Ready to pop.... please dont!!

[Splisyaxis]

Hey all. Im a newbie here and axi owner. Had my 2 about 6 weeks. Rescued them from a bad home. Theyre still small but i knlw theyre over a year old and theyre growing so fast ok their new diet. Im pretty sure i have a male and female from everything ive read (male albino/ female natural type). savig up for a bigger tank at the moment and not keen to seperate anyway but my naturals showing all the signs of sexual maturity and has a plump belly, eatting alot and quite active. How ever i dont think my male is sexual mature yet.


Anyway long story short, how would i stop her from laying eggs? Is there a way or do i let it happen and scoop.them out?

 

[AxolotlChris]

When you say 'natural type' I presume you mean Wild Type?

Also, it is not necessarily always easy to tell if an Axolotl has reached sexual maturity, but it is usually between the age of 8 months to 1 year, but their living environment and diet can affect this.

Male Axolotls have a larger cloaca, which appears as a 'bulge'. Where as females cloaca is smaller and less prominent.

Male

Female

Axolotls - Biology

If one is male and one is female, there are only really three options:

1. Keep them in separate tanks.


2. Place a sturdy divider in the center of your tank.
( This will hopefully stop the female from picking up the males spermatophores )
DIY Dividers - Betta Splendid


3. Allow them to breed and remove the eggs form the tank.
( If you allow your Female to lay eggs too often this can reduce life span, and cause stress )
Axolotls - Breeding Axolotls Successfully

 

[Donna001]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

The other possibility, which I can say from experience as I look across at one of my tanks, perhaps the wild type has a much bigger appetite than the others. All 3 of my juveniles (1 wild type and 2 coppers) were the same size when bought together and are less than 6 months old now. None are showing any signs of maturity. My wild type is now around 2-3cm bigger than the coppers and has quite a tubby tummy. I have to limit what it eats because otherwise it will eat until it is sick.

Perhaps yours is just making up for lost time when housed in a less pleasant environment.