How often do your axies breed?

[kjnorman]

Hi all.

I was just wondering, those of you have breeding axolotls, how often do you get eggs?
My pair surprised me by laying eggs shortly after I got them in January, but I wasn't really prepared and didn't manage to successfully raise any larvae

I've read everything from once a month to once a year and most people seem to agree that axolotls breed whenever they want to and you can't really predict it.

So I was curious to see what experiences people here have had.

Thanks!

 

[auntiejude]

A mature female in top condition can breed every 3 weeks. But you shouldn't let them, it will exhaust the female and she may not live very long.

They are supposed to breed in winter, and in response to daylight and temperature changes. But yes, pet axies don't tend to follow any rules....

 

[kjnorman]

Its been much more than three weeks and no further signs of breeding - I guess I'll know when I see eggs

 

[Boomsloth]

A mature female in top condition can breed every 3 weeks. But you shouldn't let them, it will exhaust the female and she may not live very long.

They are supposed to breed in winter, and in response to daylight and temperature changes. But yes, pet axies don't tend to follow any rules....

I'm curious what is the youngest you've seen a female lay eggs? I'm not trying to breed mine until much older but I'm just trying to be cautious and remove any males I see before a safe time.

 

[Smokey0923]

I'm curious what is the youngest you've seen a female lay eggs? I'm not trying to breed mine until much older but I'm just trying to be cautious and remove any males I see before a safe time.

Would also like to know this. I have two about 4 inches and one about 6 inches and would like to know when i should separate them for a while

 

[auntiejude]

The text books say they can breed from about 12 months and about 8". But as I said, pet axies don't generally obey text book rules. Males need their big lumpy boy-bits showing to breed, females are not as easy to determine. I believe my wildtype female was less than a year (maybe 10/11 months) the first time she laid eggs, she has grown an inch since then.

How many time have we seen the phrase "I didn't think they were old enough to breed" on this forum? And besides, how many people know exactly how old their axies are?

If you don't want axies to breed you really need to separate them as soon as you know you have males.