Question: What to do with axolotl eggs?

[jordania33]

I'm new to owning axolotls and this is my first post here. I've run into a bit of an interesting situation and looking for some guidance, so any advice would be awesome!
A month ago I bought three axolotls from a woman who told me they were all six month old females. Two nights ago, I noticed one of them had a very swollen and red cloaca, but otherwise was acting normal and active. I assumed she was constipated, and maybe that was the case. All I know is that this morning I woke up to find at least a hundred floating balls attached to my plants. It would appear that these are eggs...which would mean one of my lovely ladies is actually a male. I have no idea which one it is, or which was pregnant, but to say the least, I was not expecting this.

I read up on breeding a little, but I'm still a little unsure about what to do here. Some people mentioned leaving the eggs and the parents will eat them and that this was a natural way to handle the situation, but I feel a little bad. Would breeding and raising be biting off more than I can chew for someone who is as unprepared as I? I wouldn't really have any idea what to do with them once they even hatch, in terms of selling them, or how to keep them stored. I'm literally in the dark about this whole process! Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[auntiejude]

It's entirely up to you, if you want to raise babies it's great fun, if not you need to remove the eggs and cull them. I'd recommend keeeping a handful.

I agree that letting them hatch and becoming food for the parents seems a bit 'off' but many breeders do this as it's a free source of food. I couldn't do it myself either!

If the eggs are less than 3 or 4 days old you can freeze them to kill them - they have not developed enough to feel anything yet. You can't do this once they start to get a shape though, they have developed a nervous system and freezing would cause pain.

I saved about 60 eggs, sold some, gave some away, found some more in the tank, and I currently have 50+ babies.

You can find plenty on raising axies at caudata.org and axolotl.org.
You need to read up on raising brineshrimp too.

You have about 2 weeks until they start to hatch, but you can buy yourself some time by keeping the eggs cool. I kept some in my living room - hatching at 13-17 days, and some in my outhouse that hatched at 20-22 days.

If you want to raise some babies you will need some small plastic tubs and a brineshrimp hatchery (there's a tutorial on here). And somewhere to keep the little darlings.

 

[Kaysie]

Since you're brand new to keeping, I really wouldn't try to raise more than a dozen or so eggs. Chances are all of them will survive, so don't try to raise hundreds; you'll be overwhelmed.

 

[auntiejude]

...A month ago I bought three axolotls from a woman who told me they were all six month old females...

And NEVER believe anyone who says they are male/female at 6 inches or 6 months! You really can't teel until they are about 8" or 9-12 months. Even then they can have you fooled.
As you have just found out....

 

[jordania33]

Thanks for clearing some stuff up! Is it easy to sell the axolotls when they're young? Seems like most people don't even know what they are in my area.
Oh, and is it a good idea to keep mom and dad together now? Will this happen a lot considering there's potentially two females and a male in there? I hate the idea of separating them since I have a big beautiful tank for the three, but I'd rather do the best thing for them here.

 

[auntiejude]

I have 3 females and a male together, I've only had one batch of eggs, I'm not sure I'll get any more until spring. There's no reason you can't keep them together, just watch for the chase-dance ritual and spermatophores - suck those up before the females have a chance to take them. Or just be prepared to cull any more eggs.

I can't say how easy it would be to sell axies where you are, maybe you need to approach some pet stores and ask if they are interested. Have a look online and see what is available.

Or just decide to keep a few to raise yourself. If you're new to axies generally I'd only keep a few anyway - I only kept as many as I did because I know I have buyers for them.

 

[jordania33]

So I've been doing a little bit more research, and I can't seem to find a few specifics. I plan on only keeping a few, try my hand at it, so for now, I'll remove a plant and keep it in a smaller, shallow container until they hatch and feed them the baby brine shrimp, but my question is at what point or age do I start to separate them into different containers? It seems at some point I separate them by size, then later keep them individual, but when does all this happen, and what size containers work best throughout this process?

 

[auntiejude]

There are no definite answers!
I plan on keeping mine together in small groups (8-10) in take-away tubs until they move on to daphnia - but only because cleaning them out takes forever while they are on brineshrimp so fewer tubs suits fine. I'll move them at about 1" or so into larger tubs (shoe storers), and if needed I'll separate them into smaller groups if they start to get snappy.

Axies aren't terribly smart, and you've probably seen stories of 'my axie had his leg bitten off'. Thats the main reason people separate babies - to prevent chomping. People talk about cannibalism - I say it''s just opportunistic "if it moves it might be edible" accidental injury. It's entirely up to you if you separate them, what size groups you have, and what tubs you use.

I'm working on the principle that a well fed axie with plenty of space will have no reason and few opportunities to chomp another.

What you don't want to do is have 3" juvies in a tub with 1" little ones - the little ones will get injured or eaten - so you may need to keep an eye on those that grow quicker or slower than their siblings.

I suggest you pick a few eggs, cull the rest, and wait until they hatch

 

[jordania33]

I'm sorry, I'm still coming up with random little questions! How do I go about water changes? Do I just use a small net and transfer them to a new container every day?

 

[auntiejude]

Do I just use a small net and transfer them to a new container every day?

Yup. I use a tea strainer at the moment, as a net is too big for the little tubs. I have 5 tubs - 4 with larvae in, one spare to start the transfers - just rinse out the recently vacated tub and transfer the next group. Or if you just have the one little group you'll need 2 tubs - you get the idea.

I have no problems with random questions generally - I'd rather you asked questions than stumbled blindly into something you're unsure of!

 

[jordania33]

Gosh, you have been so helpful! I really appreciate it! They're starting to take form and look like little beans right now. I'm getting really excited actually haha. So I just feed them live baby brine shrimp for the first few weeks, how do I know how much to feed them if I keep them all separate?

 

[auntiejude]

You just bung some BBS in, leave it for a few hours, then change the water because the BBS die quickly. The larvae will eat what they want, and you'll see the orange in their bellies. If there are no BBS left when you change the water they may still want more, but thats almost impossible for the first few weeks.
Once you move them onto daphnia you won't need to worry about dead food as they will survive until eaten.