Re: Just.... wow (Rearing Juvie Axies)
I never thought about that! So they're like goldfish, give them a big bowl and they grow like bad weeds?
Here's a quick log of what I've done so far:
First Set Up:
They were housed in a 5g for a couple weeks, sperated by color in two seperate tupperware containers with a bubbler. (I've heard not only about the cannibalistic stages of growth, but that wildtypes tend to go after all other colors) I've yet to see that happen, but one of my little guys had two missing legs when i recieved him, and I wasn't about to find out.
They weren't very active at first, and ate little. The gentleman I purchased them from included a huge bag of pellets to feed them with, but they ignored them in the tank. I finally scooped them out (into a sandwich tupperware container) with enough water to cover them and dropped the pellets in. STILL no luck. Finally took a saftey pin, bent it out so it was elongated, and poked the pellets around in front of their faces and SNAP! They took them right away. It took some refining, but stimulating them with movement helped their appetites.
Second Set Up:
I waited a week and moved them to a twenty tall (my only "spare" tank at the moment), filled to about five inches from the top with a bubbler that is on low, and turned off at night. There is no hood light, just a cover.
I remove them for each feeding (for water quality and assurance that they're getting enough to eat) and while they're out I turn on the submerged filter to get rid of the gunk and airate their water. The filter goes off when they go back in.
I feed them different foods each day. Mostly chopped earthworm, supplimented with pellets here and there, bloodworms, and mealworm. On the note of mealworms: this has only been fed to them twice, and a one inch worm (with head removed) was cut into four pieces and each axie got one piece) Axolotls cannot digest the chitin/outerskin of a mealworm, but it is a good supplemental treat.
I recieved them at just under 2.5 inches less than a month ago, and the largest now measures 5.5inches from nose to tail tip.
Final Set Up will be their permanent home in a 55g. They are FAR too small for this right now, and with the way I'm feeding them it's not doable. I've heard of feeding jars but no little about it, so for now I'm content.
I'll try to keep this updated for anyone who wants more info about how I raised my juvinelles.
