tips on PREVENTING breeding

lazymut · Jul 25, 2008

Hey, i have two axies that could possibly be male and female (one isn't sexually matured yet) and i was wandering if there are any ways to prevent them from breeding at all? or is it something i might just have to deal with?

All replies appreciated

Jacquie · Jul 25, 2008

Hi Lazymut,

It's always pot luck when you have juveniles and don't know the gender.

You could install a glass partition screen to seperate them - but I've heard of some cunning axies that have managed to smuggle their loads cross the barrier regardless and voila EGGS!

I think the only way to be 100% sure they will not breed is to put them in seperate tanks.

The other 100% sure method is if you have two boys or two girls.

lazymut · Jul 25, 2008

thanks allot

sherrisixxx · Aug 27, 2008

Uh, yeas, I have a similar problem. I have 3 axies, 2 females, 1 male. They are all in a big tank together, as they didn't like the divider in the middle.( It made the girls side smaller, so they were stressed and one was bullying the other). So they have been all together for about 2 months, and all seem happy. However, the male and one of the females seem very close, spend time together, and at night even sharing the same hiding place. I didn't think axies would live in 'couples' like these two. Anyway, does this kind of behaviour make it more likely that I could find some eggs?? Thanks for your replies in advance.

oceanblue · Aug 27, 2008

I accept the only 100% certain way of preventing breeding is to separate the sexes but if you don't know what sex they are short of one tank per axie this is difficult.

I'm trying to suppress breeding by lighting the tanks for 16 hours a day, exceeding the high summer photoperiod of Mexico City by a couple of hours. There seem to be quite a few posts indicating breeding is rare in the northern hemisphere in June/July/August (for Australia/New Zealand read December/January/February).

So far I have 14 month old Axolotls of uncertain gender largest 24cm. The ones I think are female look well fed rather than gravid and the probable males are a lot less obviously male than some.

It would not be a disaster if they breed: I just do not want batch after batch of eggs from small growing axolotls.

coichards · Aug 27, 2008

Hi, i dont have any tips on preventing breeding but it is considered humane to freeze the eggs before they are two weeks old because they have no feeling

blueberlin · Aug 28, 2008

coichards said:
Hi, i dont have any tips on preventing breeding but it is considered humane to freeze the eggs before they are two weeks old because they have no feeling

I am assuming you want to kill them this way?

coichards · Aug 28, 2008

yeah, well sort of. if they do breed and you cant care for them its probaly the most un-cruel way.

blueberlin · Aug 28, 2008

Actually, if you leave them in the aquarium, the parents will eat them. This kind of seems like the most "natural" way to me.

Although it is unlikely, it seems possible that the eggs might actually survive freezing. I also would not flush them because it is also slightly possible that they could hatch somewhere in the public water system. The one time I cleaned out the eggs, I just put them into flowerpots on my balcony.

-Eva

Jake · Aug 28, 2008

blueberlin said:
Although it is unlikely, it seems possible that the eggs might actually survive freezing.

I know axolotls can handle freezing temperatures as long as the water is moving and doesn't freeze them solid, but if an axolotl or its eggs are frozen solid the cells are damaged too much for them to survive. Freezers normally are colder than 32 degrees F so they would definitely freeze solid in there.

The flower pot idea is what I would do if I didn't have so many axolotls to feed the extra larvae to. Axolotl embryos probably make a nice fertilizer

SarahandRich · Dec 22, 2008

Jake said:
The flower pot idea is what I would do if I didn't have so many axolotls to feed the extra larvae to. Axolotl embryos probably make a nice fertilizer

Mine go on the garden soil too, pretty much as soon as they are laid. Some, I keep for other people, but only for a week, then out they go too, before they are too developed. I figure they will soon dry out, and be none the wiser as I would hate them to be hurt in any way... :happy:

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