Really Newbie Question

What purpose do the fury pointy things on their heads serve? and why do they contract? are they part of their gills?

Also my water is murky, i did a 80% water change and it is still kind of murky. I am using an airstone, would this make it more dirty looking as it moves all the junk around?

thanks.

They *are* their gills. Axolotls have external gills. They may flick them sometimes to move the water around near them.

The water may be murky because the tank is still cycling. Is it a new tank?

yes. New tank/axy as of yesterday.

Female golden albino, around (rough guess) 5 months and about 10cm.

Also, how come some other axies gills are larger than others? some of the pics i have seen here of axies they have huge gills.

depends on how much oxygen they get. if its lots of oxygen then gills are smaller. if less oxygen then gills bigger.

Part of it must be genetics as well?

Leah,

Genetics always plays a part but from what we have discussed in other threads earlier we also know that temperature (and therefore oxygen saturation) play a big part.

I tend to think of it as the genetics being the 'ground' state and the temperature causing day to day variation.

Brendan do you have a filter in your tank? Water will be murky, if you just put your tank together, from dust on the substrate or gravel but it will settle.

I think you best check out axolotl.org, read everything you can and then reread it but keep asking questions until you become more comfortable with what you have bought.

i would just like to add (and im not expecting a response) that when i bought two salamanders without knowing *much* about the kind i bought - the amount of people that had ago t me and they way they were having ago at me was rather out of order - and the amount of people that come in the axolotl forum saying they have just bought an axolotl and they ask the 'simplest' of questions meaning they obviously havent read up about them. and they do not get even a small percentage of what i got! fair enough axololts are easier to look after but they also obviously didnt know that when they bought them and at the end of the day an animal is still an animal!

Jenny, with all due respect and if I mcorrectly ...you bought an axie and came on asking questions. Every credit it on that score. But then before you had become fully aware of what you had you acquired several more and had to leave them at your boyfriends house because your mother didn't know you had them or wasn't happy with the situation.
Next we hear that you bought some sallies and again if I remember right you weren't familiar with those either. Next you were lucky enough to get eggs and started selling them on ebay.

Small wonder people get 'miffed' with you; they think you're acting irresponsibly. I try to play an even bat but every now and then I shake my head when I read your posts.

Difference is since July 2004 you have done quite a lot of things and not all of them seem reasonable. I see people try and advise you to make compromise or take an alternative course and you ignore them everytime.

Brendan is one of those we talked about when you decided to sell eggs. He appears to be someone who has bought without adequate knowledge and now must learn quickly or his axies will suffer. I hope he continues to come and ask questions. I also hope that he takes it slow and learns to appreciate his current pet without getting any more.

i already knew about axolotls before joining here. i had had one before.
and my mum made me get rid of them because i cleaned their tanks n stuff in the bath. and i got more because i had enough room to get more. then she told me to get rid of them. and they all went to my boyfriends where they were looked after just as well and had just as much room.

i still dont understand what the problem with selling them on ebay is. i gave lots of information and a few different sites and emailed people making sure they new what they were doing and am still emailing a couple of people. one of my best friends is a pure vegetarian and gives loads of money every month to the rspca and wwf and i got her advice first and she thought it was okay what i was doing - after i explained to her i was contacting the people with websites and she saw the info i put on ebay. so you may think what im doing is wrong but i have a lot more trust in her and myself and just because it is your opinion does not necessarily make it right and in the same way i know it does not make my opinion right but i do have more trust in myself to be able to give good information that the pet shops i would sell the babies to. and i do not see the difference between posting them on here or ebay. if someone did a search on google for 'buy axolotls' like they would on ebay im sure this site would also come up. just like faunology.com would come up which give absolutly no information at all. why dont you start writing to them complaining that they incourage impulse buyers!

i think your biggest problem is that im mking money from it. which is just stupid. im going to be doing exactly the same thing when i own my own pet shop!

Thanks for correcting my meory but you missed the point I was trying to make.

So if I become a veggie, give money to rspca and wwf and stop giving to pdsa can i give you advice in future?

My problem with impulse buyers is we shouldn't encourage them. By the time they come to us for advice thay have already bougght and are usually experiencing problems...the animals suffer!

As for making money I wouldn't begrudge anyone that chance...good luck and good fortune to all as far as I am concerned. Your right it would be stupid to think that making money is a big problem.

Pets-at-home will surely be glad of the competition. As a self employed person I wish you best of luck in your venture.

by saying about her beng a veggie and giving money etc im meaning that she is obviously someone that feels strongly towards animals and their wellbeing therefore i trust her judgement.

This reply is not intended to start an argument (or keep this heated discussion going).

My best friend works at an aquarium store and he told me about the Axolotl kind. I went onto the internet and viewed and read www.axolotl.org

I then proceeded to buy 3 babies from his store. He told me everything i needed to know to get them up and running. He provided me with an adequet size tank for three babies + room to move and grow.

Once i got them home i set everything up. Followed every instruction that came with the tank and everything.

I introduced the axies to their new home properly and everything was fine.

Ever since then (2 weeks ago) i have been viewing the forums, viewing axolotl.org and reading in great detail every aspect of the website. I have also been visiting other axolotl care websites.

As for posting a question of (what are the pointy fury things on their head are is a simple error of thinking that the gills are behind them. As if i remember correctly i saw an image on axolotl.org saying that this is where the gills are located. As for why is the water murky it was just a simple question and now i know the answer)

Also my girlfriend has a 5 month old axie and is caring for it perfectly.

You can't expect everyone to start out as professionals on axolotls. Websites answer questions yes. But these question are more in depth for example The appropriate tempreture for housing and about ph, and nh levels and so forth. They fail to answer the simpler questions such as Why is the water murky.

Yes maybe i could of called the aquarium place but they would of told me the exact same thing as the replies i got here.

Like i said at the start this post is not intended to raise and arguement or offend anyone or as an abusive reply because its not.

PS. why have a section here begginers and newbies if all you are going to do is criticise their questions?

Thank you.

Hi Brendan, the continuation of this discussion wasn't intended to criticise your question and I don't think that anyone has.

The discussion continued on into some points between myself and Jenny. Discussions often do meander away from the original topic but pay no mind to it. It's all about free ranging discussion.

But have to be honest and say I did take a swipe at Jenny and she's certainly not a newbie. She is at liberty to post same as anyone else.

Getting back to your original questions you say you now know why the water is murky, thats good. About the gill size I think that has been covered in slightly more depth. Please continue to pose questions if you think it hasn't been covered.

brendan, i did not mean that your question was one that is not good to ask after buying them. but some people ask what the water type should be (temperature, ph etc) and say the person who has bought it has put the axy in a cold water tank and they *did* need warm water and *say* a really acidic ph.

Is a 5 months old axi 10cm? I thought they would be bigger by then or am I an idiot?

theyre usually bigger. depends how much they are fed though

im just going on a logical sequence.

Someone elses axie is 10 months and is 20 cm. So logic would say 5 months 10 cm.

not really because pretty much everything - even humans have different growing rates (like blokes seem to just shoot up over night in height at some point in their teens). it is possible that some axies that happens to. every axy is different. but at 5 months i think (but i could be wrong) they tend to be bigger than 10 cms. i have one that is about 6 months old who is about 17cms. at six months old is when they sexually mature so that is why i thought theyd be bigger at 5 months

i have one that i *think* is around 4 months old and he is about 12cm. but i only think thats his age i cant even remember when i bought him. it just seems like a couple of months ago. although im sure it was the summer holidays which was 4 months ago plus he wasnt new born when i bought him

and i also had one who was the same age (but he died a few weeks ago) who was about 6-7cms

hmmm... ok im just confused now

ive tried looking previously on how they develop in size over time but ive never really found anything as they grow at different rates.

Axies develoe at different rates, and from mine and others experience have noticed that there is no sure way for telling how old an animal is.

Jenny, i have noticed that you keep posting that axolotls mature at 6 months, i have to say that it is possible for them to mature at this age but it is more common for them to mature between the ages of 8months to 1 year.

Please take note of what it says on Johns site:

'Axolotls can reach sexual maturity anywhere between 5 months and several years, depending on frequency and quality of food, and the water temperature and conditions in which the animals are kept. My personal record for a fully mature male is just under 6 months (at 25 cm or 10 inches).'