Help! Eggs!

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Rei

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Hey, my axolotl is layen eggs as I type this, there isnt many right now, maybe 5-10? But when she has finished laying them all I dont know what to do! Do I remove them, or do I rmeove my axolotls? What do I remove them to?? I mean I only have one fishtank. Please help! I would like to try to raise maybe a few over the eggs, so I dont want to do it wrong :0
 
I have great luck on moving the eggs into a plastic shoe box and adding an air stone with very little flow to keep the water circulating. Once they hatch I continue to keep them in those type of containers and divide them up according to size as they. Good Luck hope this helps
 
So you think I should put them in a plastic box type thing with an air stone, then when they hatch put them in other containers depending on size? Sounds good. Gotta just wait for herto lay them all, before I remove them.
 
I suggest only raising a handful. They are very time consuming. Unless you have definite homes for all of them, and have the time to do constant water changes and feedings (this means no weekends off, no vacations, etc), and the money to provide them tiny, live food until they're big enough to eat other things, I wouldn't raise more than 5-10. I'm currently raising 40, and it's a pain.
 
Hi rei. Moving them out of the adult tank is definitely the way to go - and possibly investing in half-a-dozen small Tupperware tubs. Your need to keep a very close eye on them is much greater than their need to have a huuuge living area. :wink: You should find that the eggs are anchored quite well to whatever she laid them on so if you can remove whole item(s) then that's the easiest way to go.

I haven't raised little-uns for 20 years+. I'm a born-again axy-phile just going through the process of building up my tank etc and had intended starting off with juveniles, but if we live close enough to each other and you don't want to euthanize too many then I would willingly take a few. Either way, as Kaysie says, you'll have your hands full with 10 for now. And, baring genetic disasters, if you tend to them carefully then you can expect a very good percentage to survive to adulthood.
 
Update:

She has finished laying, and has a grand total of around 120, give or take. I don't plan to care for ALL of them as I dont think i would be able to. Perhaps I may just keep a handfull, as suggested and even then, some may be sold on to aquariarms, but I'd rather just keep them all hehe.

Hi tyl3r, I will send you out a pm and see if there is some way we could meet up, as I wouldnt mind giving some up to a loving home :eek:
 
Hi Rei. Thanks for the offer via PM for eggs but it seems we're about 270 miles / 5 hrs away from each other so perhaps not the easiest of meets! Thanks anyway. Hopefully you'll find a home for them all but if you don't, then don't be afraid to get rid of any that look like they're not developing like the others. It's a lot easier (emotionally) to dispose of a wonky-looking egg before it becomes a free swimming baby and poorly ones can help spread disease to your otherwise healthy ones (eggs and babies).

I used to half / quarter / eighth my eggs as time went by to leave me with a manageable number at the end. Perhaps it was something that I did or didn't do but I always seemed to get a good number (say 20%) that weren't fertilised which would be removed as soon as I was sure they weren't going to develop.

I'll certainly be watching your posts with interest and keeping my fingers crossed for you becoming an axolotl grandparent for the first time. :happy: It's an exciting time! Good luck.
 
My mum has just bought me a little container for putting the eggs in, it like attaches tothe side of the tank so it uses that water but the axoltols cant nudge it! I thought this is a great idea untill the egggs start to hatch, after that I plan to remove to plastic tubs or something similar for a time before eventuly choosing who shall be kept or if I will have to sell/give/any away (hopefully not)

I am planning to remove between 5-20, (probably just 10 max, but 20 is an idea xD) to this little holder. Though I am really confused on how i should go about moving the eggs, im really worried about desticking them from the plants there stuck to, incase I damage them. If anyone has any suggestions theyd be greatly appreciated, as i want to get them into this little tub as soon as possible.

I have one last question, there are around 120 eggs, Im only planning on removing to keep 5-20, What should I do with the remaining 100? There is no way I could raise them, but will my axolotls eat them or will I have to remove them and ugh, dispose of them some other way?
 
You could remove them and freeze them (if they've not developed too far). You can also leave them in the tank to fend for themselves.

As far as unsticking them, I found the best way to do it is with good ol' fashioned elbow grease. I've got some really frilly vine-y plants that the female lays on, so I take the whole thing out, and go over it and just pull the eggs out and toss them into a container, and then sort through them. Occasionally you accidentally crush one, but it's usually not too bad.
 
I am thinking I shall just remove leafs with eggs on them, that way I shouldnt manage to damage the egg. I could leave all the eggs in like you said, but if one was to develop i'd feel rather horrible that its parents have just eaten it. I realize there going to have ot be "disposed" off but its still rather gruesome :(
 
It's a natural part of life. Axolotls aren't as bad as say eastern newts, who practically eat them as they're laying them. I wonder how effective of a life strategy that is...
 
Ive moved the eggs im hoping to keep into a seperate containers in the tank, Im hoping it will all work out ^___^
 
When I had eggs the first time around I carefully removed every single one and initially placed them an old tank, some where on the plants still some just gently moved off. Out of that tank I posted the majority to various people, and thought I'd kept my self maybe 20....I used a turkey baster to suck them up, but sometimes the egg inside would 'burst'. The 20 in the end exceeded 40. I placed these into 2 shallow trays with lids and when they began to hatch did complete water changes with dechlorinated water or water from the parent tank ( keep an eye on the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings though) I fed them on brine shrimp..though if I was to do it again I would try the daphnia. Later they had daphnia, bloodworm and finally chopped earth worm . I also fed them small amphibian pellets too. My second batch I had no intention of keeping so I fished out all rather more roughly and again where placed in the what I thought was the empty tank....(there had been one of the previous larvae that had eluded capture and somehow stayed alive for the 4 weeks out side in quite high temps...it still lives in the bigger tank out side.) There was next to no water in there. Days later when I looked the majority where starting to change shape...so these where hastily re-homed. The eggs are pretty tough! when I went to clean the filter both times , maybe 4 days later, there where eggs close to hatching inside ( she thought it was good fun to squeeze in the tiny gap between filter and wall and lay here eggs there..they got sucked in).
One lesson I have learnt with raising the larvae is to not attempt more than 20, and to get rid of all the others as soon as possible..it is so tempting to try to keep more especially as they start to develop but try a small batch first. If you enjoy raising this first batch you'll be wanting to do it again!! I am just resisting the temptation of getting some eggs to raise.
Then your next challenge will be feeding them...oh the joys of the brine shrimp hatchery quietly gurgling away in the back ground!!
 
Thanks for all that advice!

I have, as i said, moved around 10-20 into a smaller container, I realize not all will hatch, and not all will live to adulthood.
I have decided to feed them on Sea Monkeys, I heard there good. There also easy to get, bread and so forth so will be an easy solution i am hoping!

:D
 
hey will sea monkeys work? i hope they do there more redily avaliable here than dahpnia curious to see how that works out for you can you keep us posted on how the lavae like them cant wait for spot and midnight to have eggs will be my first time as well if and when they have any
 
Well sea monkeys are brine shrimp, so i've went out and bought them. They're really easy to get, there just in toy shops and things
^___^

Plus they breed and grow bigger etc etc.
 
Daphnia, if you can find the smaller variety, is far easier to feed then brineshrimp.

Brineshrimp once they've hatched have to be rinsed of salt and ensure there are no empty egg shells or unhatched eggs in with them before feeding to axie larvae. If the axie larvae ingest the shells or unhatched eggs they will die.

They are a very good backup to have though if you are unable to find any other live small microfood for your axie larvae (I also don't miss the bubbling sound of a hatchery!) Axie larvae initially need to be fed twice a day for several weeks. When feeding brineshrimp you need to ensure you waterchange daily as the brineshrimp die of within hours of adding and will foul the water fast, leading to possible axie larvae death.

Things like live daphnia, live bloodworm or small mosquitoe larvae on the other hand can remain in tankwater/container and will live longer than brineshrimp. Waterchanges will still need to be done frequently to ensure good water quality.

Check out the following link on microfoods for axie larvae http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/microfoods.shtml.
 
eggs

Hi i am looking for some eggs and would gladly take some off your hands have just raised 20 and it was bloody hard work but well worth the effort. I have had some posted in a plastic coke bottle in the past ! I live in bedfordshire my email is abi_hill@hotmail.co.uk
 
Hi Rei. I'd gladly take some eggs or lavae off your hands.Let me know and maybe we can arrange something.:p
 
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