Tank size and axo size questions

hey all, i have a 60 x 30 x 30 cm tank housing one axo at the moment but id like to get another... is the tank an alright size for two? and i herd once they reach a certain stage they get over their canabalistic tendencies. is this true?lucians about 16 cm now. does anyone have any idea how old he is?im sure hed like a friend cuz hes always lookin at me. hes well fed normaly once every second day.. also is the diet im feedin him ok? i feed him mainly on hot house stuff for axos, it has fish and vitamins etc in it and blood worms, ocasionaly i give him a wee bit of bacon, worms and steak... sorry this is so long

Hi Sharn, I am new here too so maybe I should leave your question to the experts but i have the same sized tank as you and i have 2 axolotls, I haven't had them long but they seem to get on fine. They are about 20cms long and haven't tried to eat each other yet - I hope they never try. I am sure that once they are over their juvenile phase they won't be cannibalistic - and besides yours is well fed. I feed mine a little bit of beef liver, some earthworms, sinking pellets and i just got these freeze dried krill and tubifex worm cubes, I haven't tried these yet but I will keep you posted. As for age I am not sure how old yours would be as I don't even know how old mine are. I have also heard that axies love company and get lonely by themselves - is this true?
Welcome to the forum!

That tank will do for a couple of juveniles. but once they get a bit bigger say 225-250mm you might think it looks a bit cramped and want to upgrade it.
I have four large males in a 3ft tank (900 long) and all get on well.
Size isn't a clear indicator of age unfortunately there seems to be lots of variation in growth vs age.
On food check out quality of life topic (loads of foodie tips and discussions)...as for food axies love many things. Especially worms. My own preference is not to give heart, steak or liver too ofen. I beleive there is an incompatability with mammal proteins. So variety is the key and every other day is fine unless they seem very hungry and want more.

hmmm was just readin axolotl.org and it says that a 120 x 30 x 30 can hold eight adults. mine is half this length but the same width/depth... surely this could hold two!!?? do they really grow that big?! i can see a 20cm one but 25-30 is damn huge!!!i can buy a bigger tank if in the long run youd think i/them would be happier. if i do itll be a 900 x 38x 38 or bigger... i just really want him to have a friend hehe!!

Yes they can get that big. In the first pair of axolotls I had the male was 13" (33cm) and the female was 11.5" (29cm). It took them 4 or 5 years to get that size though. They shared a 55 gallon (208 liter) tank.

(disclaimer: sorry if my conversion from US measurements is incorrect, I think in gallons and inches.)

how can i tell if mine are male or female

well from what ive been told/read you look at their bums.boys have bigger ones and are skinnier than girls hu are fat and have little bumps. oh and i made a mistake in my last post the tank will be 90 x 38 x 38 cm woops!!

carl - Check out this page. There are pictures of male and female cloacal you can compare to your axolotl. (scroll down the page to near the bottom)


http://www.axolotl.org/biology.htm