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Are these eggs?

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Hi I think one of my axolotls has laid eggs all over my tank but i'm not sure.

Today I found about 50 little see through jelly like balls pretty tough to the touch, they have smaller white and black shapes in them mostly spheres. Most are on the plants and some are stuck to the walls of the tank with a few on the ground that don't look to good they are shaped more like a cone and either have no shapes inside or the shape looks crushed. which is why at first I though they were a bizarre fungus until I looked in the plant.

I have had the axolotls for about 4 months this is the first time I have seen this what should I do if these are eggs? take them out? leave them there for a while? put them in the fridge?

Thanks heaps!
 

keiko

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Sounds like you have eggs. The few different ones on the ground could be spermatophores. 50 eggs isn't much so there might still be more coming.

You can take the eggs out. If you want to raise them then you can keep them in a separate container. That way it's easier to care for them and the adult axies won't eat the babies. If you don't want to raise them you can put the eggs in a freezer over night to stop their development and then just throw them away. If you do choose to freeze them then that should be done as soon as possible before their nervous system develops.

Here's some info: Axolotls - Breeding Axolotls Successfully
 

auntiejude

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The rounds ones sound like eggs, the cones on the floor are probably spermatophores.

I usually collect eggs and put them in a plastic tub floating in the adults' tank. If you count up you may well find there are a whole lot more than 50...
 
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I had another look and started counting I think there is over one hundred probably 150ish I found some more eggs on the other side of the plant and yeah those things on the bottom look just like the picture of the spermatophore.

I think she is still laying I keep seeing her up in the plants and in other odd places.
 

usafaux2004

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This is my first egg lay as it should be apparent.
I'm curious how many eggs should I keep if I want to say have 2 axolotls grow up?
And at what stage do they gain their nervous system?

It's been since late November since my eggs were laid, but I believe you can "humanely" freeze them in the first week, not later.

It's hard to tell how many to "keep". Some people had massive die offs, so I figured I'd keep 25 eggs and have a few survive. I only lost 2 along the way, one a few days/weeks in, one a few months.

As for overall advice? I was real panicked when it was going down. They were going to hatch middle of our vacation, out of the country!

It worked out, but if you want a few good reads from a first timer (with lots of pictures!), take a look at these topics:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...arvae-breeding/94508-egg-laying-progress.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...ts-talk-about-eggs-sizes-bad-strange-etc.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...gs-hatching-already-running-into-trouble.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...eeding/94997-limb-development-assymetric.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...g/95505-5-gills-doesnt-look-like-nipping.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...95238-coming-up-month-old-what-food-move.html
 
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Great read mate thanks for that I kept about the same amount, Two have hatched so far one quite early I'm expecting they will all be out within a day or two, got the brine shrimp brewing and the wine chiller fired up.

I also think my two wild type parents may have given birth to an albino not sure if that's uncommon or what but he is entirely white/see through and his eyes are almost invisible.
 

axowattyl

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Watch out, they seem to repeatedly lay when on a roll...

I got another batch 3 weeks after the first (to a different mother), and now I've just had TWO females lay at once over the last couple of days.

That's it! "Whitey" and his hyperactive testicles are going into a separate tank!
 

auntiejude

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It is quite normal for 2 wildtypes to produce other types of babies.


The genetics is simple for axies - there are 4 main colour genes
Leucistic - controls pigment migration - designated D or d
Albino - controls melanin production (dark pigment) designated A or a
Melalnoid - controls iridophores (shiney pigment) designated M or m
Axanthic - controls xanthaphores (yellow pigment) desingated X or x


Genes come in 2 types - dominant (A) and recessive (a), meaning that a dominant gene will 'show' over a recessive one. An axie inherits one gene for each colour from mum and one from dad. If it inherits two dominant or one dominant and once recessive, it will not show the recessive trait, so an axie with A/A or A/a genes will not be albino, but one with a/a genes will be.


This tells us that both your wildtpes are A/a, and that about 25% of their offspring will be albino. It also means that 25% of the babies will be A/A, and the other 50% A/a, and these will be non-albino.
 
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So I have now had larvae for about 4 days there is still about 6 left in their eggs should I just help them out or just leave them to get out when they are ready?

Also I have been feeding them baby brine shrimp. I hatch a teaspoon of BBS and then put half in the water with the larvae and the other half in a coke bottle they seem to last around 18hrs before they die of I presume hunger. I then start the shrimp brewery up again its taking the shrimp about 28 hrs to hatch so I'am able to feed the larvae about once every 12 hours give or take. I have been leaving the shrimp in till I see they are dead this seems to be quite a bit longer than I was lead to believe something like 4-5hrs

I then do a total water change of the larvae container using water from the adult tank, this removes all of the dead brine shrimp par those stuck to the axolotl egg sacks.

My question is with this method how long will it take for the brine shrimp to foul the water to the point of causing harm to the axolotl larvae? Like could I leave them in there for 12hrs and have issue?

Also will the larvae feed in almost complete darkness? I figured not but may as well ask.
 

auntiejude

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There is no answer to how soon the water will foul - it depends on how many axies you have in a tub, size of the tub, how many brinshrimp you use, temperature etc.

Axie larvae will feed fine in the dark - they only respond to the movement of food.

I usually feed babies at night and change them the next day, if you don't overfeed it works best.
 
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Hi thanks was a dumb question..

when you say movement do you mean they react to like the feeling of something moving through the water in front of them? Can they see at this age?

also on a side note the mother of these babies name is also Stumpy like your wild type juvi
named that because her tail was more of a stump when I got her.
 

auntiejude

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Their eyesight is pretty poor even in daylight, but tiny larvae react to the movement of food and water currents, and they don't have much of a sense of smell until about a month old.

There are some great aticles on microfoods and feeding larvae here and here.
 

Petersgirl

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I think this might be a little late, but they can eat dead foods such as bloodworm about three weeks of age, or when they have their back and front legs. You may have to mix the dead food with a little BBS though, so that they realise that not all food moves.
 
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