RenitaO
New member
I just wanted to share the story of my wild type, male axolotl named Odysseus.
Odysseus was sold to me by Ahughes052806 as a juvi, almost adult. He was about 4 inches. They're a great seller, and I can tell they really care for their axies. They checked in with me every day, and asked for multiple pictures when I did get Ody home.
But the real story is of Odysseus's journey from Georgia USA to Colorado USA. We used two day priority, which generally gets the mail to my high Colorado mountain town in 2-3 days. The odd thing that tipped me off first was that on day 2 it showed no updates about the packages whereabouts. After day 3, day 4, there were no updates. It was day 5, and we were both freaking out. I vowed to the universe that if it let this little axolotl find its way home, I would name it Odysseus. Boy girl, maimed, whatever. As long as it lived.
Well, on day 6 I got a voice-mail from my boss, here in my mountain town. She said some people from a shipping facility in Denver had looked me up online to try to find a contact number for me, and my work place was the only one listed! Well, I called that shipping center ASAP, of course. The nice man on the line told me that he was the HASMAT director, his name was Mike. He said his guys had brought in this box that was leaking water, and he had found a live creature in it.
Mike was so helpful. He had been keeping Ody in the tupperware found in the shipping box, with a small amount of water. Because he wasn't sure if it needed water to live, which is okay considering he had no idea what Ody even was. When I told him Ody did need water, he went and bought some distilled water from the store, and filled the tupperware up.
Since the package was destroyed, and I didn't want Ody getting lost in the mail again, I decided to drive the four hour trip to Denver that night, to get him the next morning when the shipping center opened. The next day we arrived at the shipping center. Mike explained that the center was basically miles and miles of conveyor belts, and that the package must have bounced open and spilled water, which is why it was brought to him.
Odysseus was so distraught when we picked him up. His gills were nearly gone, having been dried up without water, or hurt from harsh water before Mike switched it. Due to lack of water, his back fin had folded over and rolled up. His skin was shedding. But boy was he still kicking! He'd swim around the small tupperware angrily. We got to a pet store shortly after, got some fresh de-chlorinated water, and gave him half a worm to eat. It took him an hour or so, but he recognized it as food and ate it. It was then that I knew he'd be okay.
Thus, Odysseus received his name. He earned it even more by surviving the four hour drive up thousands of feet in elevation. We made the trek back to my home that day, and got Ody in his new home. The shipping didn't give me the insurance on the package, because technically I still got it, though I did have to go hours out of my way and pay $100 in gas to get it! Oh well. Ody is safe.
I guess the two things to take away from this are: 1) Axolotls are little troopers. 2) Don't ship packages through Denver unless they are extremely, excessively, duct taped secure!
Here's a video of Odysseus now! His gills are back in full bloom, one even looks like it has split at the end so he has extra gills. His back fin has slowly been recovering, but I'm not sure it will ever be the same. Battle scars. He lives with Theseus, a golden that survived an ordeal at my wedding. They live in a big 55gal tank
Their tank is pretty bare in this video, but I've recently filled it up with more fake plants for them.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152206761584454&set=vb.776869453&type=3&theater
Odysseus was sold to me by Ahughes052806 as a juvi, almost adult. He was about 4 inches. They're a great seller, and I can tell they really care for their axies. They checked in with me every day, and asked for multiple pictures when I did get Ody home.
But the real story is of Odysseus's journey from Georgia USA to Colorado USA. We used two day priority, which generally gets the mail to my high Colorado mountain town in 2-3 days. The odd thing that tipped me off first was that on day 2 it showed no updates about the packages whereabouts. After day 3, day 4, there were no updates. It was day 5, and we were both freaking out. I vowed to the universe that if it let this little axolotl find its way home, I would name it Odysseus. Boy girl, maimed, whatever. As long as it lived.
Well, on day 6 I got a voice-mail from my boss, here in my mountain town. She said some people from a shipping facility in Denver had looked me up online to try to find a contact number for me, and my work place was the only one listed! Well, I called that shipping center ASAP, of course. The nice man on the line told me that he was the HASMAT director, his name was Mike. He said his guys had brought in this box that was leaking water, and he had found a live creature in it.
Mike was so helpful. He had been keeping Ody in the tupperware found in the shipping box, with a small amount of water. Because he wasn't sure if it needed water to live, which is okay considering he had no idea what Ody even was. When I told him Ody did need water, he went and bought some distilled water from the store, and filled the tupperware up.
Since the package was destroyed, and I didn't want Ody getting lost in the mail again, I decided to drive the four hour trip to Denver that night, to get him the next morning when the shipping center opened. The next day we arrived at the shipping center. Mike explained that the center was basically miles and miles of conveyor belts, and that the package must have bounced open and spilled water, which is why it was brought to him.
Odysseus was so distraught when we picked him up. His gills were nearly gone, having been dried up without water, or hurt from harsh water before Mike switched it. Due to lack of water, his back fin had folded over and rolled up. His skin was shedding. But boy was he still kicking! He'd swim around the small tupperware angrily. We got to a pet store shortly after, got some fresh de-chlorinated water, and gave him half a worm to eat. It took him an hour or so, but he recognized it as food and ate it. It was then that I knew he'd be okay.
Thus, Odysseus received his name. He earned it even more by surviving the four hour drive up thousands of feet in elevation. We made the trek back to my home that day, and got Ody in his new home. The shipping didn't give me the insurance on the package, because technically I still got it, though I did have to go hours out of my way and pay $100 in gas to get it! Oh well. Ody is safe.
I guess the two things to take away from this are: 1) Axolotls are little troopers. 2) Don't ship packages through Denver unless they are extremely, excessively, duct taped secure!
Here's a video of Odysseus now! His gills are back in full bloom, one even looks like it has split at the end so he has extra gills. His back fin has slowly been recovering, but I'm not sure it will ever be the same. Battle scars. He lives with Theseus, a golden that survived an ordeal at my wedding. They live in a big 55gal tank
Their tank is pretty bare in this video, but I've recently filled it up with more fake plants for them.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152206761584454&set=vb.776869453&type=3&theater
