back to check. They were very polite and told me with some concern where to take my disagreement. The axolotls from the store are off sale, In isolation recovery tanks, and in cold water. In all fairness to the store doing what their bosses told them to what else could they do? they would have been within their rights to tell me to leave the store.
It is the thought that there are lots of these stores which means lots of dying axies. If i sort it out at the top then hopefully it will save a few of them

 

[Kaysie]

Best of luck. Hopefully you can convince some people to change their ways. Always remember to steer 'em here!

 

[allan]

re pet shops

I saw and bought my first ever axies frob Dobbies in Ayr ,Scotland The only critisism I had was the gravel in the sale tanks was not suitable. This aside, I have since bought six or seven from the same store I have always found the staff to be knowledgable about the axies, helpful and polite.
I have ,on a few occasions requested specific morphs and sexes and they(the staff) have either ordered them from the suppliers (in Kent England) while I waited ,they would give me delivery dates to the store, or if anything was not available give me a phone call when they got what I wanted.
Thanks to Dobbies in Ayr for the 8 inch wildtype male I got last week .
P.S. I have no links to Dobbies or any member of their staff

 

[Neurus]

Little guys win !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well............
Credit to Dobbies. After speaking to the head office the incident was investigated. As a franchise they use one supplier however said supplier does not only use Dobbies. The axolotls were sent in error and Dobbies are not meant to have them in stock.
The 3 axolotls that were taken into isolation were offered to me to put into my care free of charge if i so wished. So axolotl count is now at 11. Three of those 11 however are larvae just getting their back legs which are reserved for a pet shop i know that are working with me to create a correct environment and put the right information together when they sell them. Hopefully will lead to a steady output of axolotls finding a good home.
So my efforts for the next couple of weeks will be on the 2 wildtypes and the two leucistics that have found their way into the family.
Peace out

 

[nikky]

good on you

if only more people took the time to complain about the way animals are kept in pet shops then maybe the animals / aquatics will have a much better quality of life . but unfortunatly to many people are happy to sit back and watch these poor defenceless creatures suffer and die through sheer ignorance and neglect . luckly not all pet shops are bad i find that the smaller the pet shop is the better treated the animals

 

[IanF]

Allan, as I live near Ayr and bought 1 of my Axolotls from there, I've got to say they are quite knowledgable and helpful, however alot of pet shops are not.

I know I'm just repeating what most have said. None the less I've found that everywere you go you'll see cruelty to animals, from cats to amphibians, and its become an everyday thing. I geuss its just in human nature to hate and be cruel. We've weeved ourselfs into a corner, not being able to do right with out doing wrong. As kaysie said, if we help the animal, demand goes up, and the company makes money off they're cruelty, and if we don't help them, they are mistreated and die. Talk about an 'Inconvenient Truth'. This 'truth' genuinly frustrates me.

 

[Neurus]

This must be a rare case whereby my rescue has not created a demand but actually highlighted a common error within this franchise that they are investigating into to prevent this mistreatment from happening again.
Update on the rescuees.
Haides :- Leucistic. One stumpy leg from being bitten off and a small red mark near the mouth. This is fading though.
Phoenix :- Leicustic. red body parts from bites and missing a lot of gill filaments.
Deo :- Wildtype. Rear legs missing but rounded over and gill filaments missing. possible mild fungal infection on the gills.
Aquila :- rear leg missing bone protruding. heavy loss of gill filaments.

I am thinking that with these i should be able to get them all back to health. They are all hungry as hell. easily 1 cube of frozen bloodworm has gone each and they are now picking out earthworms from under the riverstones.

One quick question. Do stumpy or bitten off limbs ever grow back to full length or do the just grow a new foot on the stump?

 

[pete]

Ideally the full limb should regrow. This isn't always perfect and it depends somewhat on the cut and the age of the animal. You may get extra limbs or weird outgrowths.

 

[sherrisixxx]

Neurus, you have done a good job there, and most likely saved the lives of these axies. You deserve a medal. Wish more people were like you. You really care about axies. Good luck with them!

 

[Neurus]

Aww thankyou for the kind words.

 

[Nina]

Hi Neurus,

Good on you for doing this. A lot of people would just see that something was wrong but not do anything about it. i once told a shop in a market that they werent looking after their axies wrong. they had them in a heated tank (in australia!) and had small gravel, fish in there, and had 5 in a small fish tank, and they all had noticeable signs of stress and fungus, but the owner didnt want a bar of it, told me i didnt know what i was talking about. if they had listened to me i would have bought the weakest one and tried to revive it but i didnt on principle that they werent willing to listen and save the others and i dont have room for 6 in my tank.

and for taking them all on as well, that shows you have real passion for the creatures.

When i bought my axie he was missing one hind leg, there was just a little stump, they had too many in the tank and had been attacking each other. they didnt miss treat them other than not seperating them all once they had grown, they had plently of hiding spots to try to accomodate this and they knew a lot about them and were very informative. it probably took a couple of months but it grew back perfectly, it is slightly shorter (but only by mms), and it has never effected him at all. and he has full use of it.

Good luck with them!