What are the odds these eggs are fertile?

First, I'm new here, and new to axies mating/laying eggs. If a female was living alone and laid a few eggs, then a male was introduced to her the day the few eggs were discovered, what are the odds that the big batch of eggs laid, after the introduction of the male, are fertile? I read that fertilzation can take place and then within a few hours fertile eggs can be laid. However, these axolotls are first time breeders and I did not see anything resembling any spermatophores in the tank anywhere so it's not clear to me if they are fertile or not. I'm having a hard time being patient waiting for day 4 or 5 of the eggs to see if there is any development starting. Does anyone have any experience like this to share?

Also, I'm a little confused that she laid eggs at all. Information I read said do not breed them before 18 months (though I believe she is near that old) as it is taxing on their developing bodies, but if she's laying eggs regardless of mating, isn't this taxing on her just as much? I mean, just growing the eggs to full-size, with or without mating seems like it would be taxing on her. So I'm confused about how letting them mate is taxing on her if she's already making and laying eggs, the only difference being that perhaps they may or may not be fertile.

Also, could she have mated months ago, before she was put in her own private tank and now she's laying fertile eggs? I know certain reptiles can have years of fertile eggs after only one mating, can amphibians do this?

Thanks all,
Michelle Nash

Some sals can mate and then have fertile offspring months later, but I don't know if axolotls are like this.

If she suddenly laid a lot more eggs after the male was introduced, I would bet they mated and the eggs are fertile. They will usually lay MORE eggs after mating than they would in the absence of a mate.

Keep us posted! I'm particularly interested to know if the few eggs she laid BEFORE the male was introduced are fertile at all.

This evening I checked on the first few eggs she laid and they are looking cloudy, like they may be decaying already. They are in a small butter bowl without a lid, with just enough water to let them keep their round shape. Assuming that those few eggs are not fertile and they are actually decaying, I will check the large batch of eggs tomorrow for comparison, to see if they reach the same decaying-like condition. If they aren't cloudy, then perhaps I can assume they *are* fertile after all.

I'm not sure what I'm really looking at, but I did take one of the eggs from the large (possibly fertile) batch of eggs and looked under my microscope (I'm not a scientist, I just like playing with it I've even watched caterpillars eat their way out of their eggs with my microscope! Lots of fun... but I digress.

OK, so I looked at the axolotl egg and didn't see anything of interest, so then I carefully broke the yolk and looked some more and saw what I believe to be cells, mixed in with tiny crystal-like shapes and lots of jelly fluids. I'm hoping what I saw was axie life. I guess I'll know more in a day or two. It's SO VERY HARD waiting! :crazy: I'm going nuts!

This evening, I also noticed a single egg with TWO yolks in the large batch of eggs. If they are fertile, I'll have to keep an eye on this one to see what happens.

Is it common for axies to lay batches of infertile eggs? I would think they would absorb eggs that weren't fertilized so as not to waste their energy depositing eggs that won't hatch.

Thanks for your insight & interest

My axolotl laid eggs not long after I spotted spermataphore, that was at least with in 12 hours and the bulk of these eggs where fertile. I was rather shocked how quickly it all occurred as this was the second batch in a very short period of time..little now suprises me with these guys now!!. The only thing I feel I need to point out is that placing the eggs in a shallow container of water may lead to the water being too warm, unless of course you placed them somewhere cooler. All the best with the eggs.

eggs too warm? & 1 more question

The small batch of eggs in the small bowl were kept in the same location as the tanks (68*F in the basement). Hopefully, they remained cool enough there. I put them in shallow water to make sure they had a better water surface-area to air ratio to try to ensure the water was oxygenated well enough since there is no bubbler/air line in the little bowl. I will keep water level in mind if I need to move anyone to other locations. I'm glad I read on this site about how important water temp is to axie health because when we move it will probably be summer and I will be sure to use ice and monitor the water temps closely while we move to our new home.

One more question please: Why do all the info pages suggest separating the eggs from the adults? Is it just so when they hatch they won't be eaten? Or is it the water quality in the adult tank wouldn't be as good for the eggs as perfectly clean water in a separate tank? Or will the adults gobble up the eggs? Just curious. (notice in my profile my favorite quote is "Why?") :grin:

The adult axolotl will happily eat the eggs, I did leave some in after the last batch and they disappeared quite quickly!

bellabelloo said:

The adult axolotl will happily eat the eggs, I did leave some in after the last batch and they disappeared quite quickly!

Click to expand...

OH! Thanks for letting me know! I have now put them in their own tank. And I think they are changing shapes now. A few are cloudy & look like the yolk are dissolving, but several others are beginning to take odd shapes! :smile: It's starting to look very promising!

Update: They ARE fertile!

The eggs are all clearly developing and we have distinct gill buds now. Of the approximately 300 eggs or so I saw only 4 eggs that were not developing. Awesome!

The original small group of eggs laid (before the recent introduction of the male) have been decaying and so are not fertile after all.

This is so exciting

Thanks for information and responses

Cheers!

Michelle

I felt pretty excited too watching my eggs change and eventually hatch and develope, good for the children to see too. Phoenixtear has managed to take some wonderful photographs of how the cells divide...

Yes, the kids think it's neat too I'll have to check out those photos you mentioned.
Thanks!

Michelle