Question: Should I keep my male and female together?

[rpggirl]

So my axies have turned out to be male and female and she keeps laying eggs every few months. Is this putting stress on her or is it OK to keep them together? Should I split them up and get another male and female to keep them company?

 

[millerj76]

Hi, i have a male and female together who recently became parents and i too have been thinking of this. I remember reading an article, that was talking about how stressful it is for the female laying the eggs, sometimes the female spends more than 24 hours laying eggs, so that must be stressful, so i would say overbreeding the one female, it can't be good for her, But, being her owner i think you would know if she is in good health, and if you take good care of them, regular feeding routine and good water quality and stable water temperature, as these are probably the most stressful to an axolotl if they are incorrect. So maybe if your axolotls are in perfect shape and good conditions then maybe they are good to keep breeding, especially if you can manage to keep/sell/trade give away the eggs, as it would be a shame to keep them breeding just to then cull the eggs. Its not an answer to your question, just a view and an opinion, hope it helps.

 

[rpggirl]

They are both healthy and happy and feeding well. I could section off half the tank (it's 4 feet long) to give her a bit of recuperation but wouldn't want them to be lonely as they've been together since I got them as juvies. I think I read about it on the Axie info page a while ago. She's really hungry after she lays so she gets extra earthworms

 

[Bengdogg]

I am also wondering this as my axie pair laid the 1st batch of spawn last Saturday. I don't want to stress her but I thought they were fine to keep together. I can move her to another tank and move my other male in with the remaining male. The problem is the two males despite being over 16 months old still seem to attack each other so I have to split them up. Ideally I wanted all 3 in the same tank then I could either get some younger axies in my 125l or have a go at something else like Fire bellied newts or dwarf frogs.

 

[auntiejude]

Females can lay eggs every 3 weeks if they are healthy and in good condition. But this will take it's toll on the female and she will become exhausted, leaving her run down and in danger of picking up fungus, infections etc. Overbred femlaes don't tend to live terribly long either. They generally don't eat when laying, which can take up to 48 hours, no wonder they are hungry once they are done!

A divider would be perfect if your tank is big enough - which it should be at 4ft. Axies don't pine for company and they don't get lonely (according to text books), and TBH if they can see each other it will be fine.

 

[Alyce]

My female has laid twice this year and she's young still. I've been saying I'll move her but haven't been able to move her by her lonesome. Great thread, I better suck it up and move her or I may have another batch of eggs soon.

 

[kjnorman]

I keep my male and female together. I have had them for about 4 months now. I had my first clutch of eggs right after I got them (I bought them together - I think they have always lived together), and the person I got them from indicated they had not bred for her in quite a while.
Since then there have been two more clutches, but they were both small. I kept about two dozen eggs from the first one and am now raising about 20 larvae. There were only about 75 eggs in the clutch. The second clutch happened around when the eggs from the first one hatched and I culled the eggs, but there were only about 20 eggs in total, and many of them didn't look fertile.

The whole time, my female has been active and normal and eating well, and if eggs didn't appear, I wouldn't have known anything was up. If she keeps laying eggs this often I may consider separating them, but so far she seems none the worse for wear.

As an aside, I found that in order to get them to spawn again, I had to cut back on the frequency of tank cleanings. I work from home and I tend to use a siphon to do some 'spot cleaning' of areas of the tank where poop and debris collect almost every day, to keep the tank looking nice. I realized that I might be cleaning out all the sperm packets the male was leaving, and I cut down on the cleanings for a couple weeks, and few weeks after that I got eggs.
All of which is to say that frequent cleaning might keep them from breeding?

 

[piaalexa]

I have four axolotls, one is female and she has started laying eggs. They are nearly two years old, and last year she laid eggs about 3 times! The female looks in good condition but I am concerned she may get tired from all the laying. I have heard winter is normally the time of year they lay eggs (and it's winter here), but past experience shows this female does not follow those rules.

Now that she has already started laying, should I let her finish, then clean the tank? I see they can keep laying for 3 weeks once they've begun so I should probably move her. Will keeping her separate for 3 weeks be enough then? Or will it have to be for the entire winter? I don't know if I can divide the tank for her so what is the best way to keep her if I have to take her out the tank?

Thanks
Pia

 

[auntiejude]

@Pia - Axies will breed regularly through the winter - I would separate your female. A small tank of her own would be ideal - 50-60L is perfect.

 

[piaalexa]

Thanks Auntiejude

If I decided to leave her in the big tank and put a divider, would some form of plastic meshing work? Or some perspex with holes drilled in?

Thanks
P

 

[layna]

Yes as long as it wont leech chemicals into the water, just make sure its secure as axies can get into the most surprising places!

 

[piaalexa]

Oh yes I am familiar with their pretty impressive tactics of getting stuck behind filters, screens, plastic plants you name it

But thanks yes I'll make sure it's axie friendly