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Interested in Breeding.

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AmandaLyne

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I recently found out about these guys. So i researched it and got a male and female from a guy here just happened to want to get rid of them. He kept the male and female apart from one another. I am very interested in breeding them but have no idea what i am in for and even if mine will breed. Both of their gills are shorter then any i have seen on the site. Any comments and suggestions welcomed.

VERY EAGER TO LEARN!:p
 
Greatwtehunter

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Axoltols are like the rabbits of the caudate world. All you really would have to do is put them together. However unless they are at least 18 months old I wouldn't recommened it. This site should help with any other questions you have or at least get you started.
http://axolotl.org/breeding.htm

Now to address the short gills. Were they that short when you got them or have they shrunk since you aquired them? If you could post pictures of the axolotls and their tank it would be greatly appreciated and would help us out a ton in figuring out what if anything is wrong.
 
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AmandaLyne

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AmandaLyne

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I have no idea how old they are. I just got them. How can i tell? I was told i got a male and female from the breeder but i cant seem to see any differences. This is one of them the other was in the cave and did not want to come out for a photo opp LOL so ill have to add some later of him/her.

Any help is apprechiated






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AmandaLyne

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oh yeah the gills have been like that sincei got them 1 week ago.
 
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AmandaLyne

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hard to sa with mine lol i dont see a difference but ill post some of the other 1 later on when i feed them.
 
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AmandaLyne

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all 3 pictures are the same one i still havent got the other one he is hiding
 
Jennewt

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The size of the gills looks perfectly normal to me. I agree - female.

If you do put them together, you'll need a good-sized tank. Axolotls can sometimes injure each other, but the risk of this is reduced if there are plenty of hiding places and visual barriers. It also helps to be careful at feeding time - put in plenty of food all at once, so they don't accidentally bite each other instead of the food.

Another thing to think about regarding breeding... they usually lay far more eggs than what one person can raise (unless you want to go into industrial-scale aquaculture!) So think about how you will manage the excess.
 
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AmandaLyne

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These are the best i can get of both of them i sure hope i paid for a male and female.





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AmandaLyne

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i have added a few silk plants and did a 20% change it helped alot with the merkey water. I'll try and get more better pictures tonight.
 
blueberlin

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Comments on your setup

Hi AmandaLyne,

I know that this is a side issue but a couple of things occur to me when looking at your setup; they have nothing to do with sexing or breeding your axolotls, but with keeping them.

The light on the tank is unnecessary for the axolotls; actually, axolotls do not like light. If you need the light for plants, you should have swimming plants to shade the water below, and lots more hides for the axolotls to escape from the light.

In summer you will also need to watch the temperature in the tank closely, because the enclosed lid - especially combined with the light - will trap heat and warm the water, which is also bad for the axolotls (their water temp should ideally be 20°C or below and anything above 24°C quickly becomes dangerous).

The gravel substrate is ok-ish but the little colorful pebbles are bad - they are just exactly the size to cause trouble in an axolotl's digestive tract.

Back to your topic, they both look female to me, or at least very well fed. ;) If you can't see enlarged cloacae behind the legs, or are unsure, then we will all just have to wait for your photos.

-Eva
 
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AmandaLyne

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I dont have gravel in my tank but there are a few peices that i fish out when i see them from when we changed it over. I have added some silk plants and will be getting more hides this weekend. As for the male and female i talked to the guy whom i got them from and he told me i cant tell yet because they are 2 young be he did sex them. So i guess ill have to paitent.

I am having a huge problem with cloudy water tho. How can i fix this?? I am running a flauval 3 plus internal filter with a spreybar so that there is not much of a current. I use a tap water declorinator when i do my 20% weekly changes. But no matter what i do it seems the water stay cloudy?
 
blueberlin

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Hi AmandaLyne,

Sounds like you have the setup under control then. Thanks for not bristling at my notes. :happy:

Could the filter be clogged, therefore not filtering the cloudy water?

-Eva
 
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AmandaLyne

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Eva_

thats the thing i have take it out replaces the cartridges and it is working fine however it works better without the spreybar.

I just cant seem to keep the water clean. Maybe i am feeding them to much? How muich is normal they are fed on frozen bloodworms. I feed them 4 frozen cubes everymorning. Thats what i was told.
 
Greatwtehunter

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Did you switch to sand after getting rid of the gravel? If so, sometimes if its not rinsed all the way it will make your water cloudy. It usually takes a few days to settle but I imagine your axies like to root around in it which it turn keeps the fine sand particles from settling. Of course all of this is in theory depending on you having sand as a substrate. If you have a bare bottom tank then all of this is irrelevant and I would have no clue why it is cloudy then.
 
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    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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