When to cull babies

[fish4all]

I got handed 9 axolotl babies that are very young, no legs and still tiny.

I am pretty sure I have things in control for raising them. I am feeding them decapsulted brine shrimp eggs, non hatching. They are eating well and growing slowly, one is actualy growing well and getting much larger than the other, 1/16 inch larger but larger.

The quandry I have is I have 1 that is very deformed. It's body is stuck in the shape of a comma. I feed it and it eats. I move the water and it moves the best it can. I hate to ever cull any creature I raise.

So my question is this: Is it possible for this baby, even if it doesn't ever recover from being deformed and never straightens out, to have a full life? I will try my hardest to give it a great chance to survive and thrive but I also do not want to put it through a life of misery either.

If there is even a chance that it can have a healthy life I will not give up on it. Thankfully I only have 9 to raise. I a not sure I could this passionate if I was trying to raise 50+. But I think I would still try.

 

[auntiejude]

You have 2 choices, and there are good arguments for both.

Of course you don't want to cull it, but in all honesty I would. I had some like it, and I kept them just to see if they would survive and what would happen. One turned out to be a dwarf, she has no front legs, and I know her life expectancy is a lot less than normal axies. She doesn't appear to be in any pain, but I can see her struggle with swimming and walking, and I have no idea what her insides are like. None of the other odd-shaped babies survived, and it was heart-breaking when they dies after all the effort I had put in.

And then there is a issue of unscrupulous hobbyists wanting to profit from a weird axie - I have been offered a lot of money for my dwarf because they want to breed from her and create a race of deformed dwarf axies. I'll not sell her, and I'll not breed from her - I'm not even sure she'd survive breeding anyway.

If you choose to keep it you need to be aware that it's probably not going to survive and you need to be prepared for it. Personally I would cull it now so you can concentrate on the healthy ones.

 

[fish4all]

I would never sell it if it does survive. It swims in circles now and I doubt I would ever find anyone whom I would trust to put the proper care into a deformity like that.

I am always prepared for them to die but it still sucks. Raised so many thing and bred so many accidentally that I have I have seen it many times.

I think it will get a chance to make it. It is growing better than 4 of the 9 and is the 3rd largest so far. I don't think it will be dwarf but this is my first time ever trying to raise them so lots of learning to do.

I once kept a lowly feeder guppy in it's own tank because it has a split tailfin and couldn't swim very well, it lived 3 years which is longer than most guppies I have ever had.

I guess if I see changes in growth, no legs forming and the baby just seems to be on a dead end path then I may have to. Otherwise I think it is going to get every chance to make it to adulthood.

Thank you Auntiejude.