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New member and axolotl owner. :)

KristenW

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Well I guess I just fall under the new member category, since I have had my axolotl since May. But I am happy to find this forum, because I have some questions. :D lol.

But before that I'll tell you a little about my guy. He was born around March so that makes him around five months old. He is about five to 6 inches long. He is what you guys call wild type I believe. He is a boy. And his name is Spyro. :)

So some of my questions.

He's been eating earth worms this whole time, and I heard those were good staples. Now I had a chameleon, and they needed variety. Do they need a variety.? I was thinking of buying salmon pellets, would the earth worms still be good to feed him as well.?

Right now he is in my college dorm and is in a ten gallon fish tank, but at home I have a 30 gallon fish tank ready for him when he is bigger. What would be a good size to move him to that big tank.?

And when is a good size/time to buy him a friend.? I would really like a golden albino one. Does sex matter, or can he only stay with a girl since he is a boy.? And if I got a girl and they bred, would their colors be mixed or would the babies all be one color.?


Thank you very much in advance. :)
 

omgitsbekahxD

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Welcome! I didn't join until way after I got my axolotl either :p

Earthworms are great as a staple and they don't necessarily have to have a variety. I've been giving my guy nightcrawlers and earthworms, but before I was only giving him earthworms. I'm not sure about the salmon pellets, but I think I saw somewhere that it was okay to feed them that? Someone else should be able to answer that better :)

When I moved Onyx from a 10 gallon to a 20 gallon, I think he was around five inches and he grew so fast after switching tanks! I think now would be a good time for you to switch his, or you could wait a bit.

As for getting him a friend, you can do that at any time. The only thing you need to worry about it their size. They need to be pretty close to the same size when you put them together. If you do get a smaller one, you can keep it in a separate tank until its around the same size as Spyro. Axolotls get along with either the same or different sex, so there's no concern there for finding something in particular. :)

As far as I know about the eggs, you can have both types but I don't believe the colors will "mix" necessarily. You can have a mixture as in some eggs are golden albino and some eggs are wild type, but I don't believe any would be wild type/golden albino. Does that make sense? Also I've seen some eggs end up being completely different from the parents, so you really can't predict what you end up with!

I hope I covered everything, and gave you a better understanding :)


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PatchworkClocks

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Variety isn't really "needed", but I've heard of some peoples' axolotls (like my own) that occasionally become bored with the same food. If you want to give yours some variety, you could feed it with salmon or shrimp sinking pellets from time to time. As for moving it, you can move it at any time. Axolotl growth is somewhat tank-size-dependent, so if the tank is bigger, it will grow faster.
 

KristenW

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Welcome! I didn't join until way after I got my axolotl either :p

Earthworms are great as a staple and they don't necessarily have to have a variety. I've been giving my guy nightcrawlers and earthworms, but before I was only giving him earthworms. I'm not sure about the salmon pellets, but I think I saw somewhere that it was okay to feed them that? Someone else should be able to answer that better :)

When I moved Onyx from a 10 gallon to a 20 gallon, I think he was around five inches and he grew so fast after switching tanks! I think now would be a good time for you to switch his, or you could wait a bit.

As for getting him a friend, you can do that at any time. The only thing you need to worry about it their size. They need to be pretty close to the same size when you put them together. If you do get a smaller one, you can keep it in a separate tank until its around the same size as Spyro. Axolotls get along with either the same or different sex, so there's no concern there for finding something in particular. :)

As far as I know about the eggs, you can have both types but I don't believe the colors will "mix" necessarily. You can have a mixture as in some eggs are golden albino and some eggs are wild type, but I don't believe any would be wild type/golden albino. Does that make sense? Also I've seen some eggs end up being completely different from the parents, so you really can't predict what you end up with!

I hope I covered everything, and gave you a better understanding :)


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk - now Free

Thank you so much for the answers!

I think I might switch him over to the salmon pellets with the occasional earth worm. And at fall break I'll probably end up switching him to the bigger tank. I have to take all the pebbles out of it first.

Variety isn't really "needed", but I've heard of some peoples' axolotls (like my own) that occasionally become bored with the same food. If you want to give yours some variety, you could feed it with salmon or shrimp sinking pellets from time to time. As for moving it, you can move it at any time. Axolotl growth is somewhat tank-size-dependent, so if the tank is bigger, it will grow faster.

Okay! Thank you so much. :)
 

auntiejude

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Axies will eat a lot of different things. Mine have worms 5 days a week, the other 2 I try to give them something different, although they would be happy with worms.
I give them: waxworms, river shrimp, pellets, lobworms, and I have a guppy breeding tank so they can have guppies to chase (and eat if they can catch them!). When they were smaler they had brineshrimp and daphnia too, but they are too big to be bothered with such tiny things now. But they do love the 'chase' of live food.

However, one of mine has decided he doesn't like worms any more, and the only thing I can get him to eat is pellets.

Genetics is a hard one to get your head around, but it will all depend on your wild-type's genetics and what genes he carries. There is a great article here: Axolotls - Genetics and Colour that explain about genetics
 

KristenW

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Axies will eat a lot of different things. Mine have worms 5 days a week, the other 2 I try to give them something different, although they would be happy with worms.
I give them: waxworms, river shrimp, pellets, lobworms, and I have a guppy breeding tank so they can have guppies to chase (and eat if they can catch them!). When they were smaler they had brineshrimp and daphnia too, but they are too big to be bothered with such tiny things now. But they do love the 'chase' of live food.

However, one of mine has decided he doesn't like worms any more, and the only thing I can get him to eat is pellets.

Genetics is a hard one to get your head around, but it will all depend on your wild-type's genetics and what genes he carries. There is a great article here: Axolotls - Genetics and Colour that explain about genetics

Okay. I'm really hoping he likes the pellets, as it'll be nicer to keep those in my fridge in my dorm.

Oh my, that's a lot to read. and seems difficult. I know that my guy carries the leustic gene.?

I have a few more questions.

What plants are good in a tank.?

How do I know is the water current is too high and stressing him out.?

And how big of a tank do three axolotl need.?
 

PatchworkClocks

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Okay. I'm really hoping he likes the pellets, as it'll be nicer to keep those in my fridge in my dorm.

Oh my, that's a lot to read. and seems difficult. I know that my guy carries the leustic gene.?

I have a few more questions.

What plants are good in a tank.?

How do I know is the water current is too high and stressing him out.?

And how big of a tank do three axolotl need.?

I was reading around and found that one of the best plants to put in with an axolotl is anubias. Another option is a marimo moss ball. Just keep in mind if you buy any plants that you'll need a tank light as well.

If the water current is stressful, an axolotl will "flare" its gills (their gills will curl forward much further than their normal curl), and will mostly reserve themselves to any hides that may be available. The best way to cut down the current level is to place plants or rocks or other decorations underneath the outflow of your filter to disperse the current.

And for your last question, axolotls require 10 gallons of free space each, with some extra room for decorations. So I would think that to house three axolotls comfortably, you would at least need a 30 gallon tank.
 
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