Pictures of my axolotls

[stephen]

Here are some pictures of my axolotls
(The pictures of the axolotl on the gravel are old pictures)

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[stephen]

 

[alex]

hehehe
very nice axies, note the big boulders!!

 

[kaysie]

Stephen, that size stone can still be ingested. Worse, it looks pointy (of sorts).

 

[stephen]

I have not had any problems yet with my axie eating these stones most of them are the size of my axies head. If he did bite them he would just spit them out because I have seen him do this before when I had the gravel he would spit out the big ones.

 

[sarah(uk)]

axy looks good but I think we said to use sand.

 

[kaysie]

Stephen, if he's biting them, he could swallow them. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's not happening.

You're playing with fire. You asked for suggestions from everyone here, and the unanimous advice you received was sand, not gravel or rocks. You have chosen not to take that advice, and it may be at the health of your axolotl. If it does indeed eat one of these rocks, chances are much higher that it will die than they were on gravel, as this is surely too big to be passed.

 

[stephen]

I had to use larger rocks because I used sand and it was just causes more problems than the gravel. My axie was still eating it and it made the filters stop working.I didn't want to buy a new filter.My parents saw all the posts an I have told them that sand is better but they didn't like the sand in the tank. So I put in bigger rocks. The bigger rocks have been in there for a while now and nothing bad has happened yet.

 

[kaysie]

If you didn't like the sand, then no substrate at all is much better than a substrate which could be dangerous.

The whole point of sand is that an axolotl can eat it and it won't cause impaction. Gravel and rocks are big enough to get lodged in the digestive tract, causing impaction and occasionally death.

Some people have had gravel for years, and then suddenly their axolotl dies of impaction. It's just a matter of when.

 

[ryan]

If you can't provide your axolotls with an appropriate setup then you shouldn't have them, thats just the way I see it.

 

[stephen]

Ryan every post I make you always talk about how I need to do all these things. If your not going to talk about what I posted and just talk about the rocks can you stop saying all tat stuff.

 

[kaysie]

Stephen, you posted pictures of your axolotls. The pictures you've posted of them show them on a substrate which is not appropriate. In fact, the first picture shows an axolotl in pretty obvious distress from eating gravel. So instead of fixing the issue of the gravel, you've moved on to another potentially dangerous substrate. This is what I got from your pictures.

 

[ryan]

Me too, I'm not trying to sound rude in this or any of my posts, I say what I think is best for the salamanders. In this case its your substrate, again.

 

[paul-mark]

It'll be okay. The axolotl will probably get sick and Stephen will ask what he can do about it, then the axolotl will die and hopefully a lesson will be learnt, albeit via a dead axolotl.

Saying that, it may be that the axolotl never eats the white rocks and is perfectly fine.

Stephen, the white stones look great but really inconvenient all round for the axolotl tank (hard to clean, causing ammonia because of waste caught between the stones, possible ingestion of stones causing death). Best to think of the animal's welfare and PLEASE: Blame your parents when your axies die. You did what you had to by showing them these posts.}

 

[alex]

i agree with paul, except with the "it'll be okay bit.
if we have axolotls surely we must do our utmost to let them thrive and prosper, we need to stop axies from dieing, not using them as a lesson.

Stephen-i know you have been getting quite alot of stick recently, but take it on the chin. all we are trying to do is help you and your axies out. if any of them seemed rude, im sure we will apologise.
i would like to ask how sand "makes the filters stop working". the only way i can see this happening is if the filter is laying on the sand, in which case that is inevitable.
however, sand is the best, its PH neutral, so no problems there, and its by far the easiest substrate to clean. any excess food and you can just either syphon off or net it.
sorry to keep repeating what was said, but stephen, for the good of your axolotls, do the right thing, if you can, and get your parents to allow you to change to sand. show them my post,and tell them the people who are giving you this info have alot of experience, and ultimitely it is for the good of the axolotl.

 

[paul-mark]

It'll be okay means that whatever advice you give people and they don't take it means they don't listen, hence the "it'll be okay"; they want to believe they are right. That was more for Stephen's parents than himself. Parents don't always know best...