Possible breeding behaviour need advice

[larn]

I have 3 axolotls in a tank together, i believe 2 of them are males as they have the bulges near the tails and 1 female.

The 2 males have been going crazy from between 2am to 5am they were swimming around and bumping each other and lifting each other in the air, while the female was sitting quietly watching from a hiding place.

I thought this was strange because i thought the males do this to the female?

Because of this behavier i thought i would remove some object that might be getting in the way and put some fresh plants in there attatched to stones.

is there anything i need to know about this? and can you tell me why the 2 males are messing around so much?

 

[Jake]

Re: Possible breeding behavier need advice

Axolotls take what they can get when they're in the mood for love. I've seen quite a few male axolotls and other salamanders and newts doing the same thing. Don't worry about it unless they lay eggs

 

[larn]

Re: Possible breeding behavier need advice

damn maybe it's like being in prison you just take what you can get lol

the only problem is the female only has 1 eye, so maybe she would have a hard time finding the male spermatophores?

 

[helobed]

I would imagine spermatophore collection has more to do with pheremones and the sense of touch as the females normally can't actually 'look' to see when the spermatophore is in the correct position. I mean I can hardly see the darn things so how are axolotl supposed to have a chance!

if you have healthy mature males and females in the same environment chances are you will be looking at eggs some time in the future. Mine took awhile to figure out which ones were boys and girls but now they just wont stop! I have to keep them separated

 

[ZombieAxolotl]

Sounds like mating posturing, especially if the girl is saying "peace out" and hiding lol.

If you're looking to get eggs you might want to take the hide out so she has to participate.

The males will actually bump her around and over the spermataphore so you don't have to worry about her being sightless.

Is this genetic eye loss? in which case are you sure you want to breed her though? Breeding a genetic flaw into a CB population is never a good idea.

 

[nina89]

Sound like you were lucky enough to witness what I call the axolotl mating dance (I've heard people call it that on here too) once the male is ready and interested he will drop his spermataphores throughout the tank which look like little clear but cloudy jelly blobs with a little white cap on the top. Then the male/males will try to get the females attention by nudging her, if she accepts the male will lead the female around the tank to the spermataphores.
First thing I would do Is have a good look for the spermataphores in the tank If you can see some than you know that's all it is. Maybe she's not interested, they might not be finished dropping spermataphores or maybe one of them has a gender mix up, does one male seem to be chasing the other. I would check your water parameters as well just to rule that out, although one is calm she might be used to tougher conditions.
Once you know your waters fine and there are spermataphores just leave them be, unless you don't want eggs, then you would need to separate or if you've got a good eye remove all the spermataphores.

I've seen it once and it was when I had just got a new male approx 26 cm and I put it in with my breeding pair (approx 22cm) as a new friend. I was so worried cos I looked over at the tank and seen this huge male looking like he's ready to take my female axies leg off with one clean bite, but instead at closer inspection he was constantly nudging my female, he wouldn't leave her alone, turns out she didn't like him at all, every couple of nudges she would snap at him and he would swim to the other side of the tank but he just kept coming back. she's a feisty little bugger, very hard to breed, even with multiple hid-outs she only used them occasionally through this.
So from personal experience I would leave your tank how it is with its hiding places only remove the sharps (which u prob shouldn't have in there anyway), cos if she's not ready to accept there's not anything you can do and it would be nice to have somewhere for her to go and hide if need be.

sorry I planned for it to be shorter.
hope it helps! goodluck

 

[larn]

i'm not sure what happened to Captain Snapper's eye, it could be a genetic deformity but the parents were healthy so i don't think it's hereditry, the eye could of been damaged early after birth but perhaps was not able to grow back at that stage. But because i can't be sure i should consider the ethics before if i breed them, However an eyeless axolotl in captivity is not such a bad thing, snapper has a good life and does not appear to be at any kind of disadvantage actually she is a better hunter than the other 2. I just wonder if someone would want to keep an eyeless axolotl.

also thanks for the info nina