Egg development and hatchlings

[Kelpie]

Gregarious and Neotonic_Jaymes gave me some eggs that hatched these beauties! They are about 5-6 days old (since hatching).

Day 9 of egg development:


Day 11 of egg development:


3/4 days after hatching:








Needless to say, I am overwhelmed by the cuteness!
There are more pics in my album, I didn't want to go too picture happy in this post.
Do they look leucistic or is it too early to tell yet?

[Erzs]

Awh! Axolotl babies are always so cute!

I'm terrified of ever finding eggs though in case I care for them incorrectly! Yours look great though!

They look like they will be wildtype to me! What do you plan to do with them?

[Kelpie]

I thought wildtype at first, too. However, a good portion of the ones growing the fastest are getting lighter by the day, so we'll have to see . Thanks for the complement, I haven't lost any of the original 16 that were given to me. Hopefully it stays that way! I plan to grow them all to juvenile stage, keep 2 or 3, gift a couple to friends that have wanted some for a long time, and a breeder friend of mine will help me sell the ones I want to. If I ever have a pair that lay eggs, I will make a post in the FS section and give at least half of them away for those that will pay for shipping. The water bottle method seems to work pretty well from what I've read. I hear mailing eggs is a pretty simple process, given the weather is permitting.

A group of 20 or less has been a snap to care for thus far. Keeping a steady temp and clean dechlorinated water is the thing I worry about most. Hatching baby brine shrimp is a cinch ( in ~12 hours I have plenty from 1/18 tsp of eggs). I follow the "recipe" in the Caudata culture article and suction them with a baster, filter with a paper towel folded into a cone, rinse with dechlor water and dip the paper towel into the larvae water. Everyone has full shrimp bellies in a couple hours. I feed once a day and alternate doing 50% and full water changes day by day. With full water changes, I transfer each larva with a plastic spoon (this takes practice, lol) to an identical container with dechlor water the same temp. Works like a charm. :) I still worry sometimes, but relaxing about it and doing the best one can is working well for me.

[Kaysie]

I wonder if these are any of my grand babies. Jaymes and Chad both have some of my offspring.

[Kelpie]

Awwww, that's so cute ^_^ One big axolotl family across the United States! I'll have to ask them if they came from the ones they got from you. They're such a strong bunch, no casualties yet!

[Kaysie]

I'm a Michigander by birth. I graduated from MSU, so it's not so big a family

I do, however, have grand babies all over the US.

[Kelpie]

Hooray for Michiganders :) Oh well, any axolotl family is awesome anyway, no matter how close are origins are. I almost went to MSU, but ended up in Jackson, so I'm doing the Vet tech program at Baker.