Greetings from Malta! I have a few questions...

Hello Caudata users and greetings from the little island of Malta!

Almost 2 years ago now, I decided to get myself a pair of axolotls. I now own 2 very healthy adults, 1 wild type male and 1 leucistic female. To my amazement last December they laid their first clutch (do you call them clutches?) of eggs! Me and my friend were so surprised and we immediately started collecting the eggs and setting up another tank to raise the young. A month later, after successfully hatching the 1st clutch, they laid another, more numerous bunch! I have had some casualties, which is expected in every batch of eggs, but the healthy ones are feeding voraciously on the live brine shrimp I hatch for them and are doing great! But I have some questions to ask:

1) I am keeping babies from 2 seperate clutches of eggs together. There is only a month difference in between. Is there a risk of the older axolotls outgrowing and cannibalising their younger siblings? I have seen no sign of this so far, but would like to take precautions.

2) I intend to sell the young and know many people interested in buying them from me. I took the responsibility of writing a care sheet in my own words to hand out to all my customers. If an expert could take a look at it to see if it requires any corrections I would be eternally greatful.

3) Many of the people interested in buying my axolotls ask me if they can have a pair of 1 leucistic and 1 wild type but unfortunately I do not know how to answer them because of 2 reasons:

A) They are still so young they are basically transparent. I cannot differentiate between the colour morphs at their current age.

B) I am finding it difficult to understand the genetics of these animals. What are the possible outcomes of the offspring if i have a leucistic female and a wild type male.

Attached please find a photo of my 2 adults, a photo for size comparison of the young and my care sheet. I realise there is some dirt on the bottom of their tank, it is a combination of uneaten brine shrimp, waste and some sand particles from the adult tank which got transfered along with the eggs. I keep it very clean with water changes so please do not judge.

Thanks in advance!

Kevin

Hi Kevin. I have 6 axolotl of my own and have had a few clutches of eggs myself. The first thing I would like to comment on is make sure you can at leased test the demand for axolotl in your area. I know sending live pets through the mail across borders can have complications. So that could be your biggest problem when you have 100 plus babies swimming around. The next thing is that your gonna start to see some color and spotting pretty early to tell you what kind of axolotl they will be. In your case if they are transparent then they will most likely be albino and if your see some spots all over (color varies) it's most likely wildtype. I think it's a great idea that you inform new comers of the requirements for this species. I'd fact check through this website Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander before sending out information. Wether the eggs were laid all at once or not the offspring will all grow at different rates and it is extremely important to keep them all separated by size. Use the website I suggested for more info on rearing axolotls. It will tell you the rule of thumb for how close in size they can be before seperating. Most people use cheap bins and do water changes. After a certain size they will loose that tendency of cannibalism (mostly). I am no expert but Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander is a website created and maintained by experts and I urge anyone who owns an axolotl to read the material provided. Even those who "know everything"

Welcome to the forum!