Keeping Axie's Outside!!

[flacky]

Hey guys!

Im heading to Greece in April, to windsurf for a year!

and ive got a mature axie that my mum and myself are quite fond of!

Since its getting to big, and hard to feed in my study! we are thinking of buying an huge outside circular pond.

The question to you, IS!

What sort of things should i do, to ensure that my axie stays nice and safe whilst out in the elements!

Cheers Steve

[Sharon]

If you're in Australia how will you keep it cool enough for the axolotl?

What about stray cats? Large birds? Debris falling in the container?

Contaminants from neighbors?

We have a small pond - its frequently raided by passing herons and cranes and they like to return to their usually hassle free buffet. The only saving grace for me is it keeps down the goldfish population. The larger goldfish are protected in the center of the pond with a lacing of large - small branches covered with a shade cloth.

I'd love to put all my axolotls out there - after removing the goldfish - but what about the dragonfly explosion every spring? Aren't the larvae dangerous? With so many wild birds visiting the pond what about stray parasites and vicious organisms they bring with them?

And its not just the cranes & herons. A lot of birds like to visit my mangrove container. I have duckweed, a water lily, mangroves and guppies in it. I frequently see smaller birds perched on the edges and sometimes on the lily inside of it. Its a large circular container - probably holds 5 gallons of water.

I don't have a lot of issues with stray cats in my yard because my dog keeps them away. usually. But sometimes they get bold and come into the inner yard.

I don't have to worry about contaminants from my neighbors as we live remotely but I hear a lot of people complaining at the pond place about how their neighbor used pesticide and it drifted into their pond, a cloud of gas passed over them, neighbors kids threw in cookies, the dog took a romp in the pond. Most of those people have larger ponds too.

Because of the birds - I never even considered (seriously anyway) putting my axolotls outside. So I've never measured the temp in the height of summer. (113F) Maybe it stays cool enough but I'm willing to bet my smaller bench water feature does not.

I think you should just buy a larger tank and keep him well protected inside.

Sharon

[Jennewt]

The pond would need to be in full shade, so it doesn't get hot. It would need a secure mesh cover to keep out predators. It would need to be fairly deep in order for the water to stay cool. It can be done, but I'm not sure it's worth the work and the various risks. Another option might be find a friend who would like to adopt the animal for a year.