Max, Willow and I say "Hello".

After a couple of years without pets. (and a bit of a round the world trip) My daughter Willow (7 years) and I decided it was time for a new member to our little family.

I knew we had an aquarium in storage and so went for a visit to the local fish shop with her in tow. Willow and I walked around and eventually she spotted the Axolotls. Well it was love at first sight and the two weeks it took Me to set up the tank and age the water seemed to take forever. During this two weeks I did a lot of reading on what Axies like and don't like, we had fish before going travelling however this is our first Axolotl. I also visited 3 other stores in the area who stock them.

Max is a male, black axolotl, he is about 6-12 months old (according to the shop), about 15cm long and so far (24hrs on) he seems ok in his new home. He seems a little bit skinny and hasn't eaten yet...but I'm sure I'll find the right food soon.



Over all I am VERY disappointed in the local pet shops and aquariums. ALL of them seemed to have their Axies in with other fish or in with LOTS of other Axalotls. In the end I bought one from the shop that seemed to have the most healthy fish and animals, a pet shop...but even then they had 3 in the same tank.

I suspect that Max has suffered his gills being nibbled on while at the shop. As a result he comes up to the surface to gulp air about once every 10 mins. (despite the tank being well aerated and the water testing perfectly for Nitrogen, ammonia and PH and being at a stable temp of 23 degrees.)

I look forward to being part of this forum and say thank you to it's members for the great information I've already gotten just as a guest.

Welcome Mandakins, Max and Willow!

If you feed Max some earthworm, he'll love you for life. Earthworm contains all the nutrition an axolotl needs in one wriggling package - and the best news - his food can be 'free' from your garden if you are very certain that the worms have not been exposed to any chemicals such as pesticides or fertilizers.

I am a little concerned about Max's tank temperature - 23C can climb very quickly to 24C and above, which can be deadly to an axolotl. Axolotls are cold water critters - this article on cooling contains invaluable information on keeping an aquarium cool - an essential read for Australian axolotl keepers as our climate (particuarly during summer) can present challenges for keeping axolotls cool.

Further helpful articles can be found here.

Welcome once again!

Hello Jacquie

Yes I'm a bit worried about the temp too. I didn't think it would be this warm in our house at this time of year. I've taken off the glass lid to the tank and put in an air stone, I am considering other ways of cooling in the future. It looks like frozen water bottles will be the way to go.

Our neighbours use chemicals (a lot) so I don't trust our earthworms to be safe. I went to a pet shop today and bought a tub of earthworms, thinking I would start a little worm farm of our own. However when I got home I found that the tub was empty of worms, it only contained potting mix. So I have to take it back in the morning.

I had been trying to feed him axolotl pellets, but he was not interested. Not even when I held them in chopsticks in front of his nose and waved it back and forth.

I had nothing else on hand so tonight I fed Max a little bit of beef, which he snapped up quickly.

Apart from that he is looking happy sitting amongst the plants in the tank.