down 2 1 axolotl now.

After being a newbie and posting about my sick axolotl who had a fungus called columnaris, I am sorry to say that he died in the care of the aquarium where I purchased him. So now I am trying to decide whether to buy another axolotl to keep the female axolotl company. Has anyone else here only have one axolotl, or is it better to keep 2 so they have some company. Do 2 females get on, as I don't want another male due to them producing in the future. Any thoughts on this topic. The female is about 6 inches long and looks lonely.

down to one axolotle now.

Well after my last post, I went and bought another female axolotl. So now I've got 2 of the little critters again. I lost one last Thursday of a columnaris fungus and we tried everything but he died at the aqaurium where I purchased him. They now admit that he might have had something wrong with him when he came into the shop as he came in the same day that I bought him. The new axolotl is a black female and she has been at the shop for 3 weeks. The shop give me a half credit due to the other axolotl getting sick when I got him, and they said they have never seen this before. The other axolotl that I have had is fine, she has been in the same tank as him and she came from the same aquarium and is healthy. So I am constantly watching them to make sure they are eating. I've added some more live plants into the tank, swore I wouldn't spend anymore money and walked out yesterday with another axolotl and some plants for the new tank.

Should have given you ALL your money back ... sounds like you got gipped, selling you a sick axie they didn't even take the time to check over properly.

I'm sorry your baby lost the fight. I hope all is well with the new one and you have many years of health and happiness ahead of you.

-Eva

How do you know it was a columnaris infection?

You should have quarantined the new animal for at least 30 days, especially since you don't know the source of the infection, and whether either remaining animal is carrying it.

Kaysie hello. I have looked up the fungas and was told by 2 aquariums that it is a columnaris fungus. I've gone on what I was told. The other female is fine, she has no signs of any funny looking marks or white cotton wool looking fungas on her mouth. Both of the axolotls are eating well and all seems ok with them at the moment. Yes they can catch deseases of other axolotls if in the same tank. I will certainly remove another sick axolotl if needed and put them in a seperate container.:tongue:

You should be aware that most aquariums and pet shops don't know jack when it comes to axolotls. Even if one isn't displaying symptoms, it could pass it on to the other one.

I was speaking to a mate of mine who has been a herpetologist for 30 years. Mainly dealing in our venemous snakes, reptiles, frogs. etc. I learnt a piece of valid information off him today. I told him about my axolotls, he had them when he was a kid. Anything that lives in water are harder to look after than venemous snakes, lizards, etc, as water builds up bacteria from their poo and wee, also from leaving food in the tank uneaten and the axolotl comes along and eats it later down the track and it has bacteria on the food. I spoke to him about the aquarium information that has been given to me. Most of them don't even no if they are selling a axolotl that has something wrong with it. I am a snake lover and have enrolled in a venemous snake handling course with him. I took the trouble to learn as much as I can about our venemous snakes, and I will try and learn as much about axolotls as i can, from the right sources.