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Cloudy eggs?

aalysaz

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Hello caudata.

Just a couple hours ago, two of my three axolotls started laying eggs everywhere. This caught me severely offguard as
1. I thought they were all male
2. They are each around 8-9 months old
3. I hadn’t noticed any spermatophores
Now I have a container full of eggs and they are still laying !! Yikes.
I have so many questions!
1. Some of the eggs are all white. I bred leucistic x melanoid so it wouldn’t really make sense for them to be albino- are they just unfertilized and cloudy?
2. There is still much debris stuck to the gel on the eggs from the bottom of the adults’ tank (don’t worry, since I’ve noticed the eggs, I’ve put in more plants so that they don’t lay on the bottom). Will the debris rot and kill the eggs?
3. Is it ok to keep the whole batch in one container? Do I just scoop them out of their parents’ aquarium into a small container to hatch?
4. When they do hatch, is it ok to feed them chopped bloodworms?

I’m so excited, but also nervous that I won’t be able to care for them correctly. Please help !
 

aalysaz

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Attached are the pics of eggs
 

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Giuseppe

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Do you have a picture of the eggs? If the egg itself is just white I've been told that the color of the egg is determined by the mother, so I think the mother would be the leucistic.
You can just remove them from them parent tank and keep them all in a container that keeps them totally submerged.
When they hatch they will absorb their egg sac for about 24-48 hours so they will not eat. Its visible from underneath and looks like white/cream under their belly.

After they hatch they will need to be fed live microfoods. Only moving food will trigger a feeding response. I use bbs but it's kind of a hassle and I'm hoping to switch over to daphnia. Here's a good article for what you should expect as your eggs develop and then as your hatchling grow
http://www.axolotl.org/rearing.htm
And here is an article more specifically regarding food http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/microfoods.shtml

Your axolotl are pretty young and may not be in breeding condition and I've heard the first clutch often doesn't do well so be prepared for that possibility. I would also separate the axolotl because they will probably keep breeding and they're too young and it's not good for the female to lay too often. Maybe offer her some extra food to offset all the energy put into laying.

Good luck enjoy your babies :)
 

Giuseppe

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Just saw the pic and my guess is the ones that are white/cloudy are infertile but it's difficult to tell for sure without a close up. It won't hurt to keep the infertile in with the fertile eggs. Also would guess that it's the melanoid that's the mother now! Also the debris on the eggs shouldn't be a problem.
As an added note: raising axolotl larvae can be very time and labor intensive and you will have to find homes for the babies. If you're not prepared to do that right now you can make sure the eggs don't develop by putting them in the freezer. They won't feel any pain and it's a responsible choice if you're not prepared to raise a bunch of babies! Even if you do feel prepared and want babies I would recommend only raising a few, keeping alive hundreds of helpless babies is a big job!
 

Viking

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You can sell some of the eggs. There are fairly easy to mail. I sold a group of 50+ eggs and my brother took a large group with him and still have 200 larvae. I raised 43 last year so I know I know how much they will eat.
 
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aalysaz

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Do you have a picture of the eggs? If the egg itself is just white I've been told that the color of the egg is determined by the mother, so I think the mother would be the leucistic.
You can just remove them from them parent tank and keep them all in a container that keeps them totally submerged.
When they hatch they will absorb their egg sac for about 24-48 hours so they will not eat. Its visible from underneath and looks like white/cream under their belly.

After they hatch they will need to be fed live microfoods. Only moving food will trigger a feeding response. I use bbs but it's kind of a hassle and I'm hoping to switch over to daphnia. Here's a good article for what you should expect as your eggs develop and then as your hatchling grow
http://www.axolotl.org/rearing.htm
And here is an article more specifically regarding food http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/microfoods.shtml

Your axolotl are pretty young and may not be in breeding condition and I've heard the first clutch often doesn't do well so be prepared for that possibility. I would also separate the axolotl because they will probably keep breeding and they're too young and it's not good for the female to lay too often. Maybe offer her some extra food to offset all the energy put into laying.

Good luck enjoy your babies :)

Thank you for the advice! You're right. I have so many eggs. I definitely do not have enough space for them..
 

aalysaz

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You can sell some of the eggs. There are fairly easy to mail. I sold a group of 50+ eggs and my brother took a large group with him and still have 200 larvae. I raised 43 last year so I know I know how much they will eat.

Oh wow. That's a lot. Where do you keep them all?
 

Viking

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The parents spawned in a 20 high tank. I left eggs in that tank. The 200 fry are only 2 weeks old. I am feeding baby brine shrimp and baby daphnia. They cover the bottom of the tank. They are starting to grow front legs. I will be splitting group into others tanks shortly.
 
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