Rearing Baby axis!

Hi, my axis recently layed eggs and i transferred them to another tank and within 14 days they have pretty much all hatched. Theres a couple of things i think i should do but im not sure if its a good idea, there are around 200 hundred baby axis in the tank 2ft by 1ft and i think its too small, do you think i should transfer some of them to another tank? Also, how big do you think the right size is for selling the axis? What do you think is the right price for selling them to a shop? because I didnt buy mine from a shop, Thanks would really appreciate some help

You are going to have your work cut out rearing 200! I am raising 29, which takes up hours of my time and lots of money. I know it's only going to get harder as they grow and need more space. You might want to consider giving some away - otherwise a lot might die if you have to keep large numbers of them together (it is impossible to keep water clean if there are too many larvae). You will need plenty of large containers to spread them out and will need to change most or all of the water every day. Think about what it will be like when they are all 10 or 15cm long!

They all grow at different rates and should be separated according to size. My biggest ones could probably eat some of the smaller ones I have now! Cannibalism can be a big problem - mine are (I think) quite well spread out, but I am still noticing a few missing limbs and gill stalks.

I don't have any experience (yet) of selling axolotls. I've done some research and think I can sell a few and might have to give the rest away - I don't expect to make much of a profit after feeding them for all this time. Living where I do, it will probably cost me a lot of money to transport them off the island!

Having said all this, rearing larvae is totally fascinating and I think you'll really enjoy it - good luck!

It's definitely been fun and interesting. But as Kerry said, it's time and money consuming. I go through 4 gallons of spring water just about every week, sometimes more, depending on if I need to change the daphnia water. I spend AT LEAST an hour and a half or two hours with the babies every day, water changes and feeding. And I only currently have 18 babies I'm raising. Good luck to you, though!!

You won't make money selling them to a petshop. The petshop simply won't pay you enough for them. Good luck though.

Is it true that its 'near to impossible' to raise the axolotls past the back leg stage without them dying? because i spoke to a pet shop owner today and she said that nearly every breeder in England finds it 'near to impossible' to raise the axolotls past the back leg stage, is that true? Please help

If your water quality is fine, and you have the space, your mortality of baby axolotls should be near 0%. I've raised over a dozen to adult hood. I had two die as hatchlings, one from starvation (food was not prepared and it hatched prematurely), and one from genetic defects. But I never had any problems with them growing.

By back leg stage I assume you mean when their back legs grow in.

It depends on how many they try to raise, if they're fed enough (at least twice daily), water quality etc...

You definitely won't make money, you'll probably spend more money feeding and/or caring for them. You may also find whatever axies you can't sell or give away, you're left with. Petshops won't take them all.

That's a lot of axie larvae to raise if its your first time. Do you have enough live food for them (ie: baby brineshrimp eggs or daphnia etc...)

Couple of months ago ours also laid 250eggs, of those I kept 20 to raise (as I already have prospective owners for them); the rest I gave to a breeder who raises axies successfully and sells/ships them round the country. These 20 larvae keep us on our toes, along with 11 adult axies (husband acquired another one "sigh"), cats, dogs and young children. I spend 2-3 hours a day feeding and cleaning the axie larvae, as well as saltbathing four of them twice daily as they have fungus.

I agree with the others, especially if you are able to give/sell the majority of larvae to someone else to raise . Over here petshops will pay, approx $3-$6 per axie (approx 1-2 British pounds), which is minimal for the amount of time, effort and money you will spend on raising them.

Cheers for the help guys,

I've now given around about 150 little axolotls away and am left with about 50, I didnt know the hatching rate of the eggs because i bred some blue lobsters a couple of years ago and the hatch rate wasnt great, but these seemed to have nearly all hatched

Im on study leave and have summer holidays coming up soon so time isnt really an issue (an excuse not to revise so much ), and I've got around 500g of brine shrmip eggs which im hoping will last a while. Thanks for your help again, I might post some pics soon if i can find some batteries for the camera,

i'm wondering about all the same factors right now. it looks like the investment of food and time is quite high. a lot of my work is done from home, so i might have the time.

over here pet stores sell adults for $40 to $100, depending on the coloration, and my local pet store says they'll buy them from breeders for half whatever they plan to sell them for, because of the high cost to take care of them. of course this local pet store keeps them at 80 degrees Fahrenheit and leaves fungus-covered food in their tanks. that said, i think it would be better trying to sell them directly, and know that they are well taken care of in the interum.

also, i'm thinking if you're prepared to keep at least half of the ones you decide to raise, then you'll be in a better position to get a good price for them, and not sell yourself short for all the work. and if breeders ask a reasonable price (where they actually can make a small profit), it will probably serve the axolotls as well. they'll end up in homes where they are truely wanted and will be well cared for.

personally, since i got my two adults and two larvae, i have been experimenting with different foods and sources and logging my expenses and time spent. this way i can clearly see what foods are more/less expensive, where to buy them for less, and of course, how much food i can expect to buy per individual.

I have been raising babies for over a year now.
I really enjoy it. I only raise about 30 at a time (I have too many at the min caused by Fred laying eggs!)

I dont personally find it expensive to raise them i've only ever bought 2 lots of brine shrimp eggs in the time i've been raising. I buy salt, dechlorintor and sometimes live food and i bought a huge block of bloodworm. Thats my expenses.

The time i put in is the main thing. At the minute i have 35 larvae and 10 juveniles in 6 tubs.
Water changes and feeding takes me about an hour and half a day.
This doesn't include the 4 adults.

I manage to sell them ok. Pet shops will probably offer something like £5 store credit.
I sell them privately. I dont give them away and i dont think i sell them cheap, as electrofusion said, i hope this brings people that are slightly more responsible and my little ones will be better treated than a £3 goldfish.

The money I make helps me to raise the next lot and i'm also saving up for a new tank for some babies i plan to keep.

I always make sure the people i sell to know what the correct set up is and what they eat etc.
I also keep in touch with them to make sure my babies are well looked after.
For me its a hobby, i'm not out to make money. If i had room to keep all my babies i probably would lol!

Mel

Hello,

I am trying to raise 100+ baby axolotls. At first there were a few deaths each day, then went for a week with no deaths. I have them in separate trays and i am hand feeding them newly hatched brine shrimp via pipet. I had a set of twins which had made it all the way to having front legs and looked to be doing really well. This morning I found one of the twins dead, as they are see through, it looked as if he had a bubble in his gut. There was also another death in one of the other colonies. I'm trying to figure out what killed them. I know that there will be deaths for many reasons, but was a bit alarmed that one of the "well cared for" twins died. now they can't grow up together

So here are my questions:

1. how big an enclosure will each axolotl need minimum?
1.5 what are the risks of using small enclosures?
2. what is your recommended amount in each enclosure?
3. when should i move them into more individual enclosures?
4. how long does it take on average for them to sprout all four legs?
5. should i be changing their water every day, or will this stress the animals?
6. when can i shift them to dead food/pellets
7. what are the associated dangers?

I have spent weeks reading everything on the web i could find, and most cases people only elect to raise 6-10 of the 100+ eggs. I wasn't sure which eggs would hatch and once they did I wasn't sure which ones would survive, and once many of them seemed to stabilize, i had problems killing them off!

Is death by bubble in stomach quite common, or an indicator of something seriously wrong?

I don't want to loose the entire colony!

I appreciate any help i can get, and suggestions to other resources on raising axolotls that i may not have found!

Regards,
olmxalotl

Other people will definitely be able to answer your questions. Though I can recommend that you read through this whole site: Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander. And caudata.org has many helpful pages as well. Good luck.

Hello olmxalotl,

What are you going to do woth 100 axolotls?

You can find the answers to most of your questions by reading at www.axolotl.org and here in the forum. The air bubbles mean that your axolotls are not eating enough. The bubble will go away when they eat. I suspect the deaths you experienced were due to starvation. Keep the larvae in small containers literally swimming with food. At this early stage, they can't smell and hunt by snapping at anything that moves, so they need to be surrounded by live food. It also means you can't have the larvae too closely together or they will eat each other. Once they have hind legs, you can begin introducing non-live foods (their sense of smell develops about the same time as the hind legs).

Yes, you must change their water every day if they are not in a cycled tank.

But again, all of this info is avaible at the axolotl site and in this forum.

-Eva

And the less babies you raise, the more success you'll have.
It's a human factor, unfortunately...

Raising a lot of larvae is sometimes discouraging.
Anyway, good luck.

to add insult to injury...

my breeding pair decided to have another clutch of eggs, stirred on by a recent cold snap.

i suppose i was careless and forgot about them being together since it took them 7 months to breed the first set, also i wasn't sure how soon she would be ready to pump out another batch. plus i've been a bit myopic trying to keep the larvae alive.

speaking of cold snaps, so far, i've noticed that all things axolotl tend to happen slower in cold weather. my eggs took an additional month to hatch, the babies are developing slower than predicted, and, fortunately, they seem to need to eat less.

i'm not doing full water changes daily, just half changes every other day. there have been no more deaths, and i can see that every larvae has a full orange stomach. translucent skin is a boon!

i noticed when i first started feeding them, that there would be a lot of dead brine shrimp in the bottom of their tanks, and i read that the dead shrimp foul the water.

you guys are right about the amount of axolotls being a problem. i don't think i'm going to try and raise this next clutch of eggs!

in fact, i read that the female/male will eat them or the babies if left alone in the tank. i wonder if that is the most humane way to dispose of them.

i also had problems convincing my friends that they wanted to raise them. i feel like im running an orphanage full of special children!

anyways, thanks for the help and advice. so far, no additional deaths. if you guys know anyone in new zealand who wants some eggs, holler!

regards,
olmxalotl