Dont you wish you could handle them

D

DingoDoo

Guest
Axolotls are so cute and the wanting look they always give you. I just wish they were not water based so you could have them walk over you and handle them like you would like something like a leopard gecko.

Mine always crave attention and they comer upto the glass and you know they want to play but its so frustrating that you cant put hand in bring them out and let them walk about.

am I the only one that thinks that?
 
I personally wish I never had to handle them but sometimes it's just unavoidable. They certainly don't like being picked up although some seem much more relaxed about the whole thing than others. They are definately a look and really try and avoid touching type pet. I find the attraction in their bizarre appearance and range of colours and not in wanting to cuddle or stroke them.

Don't worry though as I'm sure you are not alone in wanting some physical contact with your pet.


Regards Neil
 
Just sometimes. But I would really like to squeeze those little cheeks.
 
DingoDoo said:
Mine always crave attention and they comer upto the glass and you know they want to play but its so frustrating that you cant put hand in bring them out and let them walk about.
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Not to be a killjoy, but axolotls do not crave attention. It is most likely craving food, that's why some will follow you around the tank.

I agree with Niel, I don't even like handling my axolotls when it's needed, especially the monsterous ones because they obviously don't enjoy it and the way some of them thrash about scares me almost as much as it scares them. They can seriously injure themselves if they flip out of your hands so sometimes I coax them into a submerged fish bag, usually just the ones that are around a foot long.

I gain nothing from handling them and neither do they, we're in two separate worlds.
 
Jake said:
I agree with Niel, I don't even like handling my axolotls when it's needed, especially the monsterous ones because they obviously don't enjoy it and the way some of them thrash about scares me almost as much as it scares them.
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This ^. Both an axolotl and I almost had a heart attack when he thought my finger was food.the less I have to touch them the better for me.
I love watching them,especially around feeding time but if I can get away without actually having to handle them I'll always opt for that option.




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Almost al the time!!! But I found out you are not supposed to, even in the water! It is supposed to be bad for their skin. But I just whish I could hug it all the time!
 
Mine just won't let go and keeps hanging on my poor finger as long as she can. :rolleyes:
Silly salamand'rs.
 
Wait Axolotl bites are painful? I didn't think they had teeth...
 
they do have teeth, but they are dull gummy teeth that are for gripping and not biting. It just feels like someone squeezing your finger.
 
They do have teeth, I remember someone posted a photo on here quite recently which clearly showed them. I'm not sure an axolotl bite could be classed as painful unless you were a small prey item.


Regards Neil
 
I don't wish that at all! I'm happy by just watching :D !
In the beginning I had the same thought about wanting to handle them. This was until Pachua sucked up my finger and didn't want to let go.
It didn't hurt at all but it was kinda freaky to see a rather large part of my finger disappear in his tiny axie body. He has grown a lot since then and I don't want to know how much of my finger he can try to swallow now!:eek:
 
I'm fine not handling, but when I talk about them, most people suddenly become much less interested when I tell them its not a "take out and play with" pet. I get a lot of "that would be so cool if..."
So I take my tarantula out of its tank. They very quickly decide that pet in tank is just fine.
 
It's so funny how different axolotls almost have different personalities! I don't like having my hands in the water, and scrub them to the elbows with a ph-neutral soap before I have to, but my little axie Puck is handfed and at first he would nip at my fingers, which was so cute I would let him. If you stay calm and don't freak out it's very funny. When I first got him, he was very sick, and puked up a LOT of stones from the pet store plus at least 4 tiny live snails. I have no idea where they came from. But during his poorly phase I actually couldn't stop myself very gently rubbing his belly after he was sick, maybe not so much rubbing it but verrrry gently waving the water underneath him as if I was tickling his belly, and that appeared to soothe him. Anyway as a result we seemed to bond and now after I feed him he won't bother nipping me but kind of 'wriggles' into my hand - when he does that, if I hold my cupped hand in the tank he will sit in it and nestle into my hand with his tail curled under like a little lizard. He will have a little 'cuddle' and then swim off happily. He's a funny little thing! I often try to get a picture but it's a bit tricky one handed... I also every morning do my makeup just next to the tank and every day, without fail he will come and watch me. But my other one just isn't interested... She won't handfeed (she doesn't mind chopsticks) and she's not very interested in being watched. But she is definitely the pretty one!

They are such funny little creatures - I often wonder if they might actually just be little aliens! :ufo:
 
snootyfox said:
It's so funny how different axolotls almost have different personalities! I don't like having my hands in the water, and scrub them to the elbows with a ph-neutral soap before I have to, but my little axie Puck is handfed and at first he would nip at my fingers, which was so cute I would let him. If you stay calm and don't freak out it's very funny. When I first got him, he was very sick, and puked up a LOT of stones from the pet store plus at least 4 tiny live snails. I have no idea where they came from. But during his poorly phase I actually couldn't stop myself very gently rubbing his belly after he was sick, maybe not so much rubbing it but verrrry gently waving the water underneath him as if I was tickling his belly, and that appeared to soothe him. Anyway as a result we seemed to bond and now after I feed him he won't bother nipping me but kind of 'wriggles' into my hand - when he does that, if I hold my cupped hand in the tank he will sit in it and nestle into my hand with his tail curled under like a little lizard. He will have a little 'cuddle' and then swim off happily. He's a funny little thing! I often try to get a picture but it's a bit tricky one handed... I also every morning do my makeup just next to the tank and every day, without fail he will come and watch me. But my other one just isn't interested... She won't handfeed (she doesn't mind chopsticks) and she's not very interested in being watched. But she is definitely the pretty one!

They are such funny little creatures - I often wonder if they might actually just be little aliens! :ufo:
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Aw, If you could get a picture of him cuddling in your hand I think everyone at the cute Axolotl picture thread would love you forever :D
 
Challenge Accepted!
I'll wait till feeding time - it's when he's happiest, of course :rolleyes: and enlist the help of my fella to get THE cutest picture :)
 
snootyfox said:
It's so funny how different axolotls almost have different personalities! I don't like having my hands in the water, and scrub them to the elbows with a ph-neutral soap before I have to, but my little axie Puck is handfed and at first he would nip at my fingers, which was so cute I would let him. If you stay calm and don't freak out it's very funny. When I first got him, he was very sick, and puked up a LOT of stones from the pet store plus at least 4 tiny live snails. I have no idea where they came from. But during his poorly phase I actually couldn't stop myself very gently rubbing his belly after he was sick, maybe not so much rubbing it but verrrry gently waving the water underneath him as if I was tickling his belly, and that appeared to soothe him. Anyway as a result we seemed to bond and now after I feed him he won't bother nipping me but kind of 'wriggles' into my hand - when he does that, if I hold my cupped hand in the tank he will sit in it and nestle into my hand with his tail curled under like a little lizard. He will have a little 'cuddle' and then swim off happily. He's a funny little thing! I often try to get a picture but it's a bit tricky one handed... I also every morning do my makeup just next to the tank and every day, without fail he will come and watch me. But my other one just isn't interested... She won't handfeed (she doesn't mind chopsticks) and she's not very interested in being watched. But she is definitely the pretty one!

They are such funny little creatures - I often wonder if they might actually just be little aliens! :ufo:
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Mine too! They sit in my hand if I cup it in the water without fail, and sniff it. I always make sure to clean my hands very well with only warm water if I do this. And whenever my nails aren't too long, I like to let them chase my fingers and try to eat them :)

One time, a friend of mine came by my room to ask fora paintbrush. I went to get one and when I came back he was patting my wild-type Sagan on the head! While Sagan seemed pretty content, I scolded my friend because he hadn't washed his hands or asked me before doing so.
 
I have two cats that I get all the interaction I need from, haha.

Hermit crabs are cool in that you can take them out of their habitat and let them play around with you - it's not like they're going anywhere fast if you keep and eye on them. :)

One good thing about axolotl's being fully aquatic, though, is that if you have a top on the tank, it's not like they're going to escape. It's not like a rat chewing through part of a wire cage or a snake or spider or lizard being an escape artist. You don't have to chase them all over the room / house if they make a run for it while feeding. :p

We were pet-sitting once and had our chinchilla in a smaller than normal cage - and she escaped in the middle of the night. I found out because she jumped on me and scared me - and I spent the next two hours finding her and getting her to stop freaking out.

If that happened with a spider, could be gone forever, hiding somewhere you'd never find it or getting outside. :/

And trying to catch a loose frog... ffff, couldn't ever keep them myself.

My axolotl is great and I don't have to worry about any of that, so with the cats to bother (and be bothered by), it's a good trade off for me. :)
 
Ok so here it is - not the best pic as my picture taking hand was in the water - but this is what he does. He will nip at me until I put my hand like this and then will sit in it for anything up to ten minutes before swimming off again! I had no idea why he was doing this - but looking at my hand it seems the same colour as him - perhaps he thinks my hand is mummy! (or, worryingly, a lady handsolotl...!)

x
 

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