How did you first discover Axolotls?

[School Tech]

I don't know when I first saw an Axolotl - when i was a toddler probably - in an aquarium at Edinburgh Zoo. My folks took me there regullarly when I was kid (late 60's and 70's), I used to love the reptile and fish houses and spent hours wandering round staring through the glass. I remember the Axolots were pretty big and pink and kind of freaky looking.

I never gave them a thought until last year when one of the teachers in the school wanted to keep something more exotic than fish in an empty tank at the back of her class. That lead me here and 4 months later I've manged to rear 10 axolotls (bought as eggs from ebay) and have just put the first one in the tank in the class this week. I've been thinking about it all weekend - it will be the longest it has gone without food, although there are some live Daphnia in the tank.

I know they have already enthused a few of pupils and hopefully many more over the years to come.

 

[Aly]

I first found out about them when watching an episode of QI ... the big pink cute face they had shown on there ... I was like must have it!

Couple of months later I got my 2 little lovelies <3

 

[Vickie]

I saw my first Axolotl when I was in my local fish shop, we had gone in for snails for my goldfish tank, now that is had cycled after my pond had collapsed and we needed to house them quick....

Both me and kids were stood there just watching this cute little thing walk about it's tank, nibbling at the gravel and ignoring it's prawn....

We asked the guy about it and it said it's proper name and said they were cold water and lived to 70 and that they only ate frozen prawns....

We got our snails and me and the girls dad promised the girls we would have a look and see what set up it needed to have a happy life...

Took us a while to find it, in the end I googled underwater salamanders and found the correct name for the wonder creature. Then found this website so we priced up all the kit we would need, my middle daughter (Ceilidh) said it was her job to collect the worms...

About two days before we were going to get the tank, sand, hides, filters, etc I found an advert selling two year old Axolotls. I spoke to the owner and on the Saturday came home with Axol and Lottie and every two days Ceilidh come's in with mud covered hands saying to the Axolotls ' Dinner Time...'

We are all obsessed and can spend hours watching them play...

I would love to be able to add a wild colour one to the tank, but not till there tank has been layered....

 

[hannahll]

This thread is awesome.
I don't even remember how i stumbled upon them in the first place, but i've had fish for the last two years and i remember wanting something cooler when i went to college. I took a tour at a college in Wisconsin, and i remember the tour guide and i started on the subject of fish tanks (i was originally planning on bringing cichlids to school) and then she mentioned axolotls! people on my campus breed and sell them! that made me want to look farther into what these creatures were and i later found a craigslist ad for axolotls & that is when i got my very first axie who is named Toothless

 

[thadious]

well this is my story lol. when i was a kid i always heard of mud puppies and even caught them fishing in lake michigan in wisconsin where i live. but as i grew up i never seen one again and never thought about it. so this year in out ice fishing and all of a sudden all the perch scatter, well here a big mud puppy came walking threw chasing the perch. so he decided to sit under my hole til i packed up and moved. well in the 30 minutes of him bugging my fish i took some pictures of it and sent them to my buddies and family. well my girlfriend and son got the pictures and now i'm a proud pappa