How active are your axolotls?

[sphynx]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering: How active are your axolotls? Mine seem to be sitting around doing nothing.

I just got 3 new axolotls, put them in 2 seperate tanks (one was bigger, i was afraid to put them in with the others), and they just seem to be sitting around. I was kind of expecting them to swim around a little.

I do have 2 others, who are now about a year and a half old-ish, and they did the same thing when they were younger, and still do. Although I thought maybe it was a lighting problem, so i've dimmed the light.

Realizing that I'd actually have to sit there and watch their behavior for hours just to see if there was any sort of difference, i'd just like to ask here.

I'm not exactly WORRIED that they arent being active, I just want to get some feedback and see where everyone else's are at.

Thanks!!!

 

[JamieOleBoy]

How cold is the water?

 

[JessJesting]

How bright is the light and how long do you have it on? Axolotls don't have eyelids and do not like light? Are you tanks cycled?


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[sphynx]

How cold is the water?

Water is around 15-17 degrees Celcius,

How bright is the light and how long do you have it on? Axolotls don't have eyelids and do not like light? Are you tanks cycled?

The light WAS pretty bright, so i took one out and it dimmed it down A LOTTTTTTTT.. they came out, but not ACTIVE, unless something bothers them, then they go crazy

Light is on for about... 8 hours or so. The tank gets VERY LITTLE light otherwise, like a small window on the other side of the room. (it's in a basement)..

My tanks are fully cycled.

But how active are YOUR axies?? I've seen some that like to play around in the water, up and down, up and down. Wondering why mine arent like this not much of a concern like i said before though. Just a wondering thought

 

[HayleyK]

My three are very inactive. Some days they hardly move. Some they move occassionally and usually after a feeding they will swim and walk around.

Older axolotls tend to be more inactive than juveniles.

 

[NadeZ]

Axolotls are lazy by nature. That gill flicking thing they do, that's them moving the water around so they don't have to move to an area with more oxygen!
They will be really shy for the first week or so, especially if the lights are bright. After that, they'll come out of their shells a bit.
They are also much more active at night.

I'll give you an average of what my axolotl tends to be doing.
5% swimming to the surface to eat a bubble
10% staring at me
15% swimming back and forth along the tank
20% slowly wandering about
50% nothing

They definitely aren't as active as fish, but they are absolutely mesmerizing to watch and have quite prominent personalities.

 

[Kaini]

Zion (my Axolotl) will have bursts of activity where he likes to swim around and do things, then he'll just sit in one place for a few hours. Axolotls are pretty inactive by nature, they're lazy. Zion is only 4 months old so he's still quite the active lil thing but they calm down when they get older.

 

[smurfrider]

My 1 year old male, Itzel, likes to party after 10pm, during the day he just stares at me. My female, Quezie, of the same age is LAZY and only tends to move for food or when Itzel steps on her head. My 2 6 month old juvies, Coatl and Tizzy, only come out to play for food or when they think no one is watching.

 

[fireball99]

When I first got my axolotl as a baby he didn't do anything for the first little while. I think the change of setting confused him a little. He gradually seemed to get comfortable and was very active, exploring the tank and for some reason, moving sand around.

Since then he's been reasonably active but he's much less so as an adult. He spends pretty much the whole day now tucked in his cave. The first time he did this and didn't seem to emerge all day I got a bit worried and lifted the cave up. I must have given him a fright because he scampered out very quickly, poor little guy. I just leave him now as I assume that now he's grown he likes to lie around and do nothing out of sight.

When he's not hiding though he will stand and stare at me for ages. He'll also follow me around if I move from one side of the tank to the other. He tends to respond to seeing things in the room though, and only when he's paying attention. Other than that he just lies on the bottom of the tank doing nothing. Although, he still moves sand. I make sure the entire bottom of the tank is covered but he seems to like his usual path around the tank to be clear of it. For some reason it also piles up in his cave so he must be doing something when I'm not looking!

Don't worry too much about your lotls not doing much. They seem to be have their own little personalities and quirks. Some hardly do anything while others are a bit excited all of the time.

 

[tinyali]

Don't forget that people generally only put up videos of their axies when they're actually doing something, so if you're watching YouTube vids of them you get the impression they're much more active than they actually are. Mine spends a lot of time hiding in plants, or hovering at the front of the tank staring at me...

 

[auntiejude]

Sitting around doing not much is normal. The time to worry is when they are dashing round the tank like loonies....

 

[sphynx]

I caught my new golden albino swimming across the tank for pleasure
that made my day. I wish I had taken a picture to show you guys, but I didn't have my phone on me. Next time!

I will make it so that I will bring my phone with me on camera mode to visit the little guys!!!

 

[Ariel]

I didn't realize it, but I guess I have a very active axolotl, comparatively. It is usually only perfectly still while sleeping. My water is warmer than what is suggested, in the low 70s, so that may be part of it. He loves to "climb" the plants and filter and spends around 30% of his time floating mid tank balancing with one or two toes on various objects. Probably another 30% is spend pacing/climbing. If I put anything new in the tank or move anything it is thourohly inspected. A couple times I have even seen him "nest" tearing apart the willow moss and then sitting on it like a mattress, and then pooping on it... He insists on pooping in the plants or behind the filter which makes it so much harder to clean.
Although, I did deliberately chose this specific axolotl from the pet store, one of many choices, because he looked very active watching and following anyone that passed the tank and charging your finger if you touched the glass. All the brothers and sisters were sitting unmoving on the bottom. So it might be just his personality.
I recently had a friend come take photos of him and it was actually very difficult to get him to stay still for the camera.
He is pretty aggressive, too. If you put your hand in the tank he will either come try to sit on it or bite it. He is hand fed, too, so I don't have to worry about feeding dishes or eating the sandstraight.

 

[keiko]

I have two juvenile axolotls. Currently they're fed every other day and on feeding days they are very active swimming and walking around, climbing on everything. And on the days in between they are much less active, but they still do like to watch what's happening in the room and come to the surface when you go sat hi to them.