Surprise eggs... please help! :)

[Jaade95]

Hey guys! My gorgeous golden albino girl has laid loads of eggs today 22/03/13! (dad is a leucustic, not sure on spelling) The eggs are half black and half white is this normal?

I've never raised eggs, and this was quite a shock to me! Luckily I have a small tank which I have used to separate the eggs from the main tank! She laid the majority of the eggs on a plastic floating plant (quite handy really :lol: ) So I've put them in a smaller tank using the water from the main tank.. is this okay? The tank doesn't have a filter at the minute but I will be getting one tomorrow!

So, now I've done this what's next? I'm a complete newbie to raising eggs as my Axolotls have always come from private breeders!

I have a second hand 4ft tank coming later on this evening which I will have set up for any of the surviving babies until they are big enough to find new loving homes,

Any advice will be welcomed as I'd love to give these babies a good start in life!

Thank you everyone in advance! xx

 

[Elliriyanna]

I have never raised babies but I have never seen people run a filter in a tank with newborns ... generally they keep a tub with airline and just do daily water changes as they grow

 

[Jaade95]

Also, the daddy (leucustic) has some very unusual markings which are forever changing! They're a dark blue/black colour.. will the babies possibly inherit these markings?

Picture attached is of mummy (bottom) and daddy (top)

 

[Jaade95]

I have a spare air line, I'll stick with daily water changes, how much would you reckon daily?

Thank you!

 

[Smoxolotl]

There is plenty of good information on the forums and if you're going to try raising them you should be studying them religiously! As far as the eggs go, albino eggs are white, leucistic eggs are black. Once again, on many forum posts. Eggs can go into a separate jar, they don't need a filter. Give them clean tank water, and keep them out of the light, and leave them alone. They do need to breathe however, so do not let them stack onto each other, and if they are together in clumps, the middle eggs will need to be separated so that they can breathe.The babies are small, really small at first! Keep them in a small plastic container, feed them live foods small enough for them to eat, and do a 100% water change once or twice a day depending on their feeding schedule. I actually rotate my containers daily. Raising larvae requires alot of dedication, and shouldn't be entered into lightly! But once again, their is plenty of good information ALREADY here and google is a wonderful thing as well! Good Luck whatever you decide:yin-yang:

 

[Smoxolotl]

Also, according to your picture, it looks the chunky Mama on bottom is the Leucistic, and the chunky Dad on top is possibly a Piebald, or even a Chimera, I can't really tell from that picture. Does he look like a 2-in-1 axolotl? Those are both much sought after, so if you do decide to tackle raising them and they have Dad's markings, they will find homes quickly! That worm in the foreground looks huge, by the way! Enough for both of them, even!

 

[auntiejude]

Can you post a pic of the eggs? Albino lay white eggs only, if the eggs are black they aren't your albino's. Do you have other axies?

How many babies will you raise? I'd suggest you keep about 20, and ither sell or destroy the rest (freeze them). But you have to make a decision quickly, eggs need to be frozen by day 5, they'll hatch in 2 weeks.

You can't raise babies in a filtered tank, the current will be too strong. You need tubs to start with, with 100% daily water changes.

You also need to be ready with baby brineshrimp - read up on hatching them.

Your leucistic is 'dirty' meaning he is heavily marked, but it depend on the genetics as to what the babies will be.

 

[Jaade95]

Hi there, thank you for your response! I've only had the one on the top for a few months, when he first came to me he was mainly dark coloured and now he seems to be changing his colours around lol! It was a little worrying as the person who used to own him said he started off completely white all over with the black eyes then a few years after having him he started to change, but he still eats fine and does everything an axo would normally do lol. I'll add some more photos for you! The mumma hasn't got black eyes so I was told she is albino?

I've now got them in a tub off of the plants and have separated any that were in group.

Lol the worm got eaten as a whole by the mumma! :rofl:

 

[Jaade95]

Here are a picture of the eggs, they have little bits of sand round them where they were in the main tank which has sand. The eggs are black on one side and white on the other? I have a few juveniles in the tank (which is only temporary and there have been no fighting or bullying) but they're not old enough to reproduce yet I don't think as they're only small.

I've attached a picture of the eggs, but you can't really see the white side to them but they're half and half

 

[auntiejude]

Those eggs can't be laid by an albino - albinos cannot make pigment and can only lay white eggs. Are you sure you have the genders the right way around? Your leucistic doesn't look male.

The black side of the eggs is the embryo, the white side is the yolk - normal.

 

[Jaade95]

When I first got them the man said they were male and female and said the albino was the female? Here are some more pictures of them both. They are definitely the parents to the eggs as the others aren't old enough to reproduce. The albino was looking very plump up until this morning too, her podgy belly has gone down a little bit...

I'm glad the eggs are normal, how will I know if any turn out to be duds?

 

[PocketMiner]

I can't tell which is male or female, they both look female to me. But there is always a chance your albino female is actually just a blind leusistic. Sometimes their eyes go silvery/white if they are blind.

Just a thought
Congrats on the eggs!

 

[Jaade95]

Me either! I was just going off of what the bloke said. I'm not sure, it doesn't seem blind it goes for worms and things when I dangle them near her/him!

Thank you :grin::grin:

 

[Smoxolotl]

I don't think i've ever seen a face like the one on the dirty leucistic before. is his head swollen or something? also the gills look frightfully small to me what do you guys out there think? The dud eggs will blergh, hope I spell that right. They will be noticeably cloudier and/or will show lack of development which will be very apparent as the others develop.

 

[PocketMiner]

Is it just those 2 in the tank? Does anyone know if albinos can carry a leusistic gene that could have made the eggs darker?

But, I also have just acquired a batch of eggs from beautiful wild type and leusistic parents. they are wriggling every now and again and look adorable. I will be feeding mine BBS and cut up bloodworms.
Once they hatch I will divide them into different containers depending on size, then giving them away and only keeping about 5.

 

[Smoxolotl]

I don't think i've ever seen a face like the one on the dirty leucistic before. is his head swollen or something? also the gills look frightfully small to me what do you guys out there think?Axolotls - Embryo Photo Log

 

[Smoxolotl]

Sorry Jaade that link was supposed to go with my previous post about the dud eggs and I can't fix it. Anyway, it clearly shows the undeveloped eggs of an albino axolotl. Your axi's back legs in that picture look enormous, it has cankles! I really would like to get some other opinions on this, maybe its just me or the picture angle or something?? I'm hoping the axolotls are in the best health possible as they deserve to be.. but if they're not these are the people to help get it better