My first axie :)

just bought my first axie. already have a smooth newt and wanted something else. fell in love with it the second i saw it. just wondering if there are different species. it was just labelled as an axie. its got big black eyes, white, but slightly transparent, can see the organs etc, got small black dots on its head and feathery gills, only has little tiny stumps as legs and like a feathery crest down its back. how do i tell what sex it is? got it in a tank with nothing but fine sand on the bottom. i know its hard without a picture, but i cant get a decent one at the minute.

thanks, aimee.

Re: my first axie

Hello Aimee,

It sounds like you've got yourself a leucistic axolotl, I have two! Do you know how old it is? How big is it? As you said it only has tiny stumps for legs I'm assuming it's only a baby because larger axolotls have fully formed front and back legs. You need to make yourself aware of an axolotls needs, water temperature/quality, places for your axie to hide, filtration, cleanliness of tank and feeding etc (if you haven't already!) all of which are described in detail on the axolotl information pages on this site. Also you will find there are many threads on the message boards about the needs and requirements when keeping an axolotl.
I can completely understand how you fell in love with your axie! As I'm sure we all do here! I love my two to bits and their characters are so different! Have fun with your new friend, I'm sure you have many hours ahead of you 'tank-watching'!
Kerry.

Re: my first axie

Hi, it's so easy to fall in love with them isn't it.

As Kerrie said it sounds like you have a leucistic, It's skin will become less transparent with age. They develop their legs at a very young age which leads me to think that you either have an extremely young larvae or it has lost it's legs in some way, without knowing it's size it's hard to say which but I can't image it possible to buy a larvae that young from a shop, can you tell how big your axie is? I would guess it has been attacked by a previous tank mate, BUT dont panic, Axolotls have the remarkable ability to rejuvinate, Keep an eye on the stumps to make sure they dont develop a fungus (cottony appearence) when I bought my little one he had a foot missing on one side, I have had him a month now and it's nearly completely grown back.

As a leucistic the dark spots you see will become distinct 'Freckles' as it gets older (it's one of my favorite colour types) there are several colour types. Leucistic, Wild type, melanoid, albino melanoid, golden, albino golden and a very rare sort called pied or harlequin. They are however all the same species, Ambystoma mexicanum.

They become sexually mature at 6-12 months sometimes more depending on the individual, when this happens it's toes will turn black and you will be able to tell what sex it is, the male has a larger bulge at the base of the tail (there are excellent sexing pictures on axolotl.org)

I hope you have loads of fun with your new friend (I adore mine) I would love to see a photo...Oh and welcome to the forum

Re: my first axie

ok heres some pictures of my new baby, its quite big, so im wondering if theres a reason why it has no back feet or anything. trust me to pick the deformed one! ive treated the water for chlorine and everything else, feeding it on bloodworms, was eating straight away which was brilliant, got a small filter, and its at about 60F. dont have any hiding places in there yet its just sand and water as i want to keep an eye on it and check it settles in ok. any way of knowing if its male or female as i need to think of an appropriate name. named my newt bruce only to find out it was a girl!

aimee

Re: my first axie

FOG said:

ok heres some pictures of my new baby, its quite big, so im wondering if theres a reason why it has no back feet or anything. trust me to pick the deformed one! ive treated the water for chlorine and everything else, feeding it on bloodworms, was eating straight away which was brilliant, got a small filter, and its at about 60F. dont have any hiding places in there yet its just sand and water as i want to keep an eye on it and check it settles in ok. any way of knowing if its male or female as i need to think of an appropriate name. named my newt bruce only to find out it was a girl!

aimee

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Hi Aimee,

Your axie is not deformed - just very young. Those back stubs where the back legs should be are still growing into legs.

http://www.axolotl.org/rearing.htm

You won't know the gender until axolotl is about 5 months old. Honestly, axolotl's do not come when called anyway so it's not going to matter if you change its name.... Mine have names which I rarely use, I tend to call them 'Hey you!', 'Stop that!' and 'Knock it off!'.

Axolotls need their private spaces to get away from scrutiny - you will need a couple hides in there.

I'm guessing your tank has not as yet been cycled? You will need to monitor ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels daily and do 10-20% partial water changes daily depending on your readings. Any ammonia or nitrite reading higher than 0 is toxic to an axolotl.

This article explains cycling: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

If you haven't already read this, this provides information on all things axolotl http://www.axolotl.org/

Re: my first axie

thanks no its not yet cycled, it has been treated though. my newts tank has been cycled, but i didnt want to use some of that water just incase there was some sort of fungus or something i was unaware of. ill be getting a tester kit on friday, so ill be able to keep an eye on it a lot better. cant stop looking at it, its just so pretty

Re: my first axie

Axolotls are very pretty indeed, now if I can just drag you away for a moment....

I've just noticed that she (I'll call it a she and apologise in advance if it turns out to be a he ) is missing front legs? I am assuming she may have been bitten by an overly enthusiastic brother or sister - being so young, she will grow them back in no time though so don't worry.

You will need to feed her every day, as I note she is a little on the thin side.

It's great she takes to bloodworm, but have you considered earthworm as a staple diet? This will fatten her up and provides all essential nutrients. The earthworm will need to be cut up into small portions to fit in her mouth - portion sizes should be as long as her mouth is wide and 1-3 mm thick depending on the size of her mouth.

If you are reluctant to feed earthworm, salmon pellets are an excellent staple food. You will need to get the 3mm pellets while she is so small.

Re: my first axie

Hey,

Im getting my first two baby axolotls in a few weeks when their new home gets built, but I just have one question. Are goldfish able to go into the same tank as the axolotls? I keep hearing mixed opinions on the matter so would be awesome to know what is correct!

Thanks Lydz

Re: my first axie

Hi Lydz,

No, I am sorry that's not a good idea.

Goldfish can cause a lot of damage to an axolotl's feathery gills by nipping at them. Axolotls for their part can cause a lot of damage to a goldfish unlucky enough to be taken as food - an axolotl will try to eat anything smaller than it's mouth that it happens by. This includes gravel.

As you are in the first stages of building the axies home, we recommend you use sand as substrate or bare bottom floor - do not use gravel smaller than the axies mouth.

Cheers Jacq.

Re: my first axie

Earthworms are great food and axolotl's love them. They are nutritious and not messy as bloodworms can at times be. You might need to find very small ones, or cut larger ones into pieces for your little guy at the moment. Who is gorgeous by the way. But a bit skinny. Be warned, they are very addictive.

Re: my first axie

dont worry, ive been calling her a she too she ate a load of worms yesterday, im a bit reluctant to cut up earthworms, i dont think id have the heart to do it. other than the salmon pellets, is there anything else high in fat i could give her? she keeps sitting in her food bowl and looking at me. also, is she nocturnal? i know my newt is, i only see her at night treking about, but this one seems to be awake all the time.

Re: my first axie

I can understand your reluctance to cut up a worm...I only just started doing it a month or so ago myself- it becomes easy after the first cut!

Here you go, an excellent list of suitable foods for your new friend and there is a detailed breakdown of the nutricianal value of each food type:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods2.shtml

As she is still so young, blackworm is another excellent food source (more info in above links).

Axolotls are more active at night yes, but a young axolotl is just like any other young thing - awake all day and all night and very active! As an axie gets older, they will tend to just sit at the bottom and do as little as possible.

You will need to get her some hides (rocks/plants/wood etc) so she can get away from the daylight if it is bothering her (axolotls have no eyelids and can't close their eyes) or so she can just hide away for whatever reason.

Re: my first axie

thats a great help, thankyou i put a hollow rock in there last night for her to hide under, but she prefers to just circle it at the minute. how often should i be feeding her? once a day? at the minute she always seems to be hungry.

Re: my first axie

Havelock said:

As she is still so young, blackworm is another excellent food source (more info in above links).

.

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Blackworm isn't readily available in the uk sadly However we can get live bloodworm, which is an excellent axie meal, your local aquarist should stock small live bloodworm Aimee. as for how often to feed, can you tell me how long she is?

Re: my first axie

yeh its 40p for a bag oof live bloodworm near me, so ive always got that, but 40plasted me a week to feed the newt, but this ones eaten most of it in 2days already! shes about 2inches long. just about to feed her again for the second time today! hungry baby

Re: my first axie

wont let me edit my post, but ive just done the first 10% water change, she didnt mind at all, fed her afterwards and she seems fine. just measured her, shes 3¼ inches, not 2. any rough ideas as to how old it is? can you tell im addicted

Re: my first axie

FOG said:

wont let me edit my post, but ive just done the first 10% water change, she didnt mind at all, fed her afterwards and she seems fine. just measured her, shes 3¼ inches, not 2. any rough ideas as to how old it is? can you tell im addicted

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It can be hard to tell how old an axie is by going off what size it is. For example, my friend's axolotls had a whole heap of bubs. It's been 11 months since they were born, many of them are fully grown whereas others are nowhere near as big as the others. It's really up to the axie and it's conditions in regards to how much they grow. Just continue feeding the little one and she'll grow in her own time. Beautiful axie by the way

Re: my first axie

FOG said:

wont let me edit my post, but ive just done the first 10% water change, she didnt mind at all, fed her afterwards and she seems fine. just measured her, shes 3¼ inches, not 2. any rough ideas as to how old it is?

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Hi Aimee,

I'm sorry - it's really hard to say (I would say impossible but some may slap me down on this) as each axolotl grows and develops at a different rate particulary at the larvae stage to juvenile stage - the only way to be positive would be if you had raised her/him from an egg and kept an accurate log

FOG said:

can you tell im addicted

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Ok. Aimee, you are addicted.

Re: my first axie

i went back to the petshop today for more food, thought id see how its brothers and sisters were doing, hardly any of them have legs, and the ones that do are broken, juts flopping about. it was really upsetting. glad i saved this one, although shes worrying me a bit today.none of the worms shes eaten are digest, theyve obviously come out the other end, but some are still moving. surely this cant be right? when i went to bed last night she'd finished her tea, there were no worms left. this afternoon, theres about 10. im really confused. should i try her on something else?

Re: my first axie

I just got my first ones today.
Now there is 5 litle axies, 3 of them are going to another homes in 1-3 weeks.
All my axies seems to be fine, all legs are fine and everybody moves as they should.
They aren't agressive to any of they partners, they just walk&swim around together.