The New Axie on the Block

Well, I went to the Nebraska Reptile Breeders Expo the Sunday before last, and lo and behold, just minutes before they closed I encountered, behind stacks of little baby turtles, a small stack of axolotls! I made a bit of a compulsive purchase (thanks in part to my boyfriend egging me on...) of one of the little (well, maybe around 6") guys and am very glad to have done so. (Not to mention axolotls are a bit hard to come by here in Nebraska -- I was excited not to have to pay shipping!)

I finally decided a few days ago to call him/her Pepper. I bought a semi-transparent "storage box" to keep him in and it seems to be working out quite well -- though it does make it a bit more difficult to take pictures from the side. I plan on moving Pepper to an actual aquarium sometime sooner than later, though.

Just thought I'd share with you a few photos of my new guy. The first two are from last week, the second is from yesterday.

One quick question though -- because of the obviously unplanned-for nature of his purchase, he is in the tank while it cycles (I have been doing tests and water changes religiously). I used some of the decorations/hides and some of the water (and some of the "pellets" from the filter!) from my established tank, which has helped, and just started using some API Stress Zyme+, but nonetheless was expecting to see a few more signs of stress! Yet I haven't seen his gills curl forward once. Hmmm. Any thoughts?

Using ornaments from an established tank will often be enough to completely eliminate the ammonia and nitrite spikes due to cycling. As long as you are careful to pick up all uneaten food, I think it will be fine. But I would still recommend testing for ammonia often, just to be on the safe side. You can't rely on signs of stress in the animal to tell you if there's a problem.

Oh, okay. That's what I was hoping for! I've still been doing water tests daily or every other day though, and water changes every day, for that very reason and to err on the side of caution...I wouldn't want to wait until he's visibly stressed out before I do anything!! (It was just sort of odd since my other axies, when I got them, had their gills curled forward a bit for a week or two after I got them, though maybe it was because they were shipped and because they were smaller...)

I was wondering, do you think he'll be okay if I leave him without a water change for about 48 hours? I don't want to risk anything of course, but if I can without causing him undue stress, I'd like to. His nitrites have been hovering around .25-.5, though, so I am concerned that this might cause him harm or at least a lot of undue stress...if it isn't already...

Just wanted to post a few new pictures of Pepper. I just moved her to a proper tank and now that the walls are fully clear I can take some better pictures! I am working on getting her up to a good weight, and her gills have filled in quite a bit since I got her about three weeks ago.

I wish I could manually focus my camera...or...something. At least, I don't think I can with this camera. I need to get my little brother over here, he could take some awesome shots... Anyway, so please forgive the not-so-wonderful pictures.

Gorgeous colouring!

Looks like Pepper is enjoying her new home .

Jacquie said:

Gorgeous colouring!

Looks like Pepper is enjoying her new home .

Click to expand...

Yes, I'm so glad I have switched to a real aquarium so that I can see her better!

I think she is. :happy: Right now she's exploring, and occasionally giving me the axolotl equivalent of "puppy dog eyes" a la, "You know you want to feed me another worm! Pretty please?" Very difficult to resist, might I add.