Is this normal behaviour?

Hi ! i am a new axie owner :] I just have my little sweet heart for about a week. She is about 8 months old.

She walks around the tank especially along the edge. In the morning, she swims around alot .... but it is funny that she swims .... she swims full speed towards the glass and then she looks a bit shock and start turning and swims like that again. She also loves to swim against the glass wall of the tank, like chasing her reflection? walking along with her reflection? she looks into her own reflection for long sometimes too !! does that mean she is lonely ???

I have introduced her air stone. however, she seems to be afraid of it. Never play with the bubble and runs away instead do axolotls interact with owner a lot? i was trying to play with her, but she doesnt follow my finger movement and she does not swim up to the surface when I am near by the tank or maybe she needs more time to familiar with me ?

does any one train your axie ? how ?

btw, how many earthworm should i feed her a day ?

Axies interact mostly with an owner when they begin to associate your presence with food. At 8 months old she is probably becoming an adult, so a good sized earthworm every other day is a good diet. Her body should be slightly thinner than her head. If she is wider than her head, feed her more..or if her body is significantly thinner than her head...feed her more. Axolotls are not social by any means, so she is certainly not lonely.

In regards to the swimming....is it a reaction to when lights are put on? And what type of setup do you have in terms of hides and size?

Does the swimming thing looks a bit like this?
YouTube - Axolotl Boredom
(It's an old vid. For the interested, they're in a much bigger tank now. Oh, and she isn't doing that anymore)
Don't really know what it is, but maybe they "enjoy themselves" doing that. As long as she doesn't hurt herself I think she's fine.
(Or what Eric said: is she doing that when you turn the lights on? They can panic when that happens sometimes and swim around like freaks)

About interacting with the owner. My axies really come swimming/walking/hopping forward when they see me walking by. But my newest axie doesn't. Just because he's pretty new and needs to ged used to the whole situation. But I'm sure he will look at me (and "beg for food") soon. Because the others were pretty shy in the beginning and now they're constantly trying to get my attention and following me wherever I go.

And about feeling lonely. I think they do feel better when they have a partner but I don't think they can really feel 'lonely' and feel sad about it.

And about training axies. I don't and I don't know how. But they like it when I put my finger in the water. They swim all the way up to sniff it and nibble on it. But when I have a new axie it takes about 2 weeks for him to learn that somehow.

About feeding... If she's 8 months old I think one worm every other day should be fine.

this is my tank set up

i dont think it is because of the light, she just swims like that whenever she feels like it ? just at any random time ^^" sometimes she tend to move less when she knows ?! i am watching her .... i was worried if that crazy swimming hurts herself or not

and yeh,,, how come she doesnt like the bubbles ? i thought they love it @@

Hey axolotls are normaly quite shy when you first get them. It normaly takes a few days for them to settle. I wouldnt worry about the swimming around thing, when i bought my axolotl "Marshmellow", He was in a tiny crappy tank with 2 others. when i put him into my 8foot tank he swam for 2days straight up and down as if to thank me for saving him.

Iv got one suggestion and that would be put the water level up untill its about 2inches from the top. I dont understand where people get this "axolotls only need half a tank of water". Mine Love to swim up and down the tank its about 16inches high. Also maybe sand on the bottom so he/she isnt slipping about ,they like to grip with there hand/feet.

Hope this helps

My Axie does that too, and always has done. She's very active, and I often find her in or on her java moss, sitting a top her plants, and otherwise swimming around as she pleases. I also have my tank filled all the way, and at first it was mainly for the plants but I do find that Lacey will use all the water and will delight in exploring it all Another advantage to having a full tank is that the larger the quantity of water, the easier it is to maintain at a stable temperature and water quality

Axies are very much strange little individuals and they often have their own quirks. Mine throws hissy fits and ignores me if I'm gone from the house over night, and will only show me her tail till shes forgiven me, after that she will keep me in sight when I'm near her tank and cavorts around in a really cute manner. I don't ever touch her with my hands, or hand feed her, but she will pose and wait for her pellets and will snap them if I drop them near her head

xblind2itallx said:

Iv got one suggestion and that would be put the water level up untill its about 2inches from the top. I dont understand where people get this "axolotls only need half a tank of water". Mine Love to swim up and down the tank its about 16inches high.

Click to expand...

Agreed, ive read everywhere that axies only need water as deep as they are long, but this is just silly as axies love swimming about Id say the deeper the better as an axie will use all the space you give em! More water = easier to maintain water quality, temperature and give your axie more space to swim! Good call on the 2inches from the top thing, axies have a habit of leaping out of the tank if it is very full!

Give your new axie a couple of weeks as soon as it realises you are its food source it wont leave you alone!