Malnourished rescues- help

[ShaiOphelia]

I just got contacted on craigslist by a woman who said she had 3-week old hatchlings. As I have 3-week old hatchlings that she could no longer take good care of, asking me if I could take them. As I have 16 of my own right now, and a hatchery going- I was okay with adopting a few more, of the same age- thinking they were all ready to rehome soon- and once they are on to frozen food, my normal pet sitter wouldn't have an issue catering to them with the rest of my axolotls, should any of them have been left here. Through our chat- I was amazed to find out that they have 'so far thrived on only frozen food'. Which alarmed me- but I was open minded. I read about it online, too. I thought maybe I can ditch my own hatchery.

At 3 weeks old, they should have had grown front legs, and begun sprouting back legs..I travel in a month and I thought I could rehome them by then. She said they are about an inch- so I knew they were smaller than mine. I never expected to receive, basically tadpoles. 60 of them. They look barely hatched. This is after a few days of feeding, and their bellies have actually grown orange with food. They were completely flat. They didn't even look like axolotls- have uneven gills, broken tails. And a few have died since- I suppose in shock from the re-home.

I am absolutely appalled. She should have seen that something was going terribly wrong with these- as they were not growing for a month straight in her guppy breeding container. She actually works in the aquatic animal business, and has been for 50 years. She should know better, or care more? Now I have 60 of these to take care of, and I'm leaving in a month, and nowhere around me sells brine shrimp eggs, and I am really really stumped.

A few of them are swimming around erratically, in circles. Others seem to be scavenging food like no other axolotl I have ever seen.
I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced axolotl fry that experienced such severe malnourishment in early days for such long time- and if they grew up to be okay.

 

[GalLuvsAxolotls]

My very first attempt at raising axolotl larvae was over ten years ago, and there was not nearly as much information around then as there is now. Only four survived that first attempt which I am quite embarrassed to admit , but all grew to be healthy adults with no indication of their rough upbringing.

I knew nothing about the live food requirement, about cannibalism, etc. I definitely didn't have a brine shrimp hatchery, and there were none sold locally... None of the local brine shrimp eggs I bought were quality either (and were expired) so I was getting a ridiculously low hatch rate. Brine shrimp eggs were not as easy to come by then, even online!

I still have a lot to learn about raising axolotls even though I have improved a fair amount. Mine do not grow nearly as fast as yours do, but all have grown to be healthy, normal size adults.


For your little rescues, there is a good chance many will pull through. They are surprisingly resilient! Good luck!