Question: Culling eggs??

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goldenaxi

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Hi there
I'm hoping someone can help me with this question - I can't find an answer so far on this site.
We got back today after having a few days away and there are hundreds & hundreds of Axolotl eggs in the tank. I am panicking like crazy. We are fairly new to Axie-keeping and I wasn't anticipating this! I am not sure when the eggs popped out - we've been away 5 days & they weren't there when we left. The eggs have pale 'blobs' inside them. On investigation, some of them wriggle occasionally.
What I want to know is, is putting some of the eggs in the freezer a kind way of culling them?? Is it too late to do this with the ones that are wriggling a bit?? I don't want to be cruel.
From reading posts on raising axolotls from eggs, it sounds really tricky and I definitely won't have the time to raise hundreds of axolotls. I also don't have anything to feed them, but am going to see if I can locate some live baby brine shrimp. (My local petshops only sell live bloodworms which are pretty large).
Thanks!
 
Yes, freezing the egss will work. Choose some of the wiggly ones if you want to keep some, freeze the rest then put them out as bird food.

Incidentally, if the eggs are white the mother is likely to be leucistic or albino, but you may have to wait until the babies hatch to figure out their parentage if you have several housed together.

If you are going to raie some you'd do well to get some brine shrimp eggs and hatch them yourself - easy enough to do with a with a 2L coke bottle, air pump and some salt - look it up in the stickies.
 
Putting slightly wriggling axolotl eggs in the freezer isn't cruel in my opinion. It's less cruel than just leaving them to hatch in the tank without food and no place to ever escape from their parents. (but that's just my thought)

Putting a sick fish or axolotl eggs in the freezer makes them dull, unable to feel much. They are cold-blooded creatures unlike us. I wouldn't worry much about causing pain.
 
Tephra said:
Putting a sick fish or axolotl eggs in the freezer makes them dull, unable to feel much. They are cold-blooded creatures unlike us. I wouldn't worry much about causing pain.
Click to expand...

Freezing is a common method of euthenasia within the tropical fish hobby, doesnt mean it is humane though. The AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) says that using the quick freezing method is an unacceptable method of euthanasia. Research shows that during the chilling and freezing process the formation of ice crystals on the skin and in tissues likely causes pain and suffering. The AVMA says that quick freezing can be done if you first render the fish unconscious with another approved method such as clove oil, TMS (Tricaine methane sulfonate) or other means to deeply anesthetize the fish.
I would be satisfied that newly hatched eggs could be frozen humanely but if they are advanced and wriggling I would think that a certain amount of suffering would be caused.
 
Thank you for your advice. I was so stressed!! I selected the ones that were small and weren't moving and I have put them in the freezer. They didn't have the kind of kidney shape that the others had so I'm hoping they weren't actually viable eggs..... I feel terrible, but I think that would be less distressing than having them all hatch and not being able to look after them all - or find homes for them. I haven't frozen any that are twitching - couldn't do that.

Yes, I do now have 2 fully grown adults & 2 younger ones in a five foot tank - so I'm not entirely sure who's mum and dad - although I'm reasonably certain that my adult 'monster' (he's huge) is dad, but no-one is owning up to being mum. The other three just look smug when I question them....

I didn't even think about posting eggs - but now I know that its not legal in Australia - thanks.

A couple of my kids' friends might be interested in taking some once they're hatched and ready to go, otherwise I will be looking for homes!

I found the link about hatching your own brine shrimp so I will do that - thanks. And I'm also rounding up all the spare containers I can. Luckily I do have 2 spare small tanks and a couple of spare airpumps etc in the shed. I knew they'd come in handy!
 
goldenaxi said:
Thank you for your advice. I was so stressed!! I selected the ones that were small and weren't moving and I have put them in the freezer. They didn't have the kind of kidney shape that the others had so I'm hoping they weren't actually viable eggs..... I feel terrible, but I think that would be less distressing than having them all hatch and not being able to look after them all - or find homes for them. I haven't frozen any that are twitching - couldn't do that.

Yes, I do now have 2 fully grown adults & 2 younger ones in a five foot tank - so I'm not entirely sure who's mum and dad - although I'm reasonably certain that my adult 'monster' (he's huge) is dad, but no-one is owning up to being mum. The other three just look smug when I question them....

I didn't even think about posting eggs - but now I know that its not legal in Australia - thanks.

A couple of my kids' friends might be interested in taking some once they're hatched and ready to go, otherwise I will be looking for homes!

I found the link about hatching your own brine shrimp so I will do that - thanks. And I'm also rounding up all the spare containers I can. Luckily I do have 2 spare small tanks and a couple of spare airpumps etc in the shed. I knew they'd come in handy!
Click to expand...

You can ship them within australia, just not in or out :)
 
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