Worries

Should I wash my hands in just hot/warm water before putting my hands in the tank for whatever including feeding or should i just dip right in there? I dont want to wash them in soap cos i know chemicals are bad for them.
At the moment my tank is still maturing and I am just rinsing my hands under hot water and dabbing them dry with tissue a little. Is this ok? Oh and how long did your tanks take to mature? I have a 24inch tank and about 12 gallons in it. I set it up last friday evening and am taking a samply in to the shop tomorrow to see if i can have them yet or not. wont hurt to try, but the waters gone cloudy for some reason. dont know why cos i cleaned the gravel throughly and all and treated it on friday. maybw its the treatment settling down still? Anyway would it mean i cant get them if its cloudy? the shop says its part of the maturing process. oh and also the tank looks a little green more so than yesterday now its so misty and cloudy in there. is that just the glass? its not algai green cos theres nothing live in there. thanks. oh, and also i stupidly forgot to wash over the fake plants i got from the shop friday before putting them in, so what should i do. they been in there since then. They were sealed shut in the bag, except for one which was on a shelf. quite worried about that. thanks.

I rinse my hands for about a minute with vigorous rubbing and such before going into my tanks. I have a dedicated herp-room towel that I use.

If your tank was set up only a few days ago, it has not cycled yet. Have you read about cycling?

no i havnt yet. i will do now. i didnt know thats what cycling was. thanks. does this mean i cant have them yet then?

well i just read about it and i read people are on day 11 or 15 of the cycle and are using shrimps? I didnt buy any testing equipment yet as the shop said what im doing is fine and to bring a sample of water in anytime after 4 days from the tank (but it may take 7-10 days they said) and theyll test it. if its fine then i can have them. This is the first time i filled this tank and it was scrubbed with hot water before i set it up. So it should be fine for them.

Adelle, don't jump in and buy the axies if your tank is uncycled, see my previous post on your other thread. 7-10 days is not long enough to cycle a tank. People add a small piece of raw shrimp or frozen brine shrimp to a new tank to start the cycling of a tank - this is known as "fishless/amphibianless" cycling.

When you get yur water tested, get them to write the results down and don't buy anything the petshop advises (unless it's the test kits!) - then post the results in a separate thread if you're not sure what's going on.

A 2ft tank is ok for one axolotl but will be a bit squashed for 2 axies; especially if they reach 30cm when they mature (most of ours are 30-32cm+) and you also need to ensure they have enough caves/places to hide.

another thing do you have your tank near direct light, either next to a window, under/near a lamp. This may be why your water is turning green. If so, move it away from direct light sources or cover the tank.

We wash before and after putting hands in tank too and have a separate towel.

will they do if its uncycled? im not sure if i can get the shrimp. we have the tank under the window but its not in any direct light/sunlight/heat. There are heating pipes going past on the floor, but they dont get hot at all and we dont have the heating on much. they are on a low table far away enough from the pipes etc. There is a stable lid on the tank.
If the pet shop says on the results etc about the PH, ammonia, and nitrate is fine should i get them then? because they would seem to know what they are on about.

Adelle listen to Kapo...pet shops will tell you what you want to hear because they want your money.No one on the forum wants anything except good health for your animals.Cycling a tank can take a long time but needs to be done before adding an axolotl or you may end up with more problems down the line.
For a 2ft tank I would have the one axolotl as 2 axies would be cramped.
I have 2 in a 3ft tank.

If you want a lot of work for yourself, then yes buy them now.

I have cycled tanks both with and without axies in and it can be hard work (we have 10 axies, 20 babies). If you buy them and throw them into an uncycled tank you will HAVE to do:

a) Daily testing of tankwater - ammonia and nitrites
b) If ammonia and nitrIte levels rise, which they will once the axies are introduced then you HAVE to do daily partial waterchanges, 20-30% of tankwater, to keep the toxicity levels down.

DON't add any other chemicals that the petshop states will help "cycle" a tank; or fix up pH, or ammonia, nitrite or nitrates. All the chemicals do is just temporary and will invariably muck anything up.

So, yes if you have the time to spend doing daily watertesting and daily waterchanges. Go ahead.

Sorry, to be brutal, but you do want a healthy happy environment for your axies.

If you don't have shrimp use a small cube of raw meat - we did this with our very first tank (looks pretty disgusting several weeks down the line, but works a treat!)