New members, + questions/photos

Hello fellow axolotl lovers,

We're new to the forums, and we found this place while reading up on our new family. This place is so nice, we're glad to be a part of the community! We learned more here than anywhere else on the internet. We do have a couple questions, but first meet the babies!

Minty is our first child, we got him from a store when he was a baby in August. He's healthy and loves to eat, he's the piggiest of them all. His uneven gills are very unique, he just never seemed to grow the other side back.



Next we got Freckles. We were on the search for a friend for Minty for the longest time, but we never had any luck finding another supply of axolotls. We did come across one guy who had an axolotl in his fish shop for a while. We decided last month to pick it up. We got her at night and when we brought her home we were surprised because she was in really bad shape. She was really skinny, like half the size she is now. Her eyes are green and very reflective, we don't know if she might be blind? Her tail had bite notches in it, so it's clear she was kept in a tank with fish. But what still worries us is that all four of her legs are twisted up and backward, so she has a real hard time walking and swimming around. We love her nonetheless and despite all our worries, we were able to get her to start eating again and plumped her up nice.

This is the position her legs are in all the time, she has to strain to walk or swim. And here are the strange eye colorations I mentioned- we've also noticed that her jaw/throat area looks much different from Minty's.


Just a few weeks ago we got a tip that a way better and impressive pet store had baby axolotls. We rushed over and picked them up, and ended up passing one of them on to a friend of ours. They're so beautiful!!
Here's Cell, the runt of the group. He/she's the most energetic, always zooming back and forth in its tank.



And here's Venus. He/she's more chill and relaxed, and very affectionate with its mommy. :3 Venus will crawl into my hand and nuzzle me when I feed her! The forked gill is adorable too.


Someone loves a shiny treasure!

So those are our babies. Questions. Are there any other members from Hawaii on this forum? We'd love to find fellow axolotl lovers here! Do our axolotls seem to be in okay condition? Regarding Freckles, do you have any insight or advice? What are the best types of plants to add to the tank? We're so happy to be a part of this great community!

Aloha, Kelly and Percy

hi and welcome!
theyre all lovely but i totally love the last 2 axy babys! <3
that print is sooo awsome!!
only 1 tip: watch out with the marbles.(those on venus her pic)
everything the size oh theyr head they can swallow... just use sand or bare bottom tank.
cause with huge rocks its a huge mess as well ^^

I wonder if Freckles is a GFP axolotl. If you shine a black light on her she may glow
It looks like she has landed in good hands.
Looking forward to reading more about your beauties in the axolotl section.

She definitely is! We have a blacklight in our room and they both light up nicely. Thanks guys, and we'll be movnig the marbles out soon as the babies get larger.

OOOOO!! i have the same Zilla cave thing! its so good, it can fits multiple axies!

Aww they are beautiful!!! I love the stoory how she climbs into your hand for feeding!

Ooh, I missed this thread! Aloha!

What a gorgeous, stunning collection of axolotls you have! Mintys gills are so sweet, bless him!

I don't know what to suggest about Freckles, have you seen inside his mouth, perhaps he has something stuck? One of mine, Chester, occasionally sticks his jaw out like that, but then seems to relax it back to normal. I couldn't even hazard a guess at why.

Does freckles seem healthy otherwise? Axies do have their little idiosyncrasies, haha.