My axolotls laid eggs I'm a beginner help.

[Dylanj94]

My axolotls decided to lay a bunch of eggs a few days ago and after researching it have determined that there was no way I would have the time or cash to buy the stuff they needed. Especially for the 80ish eggs she laid. I contacted a pet store and the guy said he would take all of the eggs in a week but recommended I go to this forum and ask for advice/help

I know that I could go to ponds and try to scoop out little critters to feed the hatchlings but will that be enough? Would I need to keep a small tank for the things I scoop up? I have also gotten mixed up on how to keep the babys Some say seperate them, some say communal group, filter no filter. Etc. Etc. I would like to keep a few of them, but am unsure how long I have to feed them live food.

I'm just tired of doing research and finding conflicting info.



Another issue I have is that I can't move the eggs, in a fit of brilliance the axolotls decided to stick eggs all over their filter, so I had to turn it off fearing for the eggs lives.
Their also stuck on with glue it feels like and I'm too afraid to pull too hard.

I separated the male and female for now since I'm afraid they'll make more eggs. Is that alright? Will they breed again?

Help me..
Please help me.

 

[AxolotlChris]

Scooping stuff from ponds is risky as you don't know what your transferring into your tanks/containers. You should purchase daphnia or hatch your own baby brine shrimp to use as a food source. Daphnia can be purchased online or from most aquatic stores, you can build your own baby brine shrimp hatchery but it is slightly more hassle, although once you can hatch with ease it is an easy food source. http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beginner-newt-salamander-axolotl-help-topics/f48-axolotls-ambystoma-mexicanum/f61-axolotl-eggs-larvae-breeding/88172-raising-baby-axolotls-baby-brine-shrimp-bbs.html
Daphnia

I keep any egg's I acquire in quality plastic food containers. Then once hatched I transfer them into a larger food container that I change the water 2-3 times weekly with dechlorinated water. Axolotls - Rearing from Egg to Adult

All my larvae are reared in these containers with complete success, you do not need a filter, but you must change the water 100% 2-3 times a week, or more depending on the food your provide and how well you clean up. You will only need to split the larvae up when they reach a size of around 1.5-2 inches, at this size the juvenile Axolotls are developing front and back legs. Axolotls of this size tend to be cannibalistic and will snap at each other mistaking them for food, this is where you need to look out for certain Axolotls which are larger than others, I separate the juveniles into groups so they are all of similar size, you will often find some out grow the others faster. How many you keep in each container depends on the size of the container. If you only have a tank then depending on the size of the tank you maybe able to keep them all in there, though it makes water changes harder.

Here are some images of some of my setups:






I use syringes to clear any Axolotl waste and use these kind of food containers:





You should not turn off the filter to your main tank as this can easily crash the large colony of beneficial bacteria in your filter media which helps keep your cycle going. You will have to just pull the eggs off the filter, if some eggs split then its just unfortunate.

If you don't want to hatch eggs and raise Axolotls then you should take all the eggs, put them in a tub and freeze them, this is the humane way of culling. Raising Axolotls can be time consuming and you must make sure you have a food source.

Your Axolotls will likely breed again, if you don't want this to happen you can place a divider in your tank to keep the Axolotls apart, or you would have to sell either the male or female and then only keep one sex of Axolotl in your tank. Allowing Axolotls to continuously breed puts stress on the females body, potentially shortening their lifespan.