Raising axolotls from eggs?

[avalon_princess]

So I've always wanted an axolotl, and always for some reason or other never got one, I'm a fish person mainly and am in the process of freeing up a 2 foot tank so I can get an axolotl or two.

I've been looking around at local stores and to be honest there is no way in hell I'd ever by an axolotl from them, I still haven't found a store with even a single healthy axolotl.

So I've been looking into finding someone with eggs and getting 10-15 eggs and raising them, I can always do some tank juggling to make room for more axies and there is a demand for them around here so rehoming shouldn't be too hard for any extras.

But how hard is it to raise them? I've read quite a few sites etc, but none of them mention the amount of deaths you should expect, how well eggs survive being posted etc.

Any comments/help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Jake]

Hello,
Axolotls aren't difficult to raise at all, and aside from the ones that have genetic disorders, you should be able to raise 99% of the offspring with no problem. Unless you are raising hundreds or thousands at a time you shouldn't have more than a couple deaths.

good luck!

-Jake

 

[avalon_princess]

Some new questions LOL
Does the larvae need filtration? or will frequent water changes suffice? As I'm leary of sponge filters (fish keeping experience LOL) and can't help thinking power filters would suck the eggs up pretty quickly.

What about aeration? would they need a very small air pump so as not to disturb the water too much?

If I do find someone who'll post eggs, when I receive them what do I do with them? add them directly to a container/tank filled with water, or do I need to do some sort of acclimatisation?

 

[Sharron]

Eggs

Hi Emma

My female Sylabub, laid eggs, 1 week ago. The larvae are at the stage of moving in their eggs. Sylabub and Orpheus (Male) are both Golden Albinos and healthy.

I am raising 24 of their first effort (hatched on 10 June) and they are doing well.
Before they hatched we had to start a baby brine shrimp hatchery, these eggs we purchased from a fairly local aquarium.

Once hatched we had plenty of baby brine shrimp for them to eat. The other alternative was daliah but I still cannot find these availbable anywhere.

The first hatching is now weened onto frozen bloodworm and frozen baby brine shrimp, now their mouths are big enough and they can smell the dead food. I Keep an air filter (long stone filter) in the back of their tank, that runs slow, I have noticed that they sometimes like to swim up into the bubbles. I do not use a filter and I do a daily cleaning of their tanks.

I would be more than happy to separate with some of the eggs or older babies but, I have never sent eggs in the mail and wouldn't have the first idea of how to do this. If anyone could let me know that would be great.

Hope this helps

Sharron

 

[Bellabelloo]

Hi,
I've sent 2 batches out and they appeared to arrive safely ( one batch is doing well, the other stopped developing after a while). I put mine into a small water tight bottle filled to the top with the tank water. I then put them into jiffy wrap [ one had a small ice block well covered put close to it as it was very warm and threars of postal strikes) and then into a jiffy ( padded) envelope. I posted them first class and they arrived the next day. Hope this helps.

 

[ziggypie]

Hello! Firstly, best of luck finding eggs! I was always a bit nervous about the whole mail thing, but I know people have sent them successfully...

I have raised many batches of successful offspring- and it is such a treat! Baby axolotls are so tremendously cute, and its amazing to get to watch their development!

Anyway, I have always taken the eggs that I've decided to raise and placed them in a separate tank with some of the water from the parents tank (because it's already treated, at the same temp, etc) and a tiny bubbler. When the axies start moving in their eggs I start breeding brine shrimp and order moina (a smaller counterpart to daphnia) from a fellow in Texas. Usually the timing is perfect because I have the baby brine tank thoroughly established right when the larvae start eating (about 2 days after they hatch- and don't forget to rinse the brine) and the moina arrive a week or so later- just in time for me to start culturing them and make the transition to the slightly bigger food source. After the moina come the chopped blood worms at 2.5-3 weeks or so (and mind you, as I progress to the next step I keep supplying the former, just in case) and then we start on the tiny salmon pellets from Kentucky University (http://www.ambystoma.org/AGSC/food.htm). From there on out it's easy.... the bigger pellets and chopped earthworms are yummy (can't vouch for them myself, but my young'uns LOVE 'em) and nutritious. These I feed for the rest of their lives!

I hope I haven't scared you off or anything, I just wanted to give you my personal schedule of events concerning axie food because I know it's good (at least I've always met success with it). I'm sure you can go easier, but I like the small transitions and diet of variety to supply all nutrients.

Good luck! Hope I helped!

 

[Sharron]

Hi Emma

Sorry, in my above post, i typed daliah, it is in actual fact daphnia

 

[Jennewt]

Sorry if this has been mentioned (I didn't read every word of this thread), but you may want to post a "wanted" ad in the ad section of the forum. There is some basic rearing info at axolotl.org, and these articles may also help:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/raising.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/why_larvae_die.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/microfoods.shtml

 

[avalon_princess]

Oooh if you could send me some that'd be fantastic, I can pay postage etc, From what I've read putting the eggs in a bottle of water or between damp paper towels works best.

I've got brine shrimp eggs which came in an allotment of stuff I picked up off ebay, so have those on hand at least LOL.

Sharron my emails glimmercavies@hotmail.com Please let me know if you could send some eggs, as it'd be really great LOL.

Emma

 

[avalon_princess]

New Question, is Mossie larvae any good? its a lot like bloodworms, though a touch smaller and there everywhere here, my Mum has an obsession with small water pots, and their all teaming with life, so I can scoop mossie larvae etc out of that as well. Also the dams have umm I actually have no idea what they are, little bugs shaped in a sphere less then a mm long, ooh just looked it up their copepods, they any good? If all else fails I have an endless supply of baby freshwater shrimp, also courtesy of the many dams on our property LOL.

Would those, plus brine shrimp work for live foods? and they stay on livefoods until their back legs come in? how old are they when that happens? and once that happens I start weaning them onto smaller versions of an adults food, chopped up dead bloodworms, crushed pellets etc?

LOl is that right?

Emma

 

[kapo]

Mozzie Larvae is excellent live food if you have it handy, can be left in with them and doesn't foul the water like brineshrimp can. They may go for the mozzie larvae till they're big enough to eat the copepod like critters! Ours were initially fed on brineshrimp till my daphnia arrived and discovered the teeming mozzie larvae and bloodworm population as well.

You can still feed them live mozzie larvae/bloodworm/daphnia after their legs have grown in. If you intend moving them on to other owners then once their back legs are in then introduce them to earthworms, either small/baby ones or large one chopped up, and start chopping up the dead bloodworms. My larvae nor adult axolotls never took to pellets, even after they moved onto new owners, but you may have more success.

 

[avalon_princess]

the copepods are actually smaller then the mossie larvae, about the same size as baby brine shrimp or a touch smaller, oky dokes, I will see how they go on those first, if/when I get eggs and if that doesn't work will hatch some bbs as backup.

I think I'll see if I can 10-15 eggs, so that worst case scenario that all hatch and grow up, and I cant rehome, I can always do some tank juggling and free up a four foot and a couple of two foot tanks for them.