Question: Taking my axie on vacation- question on how to do this best.

So, I am taking my axolotl back home with me for my week long spring break (i am in college and about 3 hours south of home.) I don't want to leave him here because I don't think anyone could take care of him good enough or even know what to do with him- most of my friends don't even know what an axolotl is. And after reading the horrible things that have happened to other peoples axies after a vacation, I can't stand to leave him.

Sooooo, I bought him a small critter cage that i will fill with water from his tank and maybe a bit of sand so it is as close as possible to his actual home. I will take most of the water out of my tank and transport that with me as well. I was just wondering if there is anything I could do to make this move a little less stressful. maybe put him in his little critter cage and fridge him before the ride up? Or would this be more stressful?

I will also have to move him again in the summer in a month and a half.

I was just wondering if there was anything more I could do to keep him comfy and happy on his ride.

thanks!
skilly

I would recommend leaving your axie at college without care. The dangers from vacations are due to petsitters who mess up. There is very little danger from leaving the axie alone for a week. Just be sure the tank is good and clean before you go. One week without care is NO PROBLEM for a healthy axie.

When you do need to move him this summer, you may find that the critter cage will slosh water all over your car. You'll need to have it inside a cooler or at least a big plastic bag. You do need to keep him cool in transit, but I don't think fridging him in advance will help.

Normally I agree entirely with Jennewt but I'm not sure your axolotl is fully grown nor in the best of health. From your previous posts you seem to have rescued a juvenile one with problems.

If there is space for a really big container in the fridge at college it may be the best option to put your axolotl there for the week. It will not starve at low temperatures and will not have the trauma of two long journeys.

Yeah my little Kahlua is not fully grown and I was worried that he might starve if i left him all alone for that long. He is healthy and in much better shape than when i rescued him from the pet shop. His arms are growing back and looking much better. He is a hungry little guy though because he is still growing and regenerating limbs. If i put him in the fridge wouldn't he still need daily water changes?

It depends on how big a volume you use and what the pH is. How big is Kahula?

He is about 11 cm long

At 11cm a week without food at room temperature of 20C is a bit too long for comfort. If you can get a decent sized container in the fridge, 5L or about one and a half US gallons or more, and make sure the ph is below 7.5 you will not have problems with ammonia toxicity in a week. Change the water before re-warming as ammonia is more toxic at higher temperatures.

If you decide to take him with you I would use a cool box and not bother taking any sand. It will shake around during transport.

Hmmmmmmmm ok I will see what I can do. Thanks for the suggestions and everything I just want what is best for the little guy. :happy: If I decide to fridge him in a big container, will he still need food? should I put blackworms in there with him?

I've no experience with blackworms, they are not available over here. I would not put much food in. You do not want an axolotl which stuffs itself and then regurgitates stomach contents. A few worms only may slowly disappear!

As far as I can tell at between 5C and 7C axolotls digest about the same in a week as in a day at 20C. You will not have a starved axolotl in a week.

Ok good, I just don't want him to starve. He is pretty fat anyway so he should be ok.

Thanks

Just an update:
Kahlua had a great spring break haha. I did decide to take him with me. The traveling didnt seem to bother him and he loved all the extra attention he got from my family.

What worked best to keep him happy in the car was to put him in a large plastic bag like what you might get from a pet store for fish... and then put that in another container (the critter cage). That way there was little to no jostling around even on bumpy roads. To keep him cool I put one of those plastic ice packs next to his water bag and a towel over his critter cage.
He was a cool cruisen' critter.
He has also grown a lot and his arms are looking more like long axie arms