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I just witnessed

Boo Penguin

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Something incredibly sad. I was at my local pet shop and they were advertising "assorted walking fish" so I went to have a look. They had one guy of about 15cm in this little glass box (the kind that is on the wall that you see in lots of fish shops). But his gills were absolutely tiny, they were like little stubs on his head with a few feathery bits. So I'm thinking that they've either mistakenly got a salamander and are calling it an axi or that the little guy is not very well. I was so tempted to buy him and take him home for some TLC but I don't have to room for the poor little guy. If I had my bigger tank already I would have got him and pampered him like a do my little Lotyl.

Anyways if there is anybody who lives near Erina on the central coast of Aus who has room in their heart and tank for another axi please go take a look at this guy. He needs a home.
 

carsona246

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sad thing about buying from petstores is that it only reinforces the demand for them. I'd recomend buying from private breeders. Not only will they be healthier, but private breeders should actually know a thing or two about axolotls, unlike a petstore. It's sad what petstores do to their animals, but buying their animals only increases the number of animals being kept in those poor conditions
 

Boo Penguin

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That is very true. As a rule I get all my pets from either breeders or the rspca but I couldn't find an axi breeder around here so I had to resort to pet stores. I just feel so sorry for this little guy
 

Morrison

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Same problem with the local pet store over here... Way too many axies in a small tank (with other newts). Dead "life" food on the floor. Fungus on the feet of the axies. Skinny. Almost no gills left. Small sharp stones on the bottom.

I 'rescued' the one who was looking the worst at that moment....
Now he's doing well :D
(The one on my avatar)

(I'd also sent the pet store an 'angry' e-mail and since then I don't see them taking new axies... ready to be neglected in the tank over there...)


Pictures:
(These pictures were made a few days after I bought him. So he already had a little belly. Damn he was hungry. He was also pooping stones for days... He might look pretty "okay" on the pictures. But believe me... He looked so much worse)
 

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Boo Penguin

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@ Morrison... oh bravo for helping your little guy. He's looking really good now. So glad to hear that story. I really wish I could help out the axi at the shop but after the scare my boy gave me today I don't think I am equipped for that just yet.
 

Boo Penguin

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And his/her gills have grown back magnificently!!! Thats one luck axi
 

Dog Shrink

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It is sooo tempting to "save" these animals that we see ill kept in petshops but another poster nailed it, it just encourages them to go and get more to sell. I was sick seeing at one of our lousy petshops (one that has been known nationally for years to get dogs from puppy mills) that they were keeping a crested gecko and a red eyed tree frog in the same viv! When I confronted the owner and told him this was wrong he was clueless... he said he thought it might be wrong since most frogs emit toxins,but never saw them "messing" with eachother. Needless to say I was back there the other day and they're still together. Ugh... the ignorence is BLINDING! :evil: I don't even want to get into the shape that their leopard geckos were in...
 

Boo Penguin

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Hi Dog Shrink

What you said is very true, whilst I would have very much liked to save this guy when I was out and about yesterday I saw many axi's in a similar condition due to pet shop ignorance. I simply cannot get them all.

I wish that laws governing the sale of pets were more strict and better enforced... and it is just plain wrong to have puppies in pet shop windows!!! People buy them on a whim then toss them away when it gets too hard, which is why all my dogs come from reputable breeders and I insist on seeing all of their dogs plus the living conditions... or I go to the rspca. My current dog came to me from the rspca in fact, he had been terribly neglected by his old family... who it seems hit him on the head regularly and broke his tail a few times... but now he is the happiest and most loved puppy around. Yay for the rspca!
 

Erzs

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[FONT=&quot]The more animal abuse cases I read about, the more I want a giant prodding stick I can just walk around poking humans with! :mad:

Taking an animal you consider to be being treated wrongly in a pet shop home is not the only option. Although it's not a great thing to have to do talking to the pet shop owner is a good start.

[/FONT]
 

Boo Penguin

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Hahaha totally agree with you Erzs... shall we poke human together?

Hmm I might just do that, however this particular pet shop is a corporation type and I suspect that the big boss wouldn't listen to lil' old me
 

Erzs

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Yes I think we should, with an axolotl shaped poker!

Trust me I know how that feels. (Not being poked with an axolotl shaped poker) But if you are seriously worried about the little guy’s health don't be disheartened. Don't expect it to be easy either because the chances are they won't want to listen to you, and that can be embarrassing.

Check him over again because as you say, it might not even be an axolotl!
Also I think gill size can be down to genetics (I’m sure I’ve seen that said). Someone correct me if I'm wrong there though!


So have a good look at his overall condition and living area. They most likely won’t be interested in upgrading to bigger tanks but for example if he’s on gravel and you explain how that can have a negative impact on an axolotl’s health they might be willing to take it out.
 

Boo Penguin

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Hahaha yes an axi shaped poker... with a chomping mouth!!!

Hmm yes I have seen a few axi's on here who are very well cared for and have small gills. His housing had no gravel so I don't worry about that, it was a simple glass box. Not too much bigger than he was; he didn't seem overly stressed though. I will go look at him again tomorrow. They must be sick of seeing me by now!!!

On a brighter note my boy is doing sooo much better. I went and got him an air stone and some java moss. He seems very happy
 

Erzs

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I'm really happy to hear that! Hopefully he'll stop playing tricks on you and scaring you half to death now! :p
 

Boo Penguin

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Thanks Erzs :D

They really are very special pets, I am so in love with my Lotyl already
 

andyng00

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Ive Seen the same ignorance in pet shops here as well, and you wouldn't believe the frequency they are here, compared to other places, this place is hell for animals dogs and cats get road kill all the time with people doing them ON PURPOSE and you know why ??? because we don't have a pound here so they just roam the streets and starve :mad: and the fishes ??? they put them together with dead one's and don't even bother to do anything, i just don't understand people why is it sooooo necessarry to do harm to animals for fun ???
 

satyrlike

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Went to a local pet store this weekend that I've always admired for the cleanliness and the great care of the critters in their store. All of that changed as I went to look at their "feeder guppies". I notice that in the corner of the green water tanks there was an axolotl. No gills to speak of, the water was so cloudy with chemicals <was told it was medicine to insure no diseases in their feeders>. I asked one of my firends that worked there what was going on with the axxie being in that tank in those conditions. They said that they had bought it online to see if there was an interest an no one wanted it after a month so they put him in there so he'd be happy and eat all he wanted. After I blistered the ears of my firend, then the store owner and gave them a huge lecture on the proper care of axolotls the owner said, "Well, I could sell it to you for $40.". I must have had "that look" come across my face because my friend left the area rather quickly. I told the store owner where he could put the $40 <not a physical impossibility but would be wildly uncomfortable I'd imagine> and informed him that I'd never buy another thing in his store and would let this be known among all of my friends and I'd post the episode on the Facebook reptile/amphibian/etc group that we both belonged to. I wanted to buy it to save him but as was posted above, to buy it would have encouraged this kind of behavior.
 

PAWS

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I got my first axi for a "pet" store. I did not know what he/she was and was told all sorts of incorrect rubbish when i purchased him/her.

He was in a tank with goldfish, strong lights, water flowing like Victoria Falls and gravel bottom. He was in such a poor shape I did not even know Axi's had gills! He just had little stumpy buds behind his/her head and a short tail. They gave it 1 block of frozen bloodworm every couple of days - you can only guess how many it managed to eat before the Goldfish saw them (I am not racist :)eek:) and like all fish, but Goldfish are kinda greedy! :p)

The Axi you seen in my avatar is the same Axi 4 weeks later having taken on board the advice of this forum.

Pet shop = Never again!
 

madink

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I bought my 1st axe from a pet shop & like PAWS said, I didn't know axes were suppose to have feathery gills!!! It wasn't until I bought from a breeder that I could compare how poorly Yoshi (1st axis) really was - sadly he tried to morph & didn't make it.

I saw 3 more poorly looking axies in another pet shop. Lights so bright u needed sunglasses! Gravel, goldfish ... :( I got up enough guts to say something to the people working there. They told me they sell them with a care sheet ?!? & that's the way they always keep them !

What can you do ? I couldn't buy them & encourage more abuse.
 

danchristopher

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My LFS keeps 3-4 axolotls at a time in a little 20" by 20" cube with about 4" water depth on gravel. I think the filter is a powerhead thing that pumps out little waves. They have one cave thing which all the axolotls cramp themselves under.

It is horrible :/ I mentioned the gravel situation to them one day and the guy said "yes I heard they're better on pebbles bigger than their head" and that was it. I hoped that might mean he'd do something about the situation but no, he'd just educated himself and then decided to remain ignorant about it. They are still there, still in the exact same tank with the same terrible conditions. -_-

Needless to say; I don't buy anything from there anymore, but instead go to the very knowledgable aquarium at the end of King St that actually seem to know things about axolotls, or aquariums for that matter! I think Rayson recommended them in a post once a while back, so +1.
 
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