Axies at Petco

While browsing a nearby Petco for filter options, I was very surprised to find that they actually had axolotls in stock. Two wild types about four or five inches I would say. Although they looked a little thin, I spoke with two employees who claimed they were fed every day, a mixture of bloodworms and cooked shrimp.

Is cooked shrimp appropriate for axolotls?

Ive always read of people buying "Axolotls" from PetCo to find out that they are actually tiger salamander larvae.

I have read that too that they sometimes turn out to be larvae tiger salamanders.

But no cooked shrimp is not ideal. At that size neither is bloodworm as a staple diet. Earthworms or good quality axolotl or newt pellets are better choices as they are far more nutritious.

That's happened at this Petco, actually. There was a member here whose axie turned out to be a tiger. I was a little leery of them to be honest. Plus the fact that I had to wait for a store employee to fish out two babies that were dead.

Now that I think about it and have looked at pictures, I'm halfway convinced they were actually tigers...

Generally, I don't think people at pet stores actually know how to take care of a lot of animals properly... An employee may know a lot about 1 or 2 species, but in my experience pet store employees have not been properly educated and are just trying to sell "product".

After what happened with my sallie and my turtles I am definitely going through actual certified breeders and not pet shops in the future.

When I found my sallie I went to Petland to get some information on it, and the head exotics guy thought my fully morphed TIGER SALAMANDER was aquatic, and insisted my enclosure be "at least 75% water". Pfft, yeah. Thanks for trying to drown him!

And then when I got my turtles the man there was only interested in selling his products, and tried getting me to buy things that would be harmful to them. The tank he recommended was also way too small.

Sorry for the rant lol, it's just I've grown to not trust the big pet shops like PetCo, Pet Smart and Petland and prefer smaller, more specialized shops, breeders and enthusiasts.

The big shops can be good for finding cool toys, but when it comes to the animals I just don't think they are trying hard enough to properly take care of them.


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Don't even get me started. I just recently had a PetSmart refuse to sell me a 1" baby goldfish because I said it would be going in a 10 gallon for quarantine for two weeks while I finished cycling the 40 breeder I would be putting it in. A manager was called, and I was told they couldn't sell me the fish unless it was going in at least a 29 gallon. I had to ask if they realized 40 gallons was bigger than 29. Then he still argued. I was told if the 40 had been set up for a week, it was already cycled and I should just put the fish in there. I said no way, and he said he couldn't sell me the fish if I wouldn't provide a proper habitat. Because apparently a 40 gallon tank full of ammonia and nitrite is a proper habitat, but a clean 10 gallon quarantine is not. The fish in the store were in a tank that looked like 7 gallons, and they had 10 in there. I just had to walk out. The stupidity was too frustrating.

They really have no right to say the seclusion set up you had was not right when their tanks are smaller... practice what you preach!

I'm glad they were interested in the welfare of the animal, but a week or two in quarantine can be good for fish and amphibians. They are already stressed when being brought to a new home, a smaller area with no other animals insures they do not become overwhelmed, and gives them a chance to decompress.

Like kennels for dogs!


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Teeglor said:

They really have no right to say the seclusion set up you had was not right when their tanks are smaller... practice what you preach!

I'm glad they were interested in the welfare of the animal, but a week or two in quarantine can be good for fish and amphibians. They are already stressed when being brought to a new home, a smaller area with no other animals insures they do not become overwhelmed, and gives them a chance to decompress.

Like kennels for dogs!


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Click to expand...

"ensure" lol just caught that.

I was prepared to commit 20 years to that little fish- how many people buying even know they can live that long? He totally would have sold it if I said i would put it in the cycling 40. Dropping it in a tank of ammonia is a death sentence. At worst he'd be dead in a day, at best he'd suffer permanent scarring to his gills and a shortened lifespan. I'm glad they were looking for the right size tank, too. But dont sacrifice the chance at a great experienced home over logistics. Their feeder goldfish are the exact same species. I bet they don't hesistate to sell them to anyone who has a buck. I almost bought one just to prove a point, but I think the cramped conditions they're kept in can impact them negatively long term. Plus they didn't look very healthy.

I agree completely.


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I went back to Petco today to pick up a 20 long sine they have their $1/gallon sale and saw these guys again.

So they're actually Axolotls? The 2nd picture looks to be a gfp individual.
..also it was so hard going into PetCo and not taking advantage of that sale, but I only had the money to buy plants (40$ worth, but still)

I was really, really, tempted to pick one of them up, but I don't have a tank ready for them.