Starting out fresh: egg treatment?

Hi Everyone!

I am new to axolotl husbandry, and am excited to have found this very useful forum. Currently I'm working to set up an axolotl research laboratory. We are very concerned that we begin with and maintain a disease-free colony. I've heard some scary stories of disease outbreaks wiping out entire axolotl colonies. Therefore, we would like to take every possible precaution in order to not introduce any unwanted bacteria, fungi or other pathogens into our laboratory.

We feel like our best bet would be to introduce axolotls to our colony as fertilized eggs, and would like to identify a dip or rinse that will kill and pathogen on the outside of the egg without being fatal to the embryo itself. I have found some info on this website regarding the use of salt solutions and broad spectrum antibiotics, but none specifically in regard to their use with fertilized eggs.

Can anybody offer some suggestions, or point me to a resource where I may be able to get some help? Thanks in advance! :happy:

It's impossible to raise any animal under sterile conditions. The problem with bacteria and fungi is that they are everywhere. It's impossible to eradicate them. Eggs are naturally free of most possible parasites, and that's about the best you can do. I would strongly recommend against trying to treat them with antibiotics. Antibiotics have side effects, such as liver damage, and these kinds of effects could be even more risky for an embryo.

Disease outbreaks in colonies typically occur when (1) new animals are introduced, or (2) some other aspect of captive conditions is imperfect - high temperature, build up of nutrient levels in the water, etc. I really don't think you have anything to worry about. In my experience, I find much higher mortality when I try to raise larvae under "clean" conditions. Putting eggs into a dirty old tank generally achieves much better results.