I have many little eggs that I've decided to rear. Thinking of my next steps?

[Ashlimarie83]

I have about 48 or so eggs that will be hatching this week, as well as another 50 or so that have reached the cute little bean stage and will be likely hatching the week after.

I have got a brine shrimp hatchery at the ready, and have ordered an extra 50 grams of brine shrimps eggs just in case to get me through for a bit.

I was thinking of raising them on baby brine shrimp until they were about a few weeks old, then moving them to larger brine shrimp, and possibly micro worms if I can. Later mixing in a diet of black worms and finally getting them to taken thawed blood worms.

What do you all think of this diet plan? I would like to raise them nice and strong so that I can send them off to other homes happily.

Also, about sending them off, I would like to wait until they are at least three inches (If I have enough space in my house!) before selling them. But I am absolutely at a loss of how to ship them when I am ready. I personally have received axolotls from across the country that seemed just fine in little fish baggies, is that acceptable or should I look into other options?

For anyone interested, I'll keep photo updates when the first batch hatches, but of course won't be offering to sell any until they are quite a bit more grown up.


Also,the mother is a Wildtype-Copper Hybrid (wildtype dominant of course) and the father is (according to his breeder) GFP and Heterozygous for Gold and Copper.

So hopefully I should be getting a good mix of axolittles, with a few copper, golds, wildtypes and some GFP thrown into the mix. I quite excited to see what turns out!

Sorry the pictures are a bit grainy. I had to use the old potato phone AND my screen is cracked to hell. Only one nicely zoomed picture.

 

[charleybambino]

My present batched moved onto thawed bloodworms chopped smaller with scissors at about three weeks old.Others I've had have not shown much interest in adult brine shrimps and at this stage frozen bloodworms are easier,
How do you plan to house all these babies?.....just seen one of my babies(9weeks) has lost his tail....and they were well fed, lots of room,plants and rocks.....and only three in the tank!!....on his own with an almond leaf now and hoping for new growth!

 

[Ashlimarie83]

I was likely going to keep them seperate when they got about 1 week of age. I was probably going to give them thier own little tiny habitats.

 

[charleybambino]

Wow.......full time job ahead!!!.......it took me an hour twice a day to clean out , sort out bbs and then feed just 13 individually house babies...each in a glass ramekin

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Wow.......full time job ahead!!!.......it took me an hour twice a day to clean out , sort out bbs and then feed just 13 individually house babies...each in a glass ramekin

I know. I have quite a few pets, so I'm pretty used to daily maintenance, but luckily I just got a new job that is heaps less stressful for more money and less hours, so these babies picked an okay time (Unfortunately mid-terms are still a thing so...).

You kept yous in ramekins? Hm, I was worried I wouldn't have enough space in the little 4.5" diameter tubs I was going to keep them in (keeping them likely until they are at least 2.5 inches). Do you think those little tubs would be okay?

I was likely going to set large gallons of water set up and kept a cool temp ahead of time so I can just dump and fill. Like with those office water coolers.

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Update!

My some of older eggs look like they are just about ready to hatch! And, my eyes don't deceive me, some of the larvae have light colored, very reflective eyes. Maybe perhaps an inkling that some coppers might show up after all??

They started hatching tonight! I started up my brine shrimp hatchery and am excited!


Bonus pics of them in their last moments of being in their eggs, and the last picture is of one of the other brood. I'm holding it because I found it hiding in the adult tank under a log. Hopefully it still develops!

 

[Stupot1610]

Sounds like you've got it all planned. I think sometimes people over complicate things for themselves, I like to rear mine in large tubs full of plants -full of microorganisms that they feed on.

 

[Ashlimarie83]

So two of my eggs hatched by themselves 2 days ago, but none of the rest of his brood of the same age has hatched yet...
Should I help them hatch or are they just cozy?
Also two of the younger brood hatched accidentally while I was removing dead eggs.
Hope they'll be okay!

 

[Ashlimarie83]

All of my first brood has successfully hatched! I think it was about 34 total. Will grab some pics when I get home from school today!

Feeding on brineshrimp for now, thinking of gettin . Daphnia culture for my other hatchlings, but it doesn't look as easy as brine shrimp...

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Axolotl Larvae Updates!

Other than a mild scare of a mysterious red spot on my axolotl larvae, which is just possibly their heart, my axolittles seem to be doing well so far!

My first batch completely hatched, and my second brood is also emerging now.

I do have a question however, I am keeping my first batch in all separate containers (even though they are probably not cannibalistic yet). They are smallish 16 oz deli containers with about a 3.5 inch bottom circumference and 4.5 at the brim.
They are super tiny now and don't seem to need the room, but am I stunting their growth by keeping them in these containers?

I will likely be getting containers like these 100 BPA Free Microwavable Kids Lunch Box Clear 4 3 4W x 6 3 4L | eBay to house them when they get 1.5 inches or so. Will that be okay for individual housing?

Also, is it okay if I just keep the low water levels and a plant, or do they need aeration to grow properly?


Here are some updated pics of them as well as my hand for a size comparison of the dishes I have them in at the moment.
(The large tub is where my last eggs are lingering and waiting to hatch, and the slightly bigger tub is where I just collected the new hatchlings today)

 

[LSuzuki]

Those containers you have now are a great size, and they will not stunt their growth.

You don't need to aerate.

Those containers you have linked have a nice surface area but I am concerned that they may be too shallow. Axies don't jump out very often, but no need to make it easier. I use some very similar containers that are about 3 inches deep. (I do recommend the rectangular or square containers, since their is less wasted space around them.)

Good luck!

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Those containers you have now are a great size, and they will not stunt their growth.

You don't need to aerate.

Those containers you have linked have a nice surface area but I am concerned that they may be too shallow. Axies don't jump out very often, but no need to make it easier. I use some very similar containers that are about 3 inches deep. (I do recommend the rectangular or square containers, since their is less wasted space around them.)

Good luck!

Oh thank goodness, good to hear! I think they are about 2 inches tall :/ And I can't really put on a lid, because even with air holes they probably wouldn't get enough circulation huh? Also it might warm up the water temp... Well, I'll see what I can do. But either way I've got a ways to go.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Ugh Brine shrimp...

Alright, I gave a few eggs, maybe 20 or so to a friend to help me hatch, but at my house I have all together 111 larvae :uhoh:

I think once I get into a routine I can do this efficiently. My only issue, is brine shrimp are ridiculously not fun. Not fun to hatch, not fun to rinse, and not fun to dispense to all the hatch lings. >:/

Luckily in about a week and a half or 2 weeks or so I think I can try moving them to either black worms (cut up a bit) or frozen bloodworms.

 

[LSuzuki]

One (of many) tricks for brine shrimp: Filter through either a disposable coffee filter or a piece of shear polyester fabric (which I happened to have and have been using for this purpose for over 10 years now :happy. Swish them into a cup of plain dechlorinated water, and pour some into each container.

 

[Ashlimarie83]

I use a coffee filter now, and 2 plastic bottles.
I'm thinking about getting one of those disc hatcheries or one that brine shrimp sift themselves from the eggs.

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Baby update!

Updated pictures of the little ones! Pretty cute so far!

I have counted that I have 21 golden albinos for sure, 43 Wild types, and POSSIBLY 42 coppers. I am still not sure, but there seems to be a good chance!

Attached are a few pics of the ones I think might be coppers, 2 speckled wild types, and an albino.

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Larvae update!

Update on babies!

The colors seem all crazy to me!! Axolotls are growing well but the colors they are expressing are not at all what I was expecting from my cross! Very confused! Will probably post a discussion about it later in another post.

Couldn't load all of them so here is a link to the album on imgur.

Axolotls growing - Album on Imgur

 

[seagull]

Re: Larvae update!

i separated mine by color morph because the non albinos have better eyesight and would eat more and outcompete the albinos
i kept them in shoe sized rubbermaid tubs and made the groups smaller as they aged
they now are in groups of 3 and reaching the cannibalism stage
they really pack in a lot of food
i hatched a whole vial of brine shrimp eggs in their first 3 weeks to feed them, keep in mind i had 80
then i bought live blackworms and put them in a tiny layer of water in a brownie pan. i took a boxcutter blade (im kinda a razor freak and i collect them from work or any hardware or grocery store that sells household items) and chopped the blackworms into tiny pieces and offered them to the babies
after another 2 weeks they were transitioned to frozen bloodworms chopped up the same way
they now eat a variety of stuff: bloodworms, brines, hatchling wood frogs, chunks of european nightcrawler, fruitfly maggots, etc...
i clean water daily and i have 11 big housings and 22 individual quarters and it uses 6 gallons of water a day and it still only takes a half hour to clean it all
it's kinda fun

 

[Ashlimarie83]

Re: Larvae update!

i separated mine by color morph because the non albinos have better eyesight and would eat more and outcompete the albinos
i kept them in shoe sized rubbermaid tubs and made the groups smaller as they aged
they now are in groups of 3 and reaching the cannibalism stage
they really pack in a lot of food
i hatched a whole vial of brine shrimp eggs in their first 3 weeks to feed them, keep in mind i had 80
then i bought live blackworms and put them in a tiny layer of water in a brownie pan. i took a boxcutter blade (im kinda a razor freak and i collect them from work or any hardware or grocery store that sells household items) and chopped the blackworms into tiny pieces and offered them to the babies
after another 2 weeks they were transitioned to frozen bloodworms chopped up the same way
they now eat a variety of stuff: bloodworms, brines, hatchling wood frogs, chunks of european nightcrawler, fruitfly maggots, etc...
i clean water daily and i have 11 big housings and 22 individual quarters and it uses 6 gallons of water a day and it still only takes a half hour to clean it all
it's kinda fun

ONLY 1/2 hour to clean??!!

I'm going to need to know your secrets. I can't tell if it's because I have all of mine individually housed and clean the plants and wipe out all of the bacteria and film in each and everyone, because mine take at least 3 hours to clean.

 

[seagull]

Re: Larvae update!

ONLY 1/2 hour to clean??!!

I'm going to need to know your secrets. I can't tell if it's because I have all of mine individually housed and clean the plants and wipe out all of the bacteria and film in each and everyone, because mine take at least 3 hours to clean.

1: listen to music while you do it. i prefer kesha
2: i remove solid waste with a turkey baster then i dump the whole container into a net
3: i have many jugs of dechlorinated tap ready
4: i fill the containers back up and add the babies again
5: i wipe away film once a week
6: i use bare bones setups