I have new Axolotls! Love my babies! :-)

[ks85]

So, I had an adult GFP albino axolotl, Dobby, who passed away due to stress when I moved. I was very very sad. I looked for an axolotl at the reptile and amphibian shows here in OH for months and months and months before I finally found him, and he was about three inches long when I bought him. It was awesome to watch him grow. Well, since he passed, it has been about a year, and I have not had the time to stalk the shows due to the fact that I have graduated from college, pursuing a higher degree, and have been breeding crested geckos. I've been pestering (passively, lol) the local mom n pop petstore to get a hold of axolotl for me. Well.... finally..... I have two! an albino and a wildtype! they were kept on small gravel, so hopefully any that they ingested will be regurgitated or pass, and I have set up a nice, pre-cycled tank for them. If anyone has any tips about the gravel, that would be nice! I am so happy to have Axolotls in my life again. Their tank is on the desk at the foot of my bed beside an air conditioner so I can regulate the temperature correctly as well. Just waiting to see who is male/female so I can come up with some names!

 

[tinyali]

Your wild type has lovely speckles, and he gives good duck-face too!

 

[ks85]

Thank you! I think so too!!!

 

[vlcuXX]

Definitely some nice lotls, but the albino definitely has some gravel in him, you can see how he's bloated and such, should pass on its own, but might want to consider taking further action as it would be fatal if not passed!

Best of luck with your new axies, best wishes!

 

[ks85]

S/he passed like 4 the other day and 5 when I checked the tank tonight! WOO HOO

 

[vlcuXX]

S/he passed like 4 the other day and 5 when I checked the tank tonight! WOO HOO

Great news! Really glad to hear that s/he's passing em by him/herself!

 

[ks85]

Total count of gravel I have cleaned out of the tank so far: 11.



Sand looks better anyways! I will never understand why people do this!!

(I love rescuing animals. Case in point- Skeletor- my adult male leopard gecko. Weight: 29Grams... he looked like a skeleton! Now- he weighs 65Grams... fatty! Skeletor is one of many bebeees that I have rescued... and kept.... )

 

[vlcuXX]

Total count of gravel I have cleaned out of the tank so far: 11.



Sand looks better anyways! I will never understand why people do this!!

(I love rescuing animals. Case in point- Skeletor- my adult male leopard gecko. Weight: 29Grams... he looked like a skeleton! Now- he weighs 65Grams... fatty! Skeletor is one of many bebeees that I have rescued... and kept.... )

That's awesome! Keep us updated!

Leos are awesome pets as well, bless you for doing what you do, without people like you and I who rescue pets, like I rescued my 2 little axies from a terrible pet store, where would the hobby be?! :ha:

 

[ks85]

Well..... My mom says I run a zoo at my house... and she's not too far off. LOL.

I would love to live on a farm out in the country, and have a room for all my tanks and animals someday:happy:!

 

[keiko]

Cute litle lotls.

BTW just one thing to think about. When you rescue any animal from a pet store you're only enabling them to continue treating the animals badly. I have never heard of a pet store that would have given any animal away for free even if they didn't know how (or want) to take care of it and it was in a bad shape. So when you pay for the sick animal it's only money in their pockets and a free tank to fill with a new animal they won't take care of like they should. Then the next animal will suffer until someone rescues him. It's a never ending cycle. Now don't get me wrong, I love that people try to rescue animals that are not kept like they should be. But sometimes you just have to think about the "greater good". In this case: no customers for the pet store -> out of business -> no more abusing those little animals. A better way to deal with those pet shops is to call the local animal protection. Personally I will always walk around the whole shop when visiting a pet store and check to see if there's anything wrong with the animals and will only buy stuff if everything looks good even if I'm just buying food for my pets.

 

[vlcuXX]

I complained to the management team about the way they keep their Axies, but yes I see your point.

I also disagree with you a bit because although its true that buying a non cared for animal is enabling them in a way to not take care of some more of the same animals, you're saving a life, and if/when they get more, those also go to homes usually. The not being cared for only occurs during the time it's held at the store, USUALLY. So that's kind of a counter logic, because with your logic no pet store would be able to sell animals because there's always going to be bad husbandry by either the store or the owner after the store, the next caretaker of said animal, and that just comes along with the hobby.


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[keiko]

I'm not really sure if I understood you right, sorry english isn't my first language.

with your logic no pet store would be able to sell animals because there's always going to be bad husbandry by either the store or the owner after the store

That's not what I'm saying at all. But what I do think is that there shouldn't be bad husbandry at all.
My point is that there are also good pet stores where they really care for all the animals. I don't think it's acceptable to not care for the animal even if it is just at the pet store. So by avoiding those pet stores that aren't good you're forcing them to either quit or get better. Some animals actually spend months in pet stores before someone buys them and if the animal isn't cared for properly it'll get in a really bad shape during that time and suffer. If the bad pet store won't be able to sell the animals (or they die at the store), they won't get more because they would lose money doing that.
I also think that pet stores should always give good instructions on how to take care of an animal when someone buys it. I don't think many people want to not take care of their pets the right way, usually it's due to lack of knowledge.

In the end it comes down to whether you want to save one life by rescuing the animal or save many lives by making it stop.

edit: But that's good that you complained to the management team. Maybe if the pet store is somewhere close to you, you could swing by some time and see if they still have axies and if they're taking care of them better.

 

[ks85]

I actually should have just ordered myself some-- so in that sense you are right. They were there and I couldn't resist. My leo was a craigslist rescue, so he was free. My cat, free. so...... a lot of times when you rescue an animal, they are free. the owner just couldn't care for them anymore, or had too many animals, or whatever reason....... so they post an ad for "free to a good home". If I can help I do.

I really haven't seen any chain pet stores here in ohio carry axolotl. I have seen them feeding animals the wrong thing though, or on the wrong type of substrate.... so yes it is annoying, and WRONG. The ones that try to branch out into the more uncommon reptiles and give bad advice about how to care for them.... those are more of the problem here... it creates a bad pet owner too.... IF THAT PET OWNER doesn't care enough about their pet to look into proper care and husbandry of that animal. I know that not everyone does. .... I like to THINK that a lot of people do?

The mom and pop stores are the only stores where you can get the more uncommon animals---- and it seems to me that they DO try overall to take better care of their animals and to put them in proper habitats... so I would never complain on them... maybe talk to the workers, but that's about all. I was just so happy to have found axolotl, and distracted by my three dragonborn children who never obey, that I didn't have the effort to put into lecturing him on "dont put axolotls on gravel you dummy!"

Oh! and I have 3 more pieces of gravel from lil whitey's belly this am... she is getting all that outta her belly! thankfully!

 

[keiko]

Rescuing animals for free from private people is ofcourse a great thing to do! I got my cat for free too because someone's cat had "an accident" and got a bunch of babies. My criticism goes all towards the bad pet stores.