Axolotls in a dorm room?

I am going to college in New York and we are only allowed to have aquatic pets. I have some fish now, but i saw a picture of some axolotls and now i am determined to get one. I hope to learn form the advice of everyone in this forum!

Don't you just love dorm pet policies? Looks like you, me and my roomie (cavedweller) are in the same boat! :happy:
We go to college in the North West corner of Ga. I have newts, she's bound and determined to get an axie.
We can't have anything over 20 gallons...but they never put a limit on how many 20 gallon tanks we can have....
Good luck with school, and your soon to be new pet!

Hey, Low and behold .. looks like my roomie and already introduced me.. yeah so I bought like 7 fish to realize they aren't the best companions in the world.. how many you got? Then Roomie got me hooked here.. and now I be a wanting an axie. Just a word to the wise.. if you are planning to get an axi go ahead and get a tank and start cycling. You will need at least a 15 gal for one. Under Axi health/care it will tell you about cycling!! Good luck!! (to us both)

i must say i am surprised to find out other people on the site are in the same boat as me :happy:. Right now i have 5 fish and a snail. Three are glofish - pink, orange, and green, and also an algea sucker and a Buenos Aires Tetra, and an albino snail named Gary (a friend picked the name). They are all fairly small fish, and they usually get a bit of attention when people come to my room, but they are not very interesting on the day to day. I saw another kind of fish I was thinking about getting after these die. In researching that I stumbled across axolotls and now im hooked. How is it working having your pets in your dorm?

Sounds like you have quite a few fish! I have one beta that hates my guts and will leap out of the bowl just to bite me. Bad Mushu.

Well, so far...so good. Oh, and we caught two mudpuppies today, which we are setting up another tank for as I write this .

Our RA is a little suspicious of what we're doing with all the tanks in the room, but she hasn't said anything yet. The trickling water sound from the filters is pretty relaxing and makes me want to sleep most days.

The only real things you have to worry about are the temperature of your room (my tanks seem to stay around 68 at the highest, since it has cooled down they are running at about 60) and I know some dorms spray pesticides and air fresheners, though I have not had a problem!
I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have my newts...feeding them is pretty relaxing after taking some terrible exam...like last month...Genetics of Livestock Improvement Oh, math.

Do you know what you want to major in?

I originally earned the title "Creepy Salamander Guy" back in the dorms on a military base. I think the biggest risk is noise. That guy on the other side of the wall blasting gangsta rap at 3 am can seriously stress an axolotl.

SludgeMunkey said:

I originally earned the title "Creepy Salamander Guy" back in the dorms on a military base. I think the biggest risk is noise. That guy on the other side of the wall blasting gangsta rap at 3 am can seriously stress an axolotl.

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We'll probably be right there with you aquiring our own caudate aliases pretty soon...after all, we're only two months into the semester.

I'm not sure which is worse...rap or 3 am?? Luckily, our neighbor is a supply closet.

I keep my axolotls in my dorm. (I have three now, My melaniod Ansel, golden albino Zephina, and a GFP wildtype Cozam) We've been living happily together now for about four semesters.

One thing you might want to consider is school breaks, and summer vacation. Do you have to travel a long way back home for breaks? For week long vacations, you might be able to get someone to keep an eye on your lotls, but besides that, they might need to come home with you.

Other than that, they make awesome dorm pets, as long as your roomie is ok with the frozen bloodworms in the freezer.

Welcome to the Newt and Salamander Portal!
I know this is off-topic, but I see some problems with the FISH you have:
1.Both the glofish and the tetras need to be in schools of at least 6 or they'll die of insecurity and/or lonliness.
2.If your Catfish is a "pleco" plecostomus cat fish or a Siamese/Chinese Algae-Eater, it will get way too big for 20gallons. Siamese/Chinese Algae Eaters get to be 1foot and very aggressive, while plecostomus will exceed 2 feet and need enormous filters(but they don't get aggressive). If it is an otocinclus "oto" catfish, it will stay very small but will need to be in a school of at least 3.
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my algae eater is a small one, and he will stay small. I already checked that out.

As for the breaks, that will be somewhat of an issue. I am at school in New York, but my home is New Jersey. I know they are illegal in New Jersey. I was hoping to get mine on the way back to school after Christmas break... We'll see how it goes. My real issue will be this summer. But i may be spending that in Buffalo anyway.

Im really looking forward to getting my new little axolotl!

unfortunately we live to far away from each other, or else i had a very beautiful Axo for you. Good luck with them already

regards Joost

it is indeed too bad.