Question: Fair Pricing for Axolotls

[The Banana]

Especially considering I've been asking for an axie since I was five

I've always wanted an axolotl. We have a 4ft tropical community tank in the lounge room (had it before I was even born). Whenever I saw an axie in the LFS, I would beg to get one, because they were just SO COOL!!!
We once had a blue yabbie in the tank, and it tore everything up & ate all the fish - so mum & dad said nothing else for now on but fish (anyway, we have gravel, fish to nip.. not to mention a heater so it wouldn't have worked).

Then I got into Bettas (Siamese Fighting Fish) and bred those... and realized I could get axies.. so YAY!
Sorry, reading back I pretty much gave you my life story.

Hope you find a GFP axie/eggs. Let me know if you find somewhere - I might get one too.

 

[lea]

I would love a GFP as well. If you find any can you let me know as well pleeeease
Lea

 

[Minniechild]

Lol, Sarah! At least you had the tank! For the first week I had my three they were in a 5L beaker from Smiggle XD! Then got their 20L off ebay (Which has been a godsend over the past few weeks with the hot temps), and then their 4 ft tank was my tax return...
And we also had yabbies, two tiny ones who'd nip the fish's tails (Both of whom escaped, and ran into my room...) then a great big honking one who ate one of my fish. He was immediately relegated into a glass experiment jar where he happily lived a year and a half more...

And I shall make sure to broadcast if I end up finding them (I may ask my shop tonight when I got to pick up my java moss (BOOGIES!!!), in which case I'd hope that it'd be a female (As it looks as if George and Phree (What 3's name has mysteriously morphed into... He's the one in my profile pic!) are showing signs that they're a pair of blokes...don't know what Freddie is yet...)

 

[mekkha]

All my axies are from petstores. Is there a reason one of the breeders is $100? Like rare genes, etc. ???

Sorry I wasn't knocking pet stores, just the one where I live It really is... something else shall we say. Most people don't even like going in there, and feel bad just buying things like toys and treats they hate supporting it that bad.

I have no idea why it was 100. No special genes, in fact it was the first ever batch. They also were willing to sell me an adult for the same price.

 

[mareofnight]

The pet store that sells that near me - when they can get them from breeders that is - sells wild types for $20 and albinos for $25.

 

[virginia]

I think it also depends on how rare axolotls are in your area and then the demand for them. High demand for axos in Toronto = consumers 'willing' to pay higher prices. I paid $40 for my leucistic axo and $30 for my wild type. I bought them on boxing day so thats already the reduced price.

I think some consumers (like myself) would be more weary about purchasing a live animal online. As great as the supplier may be, I think I would be stressing out ....and so will the animal during shipment and in anticipation for arrival!!!! I guess it depends on how much cheaper online orders are compared to local prices. If its a $10 difference. I would just buy it locally where I get to see what I'm going to get.

 

[Cas]

My understanding was you couldn't get genetically modified animals in australia where they have to be imported. And to my knowledge GFP axies are American made, hence we can't get them in Australia unless someone scammed it from a black market? Otherwise I'd be first in line lol, actually I've been tempted to make my own at work...

I brought mine for $29, she was 22cm long. Other shops around had them for $35/40 and they were a lot smaller.

MinnieChild, theres a fish/aquaculture market in North Rocks? How do I not know this??! lol

 

[ikeyballz]

Honolulu, Hawaii here..

I bought two of mine for $35 each. I thought THAT was pricey, cant believe the 70+ some are spending! I think they probably bought them from the breeders for 10-15$. I would pay a little extra if I got the coloring I wanted, but when I got there, only two colors were available - a golden albino and the wildtype. I picked up the strongest looking wildtype and the albino. I fully expected the golden to die, because of the terrible care the petstore was giving. So far both are happy and active :knocks on wood:


For a totally healthy adult, I'd expect to pay a little less than for a juvie. I bought my axies to watch them grow, not to make babies or stare at them...

I'd pay the $35 or so, to make sure I got a healthy axolotl.

I want the DIY. I don't think I'd be as attached to my axo's if I got them while they were fully grown. I want to train them, learn from them, and just watch em grow.

I dont like buying ITEMS online, much less animals. If that was the only way to get them, I guess I'd purchase them online..

 

[Minniechild]

@Cas, the North Rocks markets at the RIDBC, every Sunday Craig comes up from Jervis Bay every few weeks, and he has a MASSIVE aquaponics operation down there (And then he brings the best stuff up to us market-goers

And yeah, no importing of any axies unless they're heading to a research facility set up by QIAS, and once the research is done, them, their babies and any descendents have to be killed :O Not cool.
Btw, if you want to make a few, I'm sure Craig would sell you some eggies (heck, if mine breed I'd happily offerer up a dozen eggs (Though I would like to get one or two glowy ones back ))

 

[Ohana]

I purchased my juvie leucy for 20 and my juvie gold albino for 25 from a wonderful breeder. Id have a hard time paying over 30 for one unless a piebald or chimera. Id pay good money for either.

 

[Zalth]

Gave $39 for my wild type and $49 for my golden!
About 16-17 cm in length at that time.

 

[Aimzs Lotties]

My axies were AUS $25 each for about 6-8 inches. The pet store 5 mins from there sells them for $38 lol..

 

[mamatoulouse]

The stores i frequent sell wild type for 20 and albino for 27....

 

[mamatoulouse]

also they are about 6 inches in length... but i have purchased wild types for 12 before from swaps and such

 

[HeatherFeather]

I will be getting my first axolotls tomorrow! 3 juveniles (wild type and leucistic) for $20. The breeder was asking $20 for adults (though I think originally he wanted like $35 or something, but he seems to be having a hard time selling them.

Our local, privately owned pet shop could order some for me... $79 for an albino and $129 for a leucistic!
Another pet store had an axie in there a few weeks ago for $45, but it looked pretty sickly. Needless to say, I'm happy I stuck it out and found a breeder.

 

[Alioth]

I paid $8,7 for my leucist and $8,7 for my wildtype. Both from the same breeder. They were 10cm at that time.

 

[JP100]

I am looking into large-scale breeding and selling of axolotls, and would like to know what people think regarding pricing for axolotls.

1. What do you consider a fair price (for both breeder/seller and buyer) for an adult axolotl? Should this price include the full cost to produce said healthy adult, like a year worth of food, energy use, etc.? If not, why not?

2. If you were in the market to buy an adult axolotl, would you look to buy one at the "fair" price mentioned above, or look for one for less (not including "rescue" scenarios)?

3. Would factors like breeder's reputation, breeder's availability to answer questions, and breeder's recommendations for useful aquarium products, etc. influence how much you are willing to pay for an adult axolotl? By how much?

4. In general (and especially if you are new to caudates or axolotls), would you prefer to buy a "ready-made" adult axolotl, or a "do-it-yourself" egg or juvenile axolotl? Does initial price factor into this decision? Do you feel that one or the other option is more economical over-all?

5. If you had never cared for caudates or heard of axolotls, and stumbled upon a website that advertised a beautiful type of aquatic pet, and provided useful information and materials to get you started, how likely would you be to buy one of these animals from them? As an experienced caudate enthusiast and/or axolotl owner, would you consider buying from an outside website if it looked professional and legitimate?

Q#1. About $30NZ I think is a good price for a adult.

Q#2.I would be happy to pay 30 dollers for a good healthy adult. The last two I bought were $50 for one wild type and one golden.both adult females. I thought this was a very good price as Goldens can easily be $50 in NZ

Q#3. Yes I think if the breeder (or even a store) had a good advice and knew what they were doing id pay 10-15 dollers more

Q#4. I would buy a juvinile about 4-6months old. At that age they still active and growing but are still tough.Eggs are not that economical to but as alot can die and they are hard to look after if you are a newcomer.

I have bred and sold Axolotls for a few years now and usually sell them at $12-18 range. Pet stores usually offer about $8-12 and sell them at about $30-45. Hope that is useful to you. Good luck

 

[scooty16]

When I first got my leucistic my fiance paid £10.00 for him and he was very tiny. I have to say, he was kept in very poor condition at the place I got him from. He also had a leg missing but it didn't bother me. Its now grown back, and he has an extra toe growing off a toe! Now he is a big ol' beast and thriving .

My second axie which I got last week is a wildtype and very tiny, tinier than when I got my first. They sold me the axolotl for £5.95. There little axolotls seemed okay, but the big ones they were selling had stubby gills. They sold the adult ones for £20.95 and the general body length was very short as well, and they must of been near the same age as my leucistic, and he is very very long! about 30cm! They also had four adults in a small tank, so there was barely any room. None of the tanks had hides in them, just one plant shoved in the corner of the tank.

At the end of the day, the most important thing for me is the animals health and welfare. I'm not bothered about the price, just bothered if the animal is being well cared for. What also annoys me is the lack of information sellers and pet shops seem to have about axolotls. I guess I can blame myself and say I should of researched about them, but when I got my first one, it was a spur of the moment thing and I had never seen an axolotl before, so I put my trust (bad move) in the pet shop to tell me how they are meant to be kept. He told me:

-They are just like a goldfish. (So when I got home, I put the axolotl on GRAVEL and then made sure it had a mixture of WARM and cold water)
-He told me that they just eat bloodworm. (So my poor axolotl ate nothing but bloodworm until I researched different foods)
-He never told me how big it could grow. (So there my axolotl stayed in a small tank until I got the funds to get a bigger and better one!)

So my poor axie had a bit of a rough start but he is absolutely thriving now, (with thanks to the guys on here!). He now lives in a 5ft tank, with plenty of hides and plants.

So basically, if I was selling, I would probably not ask for much as my main priority would be to ask questions to the buyer such as:

-How much do you know about axolotl's?
-Do you have an adequate tank and equipment?
-Have you ever had experiences with this type of creature before?
etc etc etc.

Also as someone mentioned earlier, they stay in touch with the buyers. I think thats a great idea, and I would have to do the same. I wouldn't want my axolotl's to go to someone who couldn't look after them properly. As it is, I'd wished I'd looked at my first axolotl, reserved him, and gone away to research about him.

Umm, thats all I have to say really!

 

[Saint]

For Chicho I paid £11 and my Golden I paid £10 so not to bad pricing wise.

 

[pent565]

I would prefer to buy juvies from a reputable breeder. That way, you are certain of the age of your animals, and they are a lot tougher than eggs/larvae. I think price depends completely on where you are, and how available they are. You can charge more in Canada, where its harder to come across them, but in the us, or apparently China, they tend to be a little more available.