Axolotl Hatchling Blog

[Jack]

I had about 80 eggs hatch in the beginning of April. I created a blog documenting their growth and thought some people here might be interested in looking at it!

ISU Axolotls

It is called "ISU Axolotls" because I am a student at Iowa State University. That being said, if you are willing to make the trip to Ames, Iowa, I will have a bunch of axolotls for sale. I don't really know any of the shipping protocol with axolotls, so I am a little hesitant to ship them.

Anyway, before this starts sounding too much like a for sale thread, I would love any comments or suggestions if you see something I could be doing better about raising my little lotls. They look a little crowded in some of the pics, but I have recently moved them into even more containers.

[e80]

Are all 80 still alive?

[axolotl lvr]

Great blog!!! I love the pics and videos!! You guys did an awesome job!!

[Garrett]

Well done! It makes me wish I had a nice camera so I could have a blog of mine! I'm stunned that they can eat bloodworms at that size! Very cool.

[Grace]

If you come over to Oak-Elm (3124 Elm) at ISU I can show you what I'm doing with raising my little guys. They're a couple months older than yours so you can see what to do when they get bigger :)

[Jack]

Originally Posted by e80

Are all 80 still alive?

Not all 80. I have exactly 62 right now. Most of the casualties seemed to be just genetic (Some looked strange, some swam strangely, others just didn't seem to want to eat). This was Kipper's first batch of eggs. I am not sure what the mortality rate is for a young mother's hatchlings. Hopefully this is relatively normal and I am not doing things wrong! This is my first batch of hatchlings I have raised.

Thanks for the comments everyone! And yes, I will need to get in touch with you, gfsward!

[Lady Rassilon]

Great photos and blog record!
I haev babies too, unexpectedly, and they have just hatched - almost a week old now.
I am having trouble breeding enough brine shrimp for them (low shrimp hatching rate).

How old were yours when they started taking blood worms? I am keen to get them on to other foods so they don't starve through lack of BBS.

Thanks

[axolotl lvr]

I have a request for the blog since mom and dad are gfp can you please take some pics of the babies under a blacklight??? This is going to peak the curosity of the viewers.. I have some gfp hatchlings and with a great blacklight bulb (i have a bl flashlight with 51 led lights) at one week old I could tell which hatchlings glowed.. Its amazing to see them glow..

I would take record of how many now juvies u have and how many of them got the gfp trait with pics!!

Id love to see some pics !!!

[Emily74]

Awesome pictures! Really gives me a great idea of what to expect of my babies, woo! Thanks!!

[Jack]

The first few started accepting blood worms (very small ones) at about 20 days old. These were the largest of the hatchlings. I think after 30 days, most were accepting blood worms of all sizes.

I will be picking up a black light this weekend. I'm curious myself! I will keep you posted.

Also, what is the term for a baby axolotl? I have mostly been using hatchling, but apparently it isn't a real word according to every spell checker.

[axolotl lvr]

Good question!! I just call them hatchling or babies haha.. mabye someone else can chime in on that one!!

Im sooooo excited to see them grow!!!

[Julia]

Larva for one, Larvae or more than one

[KimYoshiko]

Just wanted to say, I brought home one of the little guys featured in this blog about three days ago and so far he seems to be doing pretty well :) Here's a blurry Instagram photo. Tentatively named him "Luke" (and Andria's got "Emmy" and "Hershel," if anybody's played those games :P)

The one question I did have was, when did you move Kipper and Wooper out of the tupperware containers and into their big tank? I wasn't figuring on setting up my 10gal until I was back at school in August, but I wondered if I should do it earlier this summer or at least get something bigger than a tupperware in the meantime. He's still only about 2 inches long and can't find his food unless I wave it in front of his nose XD

Looking forward to seeing you guys again in the fall! :)

[axolotl lvr]

awwww how cute!!!!!!!!!! great pic!!

[tusken raider]

Really great blog, so good seeing the development

[Jack]

Originally Posted by KimYoshiko

Just wanted to say, I brought home one of the little guys featured in this blog about three days ago and so far he seems to be doing pretty well :) Here's a blurry Instagram photo. Tentatively named him "Luke" (and Andria's got "Emmy" and "Hershel," if anybody's played those games :P)

The one question I did have was, when did you move Kipper and Wooper out of the tupperware containers and into their big tank? I wasn't figuring on setting up my 10gal until I was back at school in August, but I wondered if I should do it earlier this summer or at least get something bigger than a tupperware in the meantime. He's still only about 2 inches long and can't find his food unless I wave it in front of his nose XD

Looking forward to seeing you guys again in the fall! :)

Thanks for sharing the picture! Glad to see our little friend is happy!

I'm trying to remember how long they were when I moved them in the big tank together. I think they were about 4-5 inches long. The reason I waited was I heard they are a little less inclined to nip at each other when they get older. Since you have one, you don't need to worry about that! If I were you, I would just get a small storage container to use until you move in this fall. I still consider myself a novice axolotl owner, so maybe someone else on this forum could give you a better answer.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by axolotl lvr

I have a request for the blog since mom and dad are gfp can you please take some pics of the babies under a blacklight??? This is going to peak the curosity of the viewers.. I have some gfp hatchlings and with a great blacklight bulb (i have a bl flashlight with 51 led lights) at one week old I could tell which hatchlings glowed.. Its amazing to see them glow..

I would take record of how many now juvies u have and how many of them got the gfp trait with pics!!

Id love to see some pics !!!

Hey! I got a black light the other day. It's a nice fluorescent one that is also the same size as my aquarium hood light. Out of the 32 hatchlings I have at my apartment (the other 20 are with my girlfriend), 21 of them are gfp. I will figure out how many of the other ones are gfp soon. There are some cool pictures of them under the black light on the blog now!

[InsanityRule]

I actually have one of their glowing babies. 'Jean' which is thankfully a gender ambiguous name XD. I can't get a good photo of him glowing because I don't have a blacklight, but he definitely has a distinct color that screams 'I glow in the dark'.

When I first saw him I thought something was wrong with him
Turns out he's just cool.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by InsanityRule

I actually have one of their glowing babies. 'Jean' which is thankfully a gender ambiguous name XD. I can't get a good photo of him glowing because I don't have a blacklight, but he definitely has a distinct color that screams 'I glow in the dark'.

When I first saw him I thought something was wrong with him
Turns out he's just cool.

Glad to see more of the little lotls in their new homes! Yes, that is definitely a GFP. I started sorting them out once I got a black light and gave people the choice if they wanted one or not.