KimYoshiko
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- May 10, 2012
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- Iowa, United States
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Hello all!
As the post title suggests, I'm the new owner of a juvenile axolotl (he's actually one of the babies from this blog). I'm not unfamiliar with axolotls; I actually became interested in them about five years ago and have done plenty of research on keeping them, but I hadn't considered actually getting one until this May (the ISU Axolotl blog explains the story pretty well, I think XD). So after all these years, I ended up with my Luke
At the moment, I've had Luke for not quite a week (since last Thursday). He's right around two inches long, and I have him in a bare plastic tupperware container, about 6x6 inches in size and a bit more than 2 inches deep (which I keep 60-75% full). I feed him frozen bloodworms twice a day, and clean up the poop/do partial water changes at those times (at least 50%... is this too much or too often?). I keep him in my basement, which is the coolest part of my house, so the water temperature stays steady at 66 degrees F (19 degrees C).
I will be going back to school in the fall, at which time I intend to set up a 10-gallon tank for him. I understand the cycling process, though I'm not decided on if I should go ahead and cycle the tank with him in it. I'm sure that I will have time to do daily water changes if that ends up being the case.
I suppose a lot of my questions derive from reading plenty on how to take proper care of an adult axolotl, but not a juvenile, as well as this being my first axolotl (and first aquatic pet in a long time). Here goes:
This is kind of long, so I'll stop for now. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, so please bear with me XD
For the time being, I'm guessing that he's pretty happy. His gills are always laid back and his tail is straight, and he responds when he sees me coming (probably because he knows I'm bringing food!) I don't have any photos on me except for this one I took with Instagram, but if people want to see more I will gladly get them.
I haven't had a pet in a long time and I really want to do well by him, considering my limitations, so I'm probably worrying a lot more than I should, haha. If anyone has any answers, suggestions, or reassurance, I'd love to hear it. Thanks so much!
As the post title suggests, I'm the new owner of a juvenile axolotl (he's actually one of the babies from this blog). I'm not unfamiliar with axolotls; I actually became interested in them about five years ago and have done plenty of research on keeping them, but I hadn't considered actually getting one until this May (the ISU Axolotl blog explains the story pretty well, I think XD). So after all these years, I ended up with my Luke
At the moment, I've had Luke for not quite a week (since last Thursday). He's right around two inches long, and I have him in a bare plastic tupperware container, about 6x6 inches in size and a bit more than 2 inches deep (which I keep 60-75% full). I feed him frozen bloodworms twice a day, and clean up the poop/do partial water changes at those times (at least 50%... is this too much or too often?). I keep him in my basement, which is the coolest part of my house, so the water temperature stays steady at 66 degrees F (19 degrees C).
I will be going back to school in the fall, at which time I intend to set up a 10-gallon tank for him. I understand the cycling process, though I'm not decided on if I should go ahead and cycle the tank with him in it. I'm sure that I will have time to do daily water changes if that ends up being the case.
I suppose a lot of my questions derive from reading plenty on how to take proper care of an adult axolotl, but not a juvenile, as well as this being my first axolotl (and first aquatic pet in a long time). Here goes:
- Should I be doing 100% water changes at this point? How often? What's the best method of holding him while I'm cleaning out his tub? If I get him a larger container, how does this affect how much of the water I need to change/how often I need to clean the tub?
- Following that, should I get a bigger container for this summer? How much can I expect him to grow before August, when I'm planning to move him into his tank?
- At what size can he eat earthworms? How small do I have to cut them?
- Would it be beneficial at all to set up a tank in July, only to have to move it in August? Would I have to cycle it again once I got back to school? I live only 45 minutes away from where I study, if that makes a difference.
- This June, I will be out of the country, so for the month, I will be sending Luke to a friend in Kansas City who also has axolotls (about a three hour drive). How can I make the trip as comfortable/stress-free as possible for him?
This is kind of long, so I'll stop for now. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, so please bear with me XD
For the time being, I'm guessing that he's pretty happy. His gills are always laid back and his tail is straight, and he responds when he sees me coming (probably because he knows I'm bringing food!) I don't have any photos on me except for this one I took with Instagram, but if people want to see more I will gladly get them.
I haven't had a pet in a long time and I really want to do well by him, considering my limitations, so I'm probably worrying a lot more than I should, haha. If anyone has any answers, suggestions, or reassurance, I'd love to hear it. Thanks so much!