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Pied Axies in Ireland?

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rheann

Guest
I have a frien in Ireland that would really love to have a Pied Axolotl. Does anyone in Ireland know where a Pied Axie could be located. If anyone could give me any direction, i could let her know and I know she would be very happy. I know Pied Axies are rare here, but I don't know if they are rare in other parts of the world. Thanks guys
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J

joan

Guest
Piebald axolotls are not just available in any old pet shop. If you found one, my guarantee is that it would be exceedingly expensive (thinking hundreds here). They're rare everywhere.
 
R

rheann

Guest
whoa, I had no idea! I had no idea about the wide spread rarity, and paying so much. I hope my friend can find one, she has been looking for one, then again I think everyone would like to have one mixed in with their other Axolotls. I really wouldn't mind having one my self.
 
J

joan

Guest
I think they're so rare because they're not as hardy as natural colored axolotls. They tend to be more sickly, and just plain weak.
 
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shane

Guest
hey i asked this on the other link but what are piebald or harlequin axolotls? lol i feel stupid asking seeing as everyone seems to know what they are. is it just a rare colouring?
 
J

joan

Guest
Piebalds are animals that are white, but have large spots of 'regular coloration' on them. If you do a google image search of "piebald", you see some interesting snakes showing piebald coloration. For quite some time, we had a piebald deer that lived in our area. To the best of my knowlege, it is against the law to capture/kill piebald or albino animals in Michigan.
 
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shane

Guest
wow they are really interesting (the piebald snakes) does that really happen to axoltols??. i would love to see that. can an axolotl only become piebald from an albino parent?
 
C

cynthia

Guest
Shane - Harlequins are piebalds that have more than one color.

From axolotl.org:
There are even "piebald" axolotls in various colours, and a variety that is piebald in more than one colour, known as the "harlequin".
 
R

rheann

Guest
Awww, he's so cute! He looks like he is wearing a sky mask, I love it! He also looks like a little black and white cow, and I love cows! Thanks Cynthia for modifying it, and thanks also Claire!
 
K

karl

Guest
the last batch of axies I seen here in Dublin (ireland) were all leucistics & all really small
& very expensive (€25 each)
But it varies from time to time when i bought my axies they were €8 each - the best place in Dublin would be Wackers pet shop on parnell st.
I'm sure they can probably order axies for your friend but i've never seen a piebald here in ireland otherwise i'd have bought one (or two)!!
I usually visit this shop at least once a week just to see what's in stock.
 
R

rheann

Guest
Thanks Karl
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I will tell her about the Pet shop. I think maybe she visits that one. I am not for sure though.
 
V

vanessa

Guest
Whoa! An axie with purple gills!! I've never heard of purple colours on them!
 
P

pamela

Guest
hi the piebald, looks like what you call varigated, in the rat world, coluring or markings usually work the same way in all animals. ex your piebalds is your equivelant to your dalmation dog,also you have your red eyed rat, but is not albino, and then you have your true albinos
Again it comes down to getting the genetics right , and what breeds with what. The issue of piebalds being weak, i can well believe that as some genes can be lethal together.
My friend is a genetisist and bred the very first Essex rat, so i am going to speak to her about the genetics of axolotls. I myself have no intentions of breeding them(my breeding days are long gone
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) I just find this very interesting, as im sure they will be a lot of different markings and colours of axolots in the future.
 
J

joan

Guest
Axolotls have only been bred in captivity since the mid 1800's, and I imagine haven't shown a whole lot more variation because of their 'eww, it's slimy!' factor. Hopefully now that they're becoming more popular, we can increase the variation.

I know that color-inheritance genes are similar in all mammals, but I don't know if they'll be the same as in amphibians. For example, sex inheritance in birds, XX is a male, why XY is a female. Not quite what you'd expect. Or fruitflies! There's some complicated sex inheritance!
 
E

eric

Guest
Actually, I just read a whole thing on axie genetics on the axolotl.org site. There are 4 main types (I can't recall the scientific names) basically black, white, albino and natural. Axolotls are really freaky the way their chromosones work and each baby axie isn't related to their parents or their siblings. You get the colors by finding the ones with two recessive genes in each of your breeding axies and then breed them for weird colors. I think it went something like m/m = black, ax/ax = golden and reflective, a/a = white, but not albino and I can't recall the 4th one. The m's are the darks and the reds, the ax = reflective, the a's = albino and then there is the natural gene with makes them brown or green and spotted. Not bad for something I read at 2AM...
 
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joan

Guest
Eric, I think you're missing some things there. Lol, Go back and read when it's not 2am. First off, all baby axolotls inherit their coloration from their parents. All of them. There are 4 sets of color-influencing genes: D or d, which instructs whether color migrates from the neural crest (leucistic axolotls are d/d, meaning they HAVE melanin cells, but they never migrate from the neural crest, which leads to the 'spotted' face and back of most leucistics). Ax or ax, this influences axanthophores, which are the yellow-producing pigments. If it is ax/ax, it has NO yellow, these individuals are usually weak and sickly. I had one which died a few days post hatching. M or m, which influences the iridophores, which are crystalized purine, causing iridescence, and A or a, which are your albino genes (a/a being albino).
 
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