Social Behavior - individual or group?

[sanchini]

Dear All,

Do Axolotls need/benefit from being housed together with other Axolotls?
For the sake of argument, assume that all housing conditions are perfect (size of aquarium with respect to number of axolotls, plants, feed, etc.)

In case they do not need/benefit from group housing is there any official source of information you know of? By official I mean a book and/or scientific paper. I have seen in an article by John Clare (Axolotl Care Sheet) that he writes: " Contrary to the advice of some sources, axolotls are not social animals and do not benefit from having a companion axolotl. Keeping multiple axolotls is purely for the keeper’s benefit and for breeding."

Of course, John has enough experience to know this and most probably be right about what he wrote. But how can it be proven (without forcing me to test it myself!)?

Thank you for the answers!
Best Regards
pedro

 

[Azhael]

I doubt you´ll find a paper specifically targeting "why axolotls are not social". That would be a weird subject for a study and one that would only be done by autofinanced people with free time on their hands.

Anyway, axolotls can safely be characterised as non-social. This is not a guess, this is a justified assertion. Can they tolerate each other? Sure, particularly given the easy life that captivity offers. Nobody is arguing that they are intensely territorial animals that don´t tolerate the pressence of conspecifics (although on the other hand they are opportunistic animals that will practice cannibalism). Does that mean they require socialization for their well-being? No.
Axolotls have no social systems, no protocols or defined modes of interaction. In short, they lack all of the characteristics that define sociality. They lack even the most rudimentary behaviours of parental care which would be a prerequisite for any kind of true social behaviour.

That said, given optimal conditions, they are unlikely to harm each other and coexistence of similarly sized individuals is generally not an issue. While this certainly causes a certain amount of amusement and satisfaction for the keepers, something which can be considered a benefit, it cannot be confused as being beneficial for the animals themselves.

Just in case i will point out that not being social does not mean they are necessarily impervious to any benefit that could be derived from "social contact". Interactions with other axolotls, or people, might represent stimulation much like the pressence of live prey or a large, complicated environment would.