A few questions in one thread

Hello,

I'm a member of this forum for a while, yet I haven't posted anything in a few months now. Everything was going well with both my axolotls, so I haven't had any questions for you guys. And since I'm not an expert myself, I couldn't really answer other questions. So that's why, just so you know

Now, let's get down to business. I do have a few questions.

First of all, I've got 2 axolotls. Spyro is about 5 years of age (I don't know the exact age), and Norbert is about six months. Spyro is about 17 centimeters (6,5 inches), Norbert is about 10 centimeters (3,8 inches). Is it safe to put them together in one tank? I've always kept them apart until now. Both are male, by the way.

My second question: I've always fed them either frozen bloodworms or earthworms. Spyro mostly eats earthworms but I give him the frozen bloodworms sometimes. Norbert however looks like he's having trouble with earthworms, he tends to choke on them, so I always gave him the bloodworms. That was until today, the pet shop owner recommended me to give him live brine shrimp, which he seems to like. However, he also told me it's okay to breed guppies if I wanted. Is this true? If it is, this would be handy because it's easier to keep guppies in a tank than to keep earthworms in the fridge.

If the answer is posted somewhere around here, I'm sorry. It's just that English isn't my native language so it's kinda hard to understand everything. Plus I see different answers everywhere I look and hear different answers from anyone I ask about it.

Thanks in advance to anyone who could clear this up a bit for me.

Kind regards,
Nico

Hi Nico,

Sounds like you're doing quite well on your own! But I wouldn't put your axies together just yet - the little one is only half the size of the bigger one, and may end up injured. I could be wrong though and they'll get on fine - you could try it for a day under close supervision and see how they manage. Both being male is not a problem, they do not get territorial. Although I don't know how you know your little one is male, he's not really big enough to sex.

Guppies can be fed to axies as an occasional treat or something to chase - not as a staple though. However, in my experience guppies tend to hang around in the top inch of water in a cold water tank, and axies don't always see them. I have bred guppies with a view to feeding them to my axies, all that has happened is the guppies died from cold-stress.

Can you keep your worms in a bucket outside? I have mine in a lidded bucket in my shed - cool and dark - and they are breeding quicker than I can feed them to my axies. I have them in plain loam, fed on cooked potatoes.

You'll always get different answers - go with the majority or decide who you feel you can trust. And don't worry about your English skills - they are 10 times better than most of our French/Dutch/Flemish !

Sadly, no. I don't have a balcony or a yard. I was thinking about doing so on my windowsill, but what about the temperatures in winter? I'm afraid the worms will freeze to death. You keep them in a shed, so I guess your temperatures don't go under 0°C?

About the sex, I read somewhere you can recognize a male axolotl if you see a somewhat bigger bump (that's a cloaca, I guess?) at the beginning of its tail. As I went to the pet shop, I took a good look around the several axolotls and chose the one who had the biggest bump. I might be wrong, however. Although I hope I'm not, I specifically want two males because I'm not planning on breeding them.

It's Flemish, by the way, thanks for the compliment

So I guess I'll try breeding guppies then, I'll just not make it their everyday meal. And if it doesn't work out, well, at least I tried. I like potatoe chips and chocolate, the axies might like guppies for a treat

I keep my worm tubs under the stairs, it stays nice and cool there. You don't want them dropping below freezing.
I have bred guppies with cherry shrimp in their own tank. I also had White cloud minnow which are lovely as they like the colder water.