How did you first discover Axolotls?

Wow, amazing stories. My story is just boring. Wish I discovered axies in an awesome way!
 
I discovered Axolotls on craigslist, i did my searches and studied up about them fill in love. Now i have two females, i named salt and Pepper. They are about a year old and live in a 40 breeder.:happy:
 
Whenever i went to reptile expos i always saw a bunch of them in huge tubs, sometimes i would see them at petstores as well.
So i ended up looking for forums (since there is one for everything almost) I came across this site awhile back and decided to join.
Took me awhile to actually acquire one myself due to all my time spent working and in another hobby. It's nice for a bit of change up though.
 
I first saw them in a science center years ago. My first love was reptiles, since the age of about 7 when I used to catch anoles. I quickly graduated to amphibians, and saw axolotls in a tank somewhere around the age of 12-13. In high school I had friends that had them as pets, and finally got my own axolotls after having fish tanks, ADF, and other herps in college. I'm still hooked on all herps.
 
When i was a youngin, my mum worked in a petshop in Cairns. I was always facinated by them but wasnt allowed to have one, mum saying they were to hard to keep. They were in lots of petshops back then.. I dont see them to often now, moved a little further south but still in the tropics.

One day i spotted a post on a FB fish/aquarium site a lady was selling babies, they had recieved a pregnant axie at the petshop she worked. I decided to forfill a childhood facination and buy one off her.

i now wish i had bought 2, had no idea how addictively cute natured they are :rolleyes:
 
The first axolotl I saw was one which wondered through the door in a plastic bag with my wife and child. I was not happy as I knew I would get stuck looking after the stupid thing. To cap it all the wife then came back with some baby african clawed frogs a few weeks later as I was doing such a good job with the axolotl. She deeply regrets this now as I have filled the house with aquariums.
 
I think i saw one in a zoo or something,or a tv show about a zoo,i looked them up on axolotl.org and then obsessed about them for a while. Two years later after obsession and learning everything i could,i bought some :)

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WHATS THAT! Then descibing to my wife 'its like a princess fairy devil fish!!!' A few months later this thing had been on my mind so decided to research and stumbled upon Axolotl.org, then caudata.org. In my local pet shop one day, kept fish at the time, noticed a tank with what i now know to be wildtype axolotls, not in the best shape, too many in one tank and gravel substrate, still, purchased one and glad i did. I had asked my lps if he could source a leucistic, after a couple of weeks with no joy decided to buy some eggs, of course the next morning, lps calls to say he has 'something', went to shop only to find a customer had handed in the most beautiful golden albino(my profile pic), and it looked exactly like the Axolotl.org website pic, . Anyway my GA and my wildtype mated, l gave 200 eggs to my lps and now recieve a small discount at that shop. BUT, most importantly, if it was'nt for Caudata.org, i would not know anything,,, everything i now know is thanks to this site, the many experts, enthusiasts, hobbyists and people who just enjoy owning these amazing little creatures. A wealth of knowledge at your fingertips, expert opinions and friendly advice, and FREE!! Thanks caudata. Also now have a wife always complaining about all the tanks and containers taking over my house,,
 
I saw my first axie at a local zoo. It was very dark colored and was hiding behind a plant. I came to appreciate axies through this website, where I've been able to learn more about them. My true love is eastern newts( Noto. Vir.) which were very common pets to find in pet stores years ago but no longer(a good thing since they were probably wild-caught). Newts as pets seems to be a rather exotic choice today, unlike years ago.
 
I had known about axolotls since I was a kid (I was that nerdy girl who was awkward with people but loved all animals, especially reptiles and amphibians), and thought they were so interesting because they are neotenous. And cute. I used to catch juvenile and adult tiger salamanders and keep them for a while before returning them to their pond. Then for years I didn't really think about them. One day, in my late 20's, I was getting a haircut. My stylist told me she got this crazy new "fish" for her kids that was called an axolotl. I got really far too excited about this. Good thing she is a good sport about kids with many pets! I didn't know you could axolotls as pets until then. and the next day I went to the store when she got hers, and got my first axie. I just got my second for Valentine's day this year. Love them!
 
This video:
The Axolotl Song - YouTube
Though it's not accurate it was pretty much my introduction. I'd heard of and seen them before, but I had no idea you could keep them as pets! Now I have my heart set on one.
 
Lol! Ashleigh where did you come across that video?

My best friend is a reptile enthusiast, has had some form of lizard, mostly beardies, for over a decade. Last summer she went nosing around around the aquatic room of the shop she buys all her lizard feed from and discovered a tank of axolotls. She dragged me along the next week and I was fascinated by them. For months she was prodding me to get some (probably because her boyfriend refuses to let her get anymore creatures!) so started gathering the necessary bits and pieces. We collected the tank from freecycle before xmas, it's been sat in my living rooms getting more and more scummy for months. When work quieted down a few weeks ago I finally prepared everything in my room, and have now been a proud lotl mummy for 2 weeks. I'm totally besotted with my two little girls (we think!) Astrid and Toothless, they don't help me get any work done, they're constantly distracting me!
 
I went to the local pet store with my fiance looking to buy a betta or maybe some goldfish for my little 40cm x 20cm tank. While I was picking out my goldfish avengers team (I'd planned to name them after the avengers) my fiance found the axolotl's. There was a white and a black, and the white one looked kind of like it was smiling, so he pestered me and I asked the lady what they need etc, then came home with it that very day. About a month later we ungraded the tank to a 10 gallon and about a month ago we upgraded to a 3ft and get her a friend.

Then I thought the old tank looked empty so I brought myself a third one XD
 
ashleigheperry said:
This video:
The Axolotl Song - YouTube
Though it's not accurate it was pretty much my introduction. I'd heard of and seen them before, but I had no idea you could keep them as pets! Now I have my heart set on one.
Click to expand...


Omg, this explains so much. So back in January one of my pseudo-hick cousins was visiting as I was packing to move back to school, so I had Godric and Misha in their travel containers on the table and my cousin asked what they were. I told him "axolotls" and he burst into

"OMG ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE THEM SALAMANDER GOO?"

"Um. What."

"SALAMANDER GOO!"

"I..."

"I SAW IT ON THE INTERNET!"

"N-no..."

"BUT THEY CAN TURN INTO SALAMANDERS!"

"They... they ARE salamanders..."

So that video explains a lot. So much. More than I ever wanted to be explained.


Anyway, growing up I'd always been an animal nut. I would obsess over shows and books about any kind of animal, and to this day it's rare for me to find something I've never heard of and don't know at least a little tiny something about. So I had heard about axolotls briefly before, but had never taken a closer look until one of my housemates had looked for non-fish fully-aquatic pets (because our college only allows fully-aquatic animals) and she found axies.

Boom, she bought two, I got to know them very well, and then she passed Godric on to me. Its been love ever since :)
 
I was collecting yet another fish tank that I had bought via eBay for my tropical fish and the seller said she had kept axolotls in it. I went home and googled axolotls. This was middle of last year. Funnily enough, because the tank had sprung a leak by the time I got it home, it has not been used yet. Repaired the leak last week and am going to put two of the axolotls into it that I have been growing on.

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I was in a pet store with my bf and I saw some axolotls in a tank and was like :eek:its a water version of Toothless from how to train you dragon! I thought they were so cute we went started researching them when we got home and have been reading about them since. I recently got my own little Toothless and Greebo :)
 
A friend on fb has one and posted a pic. My exact words were "Cooool.. what is it??".
Wanted one straight away, I just loved how different it was and how it seemed to be smiling. So I spent a few months researching and getting the stuff together and now I have one but still having to search this forum and google daily to find stuff out.
 
My story is kinda bland. I had had newts and salamanders for a while and i kept seeing people posting pictures and stories about them. I knew very little about them but thought they were adorable. So the day before the reptile expo i changed the animal i was getting from a spanish ribbed newt that i was getting that summer, to an axolotl the next day. So I went to petco and bought a 20g long, 20 pounds of sand, plants, and a light. I got my first little leucistic Bluegills. He was about six inches long and very cute. Six months later I got Rocky. Almost a year later got a big female named Golden Lady. Then another six months later (today) i got a male and female leucistics Boo and Athena(thanks to name suggestion). Bluegills is no longer with me but his memories live on. I am glad I could share my storie with you guys.
 
Now presenting the never before seen, Boo!!
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1362274147.667757.jpg


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I found out about axolotls through one of my favorite artist. Beside from my recently acquired weird obsession of axolotls, I also have a weird obsession with collecting designer toys. Designer toys are toys designed by specific artists and are produced in limited quantities. So a few months ago I saw that the artist Gary Ham had a toy he designed called the Wooper Looper. Which is a cute little axolotl with a huge smile on his face. You can check out Gary's wooper looper designs here: Superham Designs LLC: Wooper Loopers

After finding out about these crazy axolotls I have become obsessed with them, and I am currently hatching my first axolotls right now! :)
 
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