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New: Few questions

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deepesh

Guest
I've had my eyes set on an axolotl for a while now, and today I'll be going and getting myself a white mutant
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I've set up a 18 inch by 11 inch tank (should suit one axy, can i fit two?). At present it's got an air stone and a filter.

I've heard mixed things about the floor, but i think i'll get myself some largesih stones for the bottom rather than leaving it bare.

now my questions:

1) How sensitive are they to water problems? Are they considered pretty hardy? Or very weak? I'll of course do the necessary water changes etc. But i just want to make sure :p

2) How often, and how much should i feed it?

3) Can they live outside of water? I've read two things. one , that it can live outside of water indefinitely, as long as the body remains moist. But then i've also heard they cannot live outside of water.

4) Assuming you can take them out of water, can they be handled? They are cold blooded animals, so would me handling them cause any problems? Do they bite? Will they run around of my hand and jump etc, or are they relatively tame?

5) Anything else important I should know?

6) What range of water temperatures are safe?


Thanks a lot for your help
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deepesh

Guest
hmm looking around, it seems you need a 'low current filter'

is that a filter that doesn't move a lot of water? So the water in the tank is relatively still?
 
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anna

Guest
Large stones are fine so long as they are bigger than your axie's head.

Now for answers.

1) They are fairly sensitive to water quality as they dont have scales like fish so the water tends to go through their skins and bodies easier.

2) The ammount fed depends on the age of the axie. When they are young they can be fed everyday and as they get older you can reduce it to 2-3 times a week. Most will eat whatever you give them whenever. They are opportunistic feeders.

3) They are very much aquatic animals. I really dont think they could survive for long outside of water.

4) Handling should be kept to a bare minimum and your hands should be wet with tank water before picking up. They may try and bite but they cannot hurt as they dont really have teeth. They may try to escape your hands if they are stressed. Its best only to handle them if you have to move them to another container for some reason. A net would probably be better for that purpose though.

5) Have you read http://www.axolotl.org/ yet? it is full of useful info about axies. Plus, do u know about cycling?

6) Generally somewhere between 21C and 5C is safe but they like it to be somewhere around the 18C-15C level. Just make sure a steady temp is kept. Fluctuating temps are very stressful.

7) A 'low current filter' is one that keeps the water relatively still. If there is too much of a current in the tank it can stress the axies out alot.
 
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deepesh

Guest
hi thanks for your reply
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I got him today, i have a few stones that are smaller than his head, but are by no means small. Should i remove these?

I've had it for about 5 hours now, and he hasn't moved
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He's still alive, the lungs/gills/ears things are still moving every now and then, and when i dropped some food in, he sorta looked at it... and then moved back

Is this normal? I'm guessing it's because he's a little shocked from the new house?
 
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shaun

Guest
Axies will sit around all day, and will move around at night. If it isn't hungry or doesn't like the smell of the food then it will move away. It probably got fed before you got it.
 
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deepesh

Guest
mm the ones at the pet shop were running around a fair bit. This one literally has not moved apart from lifting its head up once or twice.

And its midnight here :p

still hasn't moved
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deepesh

Guest
ok he's finally moved .. took a few steps, stopped...took a few more...stopped


now he's moved another 10cm's or so:p
 
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jude

Guest
hi there
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i'm new too, got my axolotl a couple of days ago and he doesn't really move around a lot so i wouldn't worry too much about it
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kapo

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Prior to getting our axies and before finding this site and www.axolotl.org I used to spend ages watching the ones at the local petshop and I was so disappointed they didn't move at all, and were trying to hide behind the filter. I guess I was, then, under the impression they would move a lot more like the fish that surrounded them .

11months on I now know that axies
* sleep during the day and are as active as they want to be at night (which might not amount to much!),
* are move active when they are younger/smaller,
* or when stressed (can be due to moves to new homes/tanks - ours do when the temp rises above 21/22 deg cel.)
* or when being fed (but not always - some of ours will just ignore the jiggling worms if they are not interested),
* or when suddenly frightened

How big is your axie? - Ours are all over 25cm in length and rarely move at all, unless hungry, or when they do it's generally when we are not watching the tank!

The other thought is the active axies at the petshop may have been stressed, esp. if they didn't have anywhere to hide.
 
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deepesh

Guest
my axie is about 15cm long.

For the whole day he sat yesterday basically out in the open. I woke up this morning to find him under the filter behind a giant limestone rock.
I fed him some beef heart which he seems to have swallowed whole :S

Yesterday he bit it into pieces. Will he be ok?

He's so cute, even when he just sits there, but i want him to walk around more
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deepesh

Guest
yay, he's beginning to walk around his tank a bit more now. Middle of the day too :p

I had an airstone in there, and it blew bubbles onto the bottom of a rock.

I caught him sitting there snapping at the bubbles. Was quite funny to watch, but i turned it off as he kept hitting his head against the rock whilst he snapped.

Don't want him to hurt himself :p

He's gone to sleep again under a rock
 
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joan

Guest
Mine chase air bubbles too.

But adult axolotls are very inactive. They really don't do much. If you want to see more swimming, getting a fishtank is a better bet.
 
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deepesh

Guest
hmm but he bites the rock at the same time. It's a rather big stone, I don't think it'd be too good for axy... I keep turning the air off for this reason.

Will he be ok? or will he keep hitting it and hurt himself?

I got about 15 little fish in the tank with him, so he can eat when he wants, but other than sneaking up next to some and looking like he's going to strike, i haven't seen him actually strike yet.
 
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deepesh

Guest
LOL, ok, there's about 5 of these lil fish left now! Damn, after all my watching, i still haven't managed to see him catch one though
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deepesh

Guest
and he's swimming around heaps now
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though he swims into the side of the tank quite often, and now he's waving at me :S
 
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anna

Guest
Its always a very nervous time when you first get your first axie. He probably didnt move much to begin with because it was a new environment. He was probably just nervous. As he gets used to his new home he will be exploring, I think he will catch on that he cant get through the glass soon enough though. He sounds very cute. I love watching my little girl even though she doesnt move much. They have heaps of personality!
 
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deepesh

Guest
lol he's so cute!

there's still about 4 of those feeder fish left, i'm not sure if he's trying to chase them. Maybe he likes a little company in the tank with him.

I just fed him a bit of fish (dead) and he just looked at it for a while, and then suddenly jumped.

can they be overfed? or will they just stop eating when they're full?

His 'ears' seem to go very red when he eats, and sometimes when he's just running around it's fairly red. But when he's sleeping they go all dull. Didn't realise they change colour so often, is this normal?

My other concern is, do they chew their food? He doesn't look like it, he just swallows it. Can the food be too big a piece, so that he might end up choking? or will they know when to not swallow a piece too big?
 
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anna

Guest
They can be overfed as they are opportunistic feeders and will usually eat whatever they can get ahold of. Some will stop when they are full but alot wont. They dont actually have teeth so they cant chew thier food, but they will usually spit it out if its too big to swallow.

Im not 100% sure on this but I think the gills might go red when he is active cause there is increased blood and oxygen in them. Thats just a guess though.
 
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jade.

Guest
congrats on you're new axie!
when i first got Loki, he was a tiny 8cm, but he has grown an awful lot. My two axies do the same thing, they like to sleep under the filter... does anyone know why? they each have hiding places.
Anyway have fun with your new friend, and if you can, be sure to post some pics of him in the axie gallery forum!
 
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deepesh

Guest
hey, axie's got some black on the tips of his hands. They look like claws/nails. Not a lot of black, but is this normal?
 
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