many a question from an anxiety ridden future breeder

[axolotl nerd]

alright- this might be a long winded post so bear with me here, also, thanks in advance to anyone who’s bothered to read or respond to this.
i have some questions regarding eggs, pups, and eventually juveniles, should i be successful in the previous two fields.

egg questions
1) can i remove the eggs from the plant or rock they were laid on? if so, how? would a turkey baster be recommended? if not, should i just remove the entire rock or plant and put it into a bin until they hatch?
2) i’ve also read that having the eggs laid on live plants helps them to develop faster/better. is this true? i have no idea, in all honesty.
3) would it be wise to have plants in with the eggs while they develop? i think it would be good for oxygenation purposes, but thought i’d ask anyways.
4) can i somehow ‘attach‘ eggs to plants if they are beneficial to development? would they just stick or would i have to do something technical? curious to see wether or not they can be bonded to something post-laying.

pups and feeding questions
1) once the eggs have hatched, how long should i wait before offering them food? in my mind, they’ll just starve to death as they’re extremely tiny little things and i’m afraid that ill wait too long after their yolk has been absorbed to feed them.
2) if i choose bbs as my main feeding staple while they’re hatchlings, would i have to wash the salt/brackish water off the shrimp before feeding? if so, how in the world might one do that?
3) are daphnia too big for most pups to eat while they’re hatchlings? i’ve seen problems regarding this on the forum with people letting the daphnia grow too large for the pups to fit them in their mouths.
4) at what age/size should i start with blackworms/bloodworms/chopped pellets? i intend to feed them these foods in the order they were listed in, then eventually get them eating chopped nightcrawlers as juveniles.

morph questions
1) i’m keeping about 5 pairs of twins. will doing to increase my chances of getting a chimera or mosaic axolotl pup from the hatching? i know it only occurs with twin eggs, and had the idea to see if i could somehow get one by only keeping twin eggs. i understand this is extremely rare and i will not likely get one, but wanted to know if anyone had ever done it before.

eggs and shipping questions
1) i want to keep as many pups and eggs alive as possible, and would like to cull as few as i can. i intend on selling about 100+ eggs to the breeder i’m getting the male parent from, and wanted to ask if anyone had any advice on shipping/transporting them.
2) also, would it be worth contacting my local zoo to see if they might want some eggs?
3) if i have to cull, would leaving the eggs in with the he mother be a good method? i assume she would just eat the eggs (and whatever ones hatch, i suppose) and regain those nutrients.

 

[JM29]

Hi,

Yes, your post is long, but well structured, so easy to read.
I wont be able to answer all the question, so I will limit myself to the ones I have sure data.

egg questions
1) can i remove the eggs from the plant or rock they were laid on? if so, how? would a turkey baster be recommended? if not, should i just remove the entire rock or plant and put it into a bin until they hatch?

Both are possible. Freshly laid eggs are rather easy to remove so that you don't have to disturb your setup.

2) i’ve also read that having the eggs laid on live plants helps them to develop faster/better. is this true? i have no idea, in all honesty.

Sorry, I've no data about this point.

3) would it be wise to have plants in with the eggs while they develop? i think it would be good for oxygenation purposes, but thought i’d ask anyways.

Embryo need well oxygenated water to develop correctly. Moreover, I recently saw a post speaking of ammonia release from developping eggs. I usually keep eggs with living plants ; it's an insurance against low oxygen . Nevertheless, it can be useful to do a massive water change at the end of the incubation to trigger hatching.

4) can i somehow ‘attach‘ eggs to plants if they are beneficial to development? would they just stick or would i have to do something technical? curious to see wether or not they can be bonded to something post-laying.

Eggs which have been removed don't stick very well to any support.

pups and feeding questions
1) once the eggs have hatched, how long should i wait before offering them food? in my mind, they’ll just starve to death as they’re extremely tiny little things and i’m afraid that ill wait too long after their yolk has been absorbed to feed them.

They usually can begin to eat abouit 2 to 3 days after hatching, depending on temperature. Hatchlings become also much more mobile when they really need to hunt.

2) if i choose bbs as my main feeding staple while they’re hatchlings, would i have to wash the salt/brackish water off the shrimp before feeding? if so, how in the world might one do that?

You'll probably get the bbs out of salt water with a little net. you can dip this net in fresh water or pour a little water in it to rinse the salt. Anyway, bbs will still contain a bit of salt but axolotl hatchlings tolerate this.

3) are daphnia too big for most pups to eat while they’re hatchlings? i’ve seen problems regarding this on the forum with people letting the daphnia grow too large for the pups to fit them in their mouths.

Too big daphnias are not really a problem. They wil stay alive, especially if you keep the larvae with aquatic plants. Adult daphnias will produce young, small daphnias which are edible for hatchlings. But in case of doubt, don't give to much daphnias at one time.

4) at what age/size should i start with blackworms/bloodworms/chopped pellets? i intend to feed them these foods in the order they were listed in, then eventually get them eating chopped nightcrawlers as juveniles.

Honestly, I cannot answer. I personally feed daphnias as long as possible when they are available in large amount (Even adult axolotls can eat daphnias but they need really large amounts to be properly fed).

morph questions
1) i’m keeping about 5 pairs of twins. will doing to increase my chances of getting a chimera or mosaic axolotl pup from the hatching? i know it only occurs with twin eggs, and had the idea to see if i could somehow get one by only keeping twin eggs. i understand this is extremely rare and i will not likely get one, but wanted to know if anyone had ever done it before.

Sorry, no personal experience about this point.

eggs and shipping questions
1) i want to keep as many pups and eggs alive as possible, and would like to cull as few as i can. i intend on selling about 100+ eggs to the breeder i’m getting the male parent from, and wanted to ask if anyone had any advice on shipping/transporting them.
2) also, would it be worth contacting my local zoo to see if they might want some eggs?
3) if i have to cull, would leaving the eggs in with the he mother be a good method? i assume she would just eat the eggs (and whatever ones hatch, i suppose) and regain those nutrients.

Sorry, it will be easier for someone else to answer. But yes, adult axolotl can eat at least part of the eggs if let in the same tank.

 

[axolotl nerd]

Hi,

Yes, your post is long, but well structured, so easy to read.
I wont be able to answer all the question, so I will limit myself to the ones I have sure data.


Both are possible. Freshly laid eggs are rather easy to remove so that you don't have to disturb your setup.

Sorry, I've no data about this point.

Embryo need well oxygenated water to develop correctly. Moreover, I recently saw a post speaking of ammonia release from developping eggs. I usually keep eggs with living plants ; it's an insurance against low oxygen . Nevertheless, it can be useful to do a massive water change at the end of the incubation to trigger hatching.

Eggs which have been removed don't stick very well to any support.


They usually can begin to eat abouit 2 to 3 days after hatching, depending on temperature. Hatchlings become also much more mobile when they really need to hunt.

You'll probably get the bbs out of salt water with a little net. you can dip this net in fresh water or pour a little water in it to rinse the salt. Anyway, bbs will still contain a bit of salt but axolotl hatchlings tolerate this.

Too big daphnias are not really a problem. They wil stay alive, especially if you keep the larvae with aquatic plants. Adult daphnias will produce young, small daphnias which are edible for hatchlings. But in case of doubt, don't give to much daphnias at one time.

Honestly, I cannot answer. I personally feed daphnias as long as possible when they are available in large amount (Even adult axolotls can eat daphnias but they need really large amounts to be properly fed).

Sorry, no personal experience about this point.

Sorry, it will be easier for someone else to answer. But yes, adult axolotl can eat at least part of the eggs if let in the same tank.

thanks for the many answers and even the attempted answers, this was very helpful.
a few more questions
1) will i need to preform water changes while they’re in egg form? i assume not?
2) i assume daily water changes when hatchlings?

 

[John]

I'm going to quickly run through these without reading what others have said first .

egg questions
1) can i remove the eggs from the plant or rock they were laid on? if so, how? would a turkey baster be recommended? if not, should i just remove the entire rock or plant and put it into a bin until they hatch?

Yes, carefully. Fingers is what I would use. I don't think a Turkey baster will do much when the eggs are attached to something. Some people remove the entire object, but the eggs are pretty robust.

2) i’ve also read that having the eggs laid on live plants helps them to develop faster/better. is this true? i have no idea, in all honesty.

There is some evidence that the water circulates better around the eggs when they are not just laid in a layer on the substrate. People try to make an argument that the plants provide oxygen for the eggs, but that's next to no extra benefit, and at night the plants will take oxygen out of the water and become net excreters of carbon dioxide.

3) would it be wise to have plants in with the eggs while they develop? i think it would be good for oxygenation purposes, but thought i’d ask anyways.

See number 2. Oxygenation of water is a red herring. Water circulation is the key - by turning over water, i.e. having water move to the surface and back down again, you increase the rate of gaseous exchange with the atmosphere. This is what air bubblers actually do - they don't really "add air" to the water, they turn the water over/circulate it.

4) can i somehow ‘attach‘ eggs to plants if they are beneficial to development? would they just stick or would i have to do something technical? curious to see wether or not they can be bonded to something post-laying.

No you can't - as soon as the eggs are laid that ship has sailed, but as I said, the plants themselves are not the benefit - being able to have water circulate around the eggs is what you want.

pups and feeding questions
1) once the eggs have hatched, how long should i wait before offering them food? in my mind, they’ll just starve to death as they’re extremely tiny little things and i’m afraid that ill wait too long after their yolk has been absorbed to feed them.

They're called larvae, not pups. As for the food question, a quick read of axolotl.org will answer that for you, but the answer is as soon as their egg yolk is used up (easily visible as a light creamy/white color in the gut of newly hatched larvae - use a flashlight if necessary).

2) if i choose bbs as my main feeding staple while they’re hatchlings, would i have to wash the salt/brackish water off the shrimp before feeding? if so, how in the world might one do that?

Some people do that, but axolotls don't really need it. Turn off the air circulation in the bubbler and the brineshrimp nauplii will accumulate in one area, then turkey baster them out - some salt water won't matter as long as you are doing regular water changes for the axolotls.

3) are daphnia too big for most pups to eat while they’re hatchlings? i’ve seen problems regarding this on the forum with people letting the daphnia grow too large for the pups to fit them in their mouths.

Axolotls can manage first instar Daphnia right away. Just need to keep adult Daphnia in there to provide babies constantly, or a nice culture you can regularly net with a very fine net.

4) at what age/size should i start with blackworms/bloodworms/chopped pellets? i intend to feed them these foods in the order they were listed in, then eventually get them eating chopped nightcrawlers as juveniles.

You can use blackworms exclusively from the start - they bite the ends off. No need to chop them. Don't bother with pellets until you have to - they decay very quickly. Stick with the blackworms as long as you can.

morph questions
1) i’m keeping about 5 pairs of twins. will doing to increase my chances of getting a chimera or mosaic axolotl pup from the hatching? i know it only occurs with twin eggs, and had the idea to see if i could somehow get one by only keeping twin eggs. i understand this is extremely rare and i will not likely get one, but wanted to know if anyone had ever done it before.

I'm not sure what you mean by 5 pairs of twins. Do you mean you have a bunch of twinned eggs? Trying to breed for mosaics is almost impossible, but GFP animals have a higher chance of generating them because of how brute-forced the GFP sequence was on axolotls. They don't even know exactly why.

eggs and shipping questions
1) i want to keep as many pups and eggs alive as possible, and would like to cull as few as i can. i intend on selling about 100+ eggs to the breeder i’m getting the male parent from, and wanted to ask if anyone had any advice on shipping/transporting them.

You should cull any that don't grow or barely grow, at the very least. As for shipping, there is plenty of info on Caudata Culture on this: Caudata Culture Home Page

2) also, would it be worth contacting my local zoo to see if they might want some eggs?

They almost certainly won't want them and most won't take them from hobbyists anyhow. Just sell or give away any excess.

3) if i have to cull, would leaving the eggs in with the he mother be a good method? i assume she would just eat the eggs (and whatever ones hatch, i suppose) and regain those nutrients.

You could do that, but some won't eat the eggs. They may eat larvae, but they usually ignore tiny ones until they're bigger.

 

[John]

thanks for the many answers and even the attempted answers, this was very helpful.
a few more questions
1) will i need to preform water changes while they’re in egg form? i assume not?

Not usually.

2) i assume daily water changes when hatchlings?

You can, but I wouldn't. I go by how nasty the water looks. If you're new to this, there's no harm in more frequent changes.

 

[axolotl nerd]

I'm going to quickly run through these without reading what others have said first .

Yes, carefully. Fingers is what I would use. I don't think a Turkey baster will do much when the eggs are attached to something. Some people remove the entire object, but the eggs are pretty robust.

There is some evidence that the water circulates better around the eggs when they are not just laid in a layer on the substrate. People try to make an argument that the plants provide oxygen for the eggs, but that's next to no extra benefit, and at night the plants will take oxygen out of the water and become net excreters of carbon dioxide.

See number 2. Oxygenation of water is a red herring. Water circulation is the key - by turning over water, i.e. having water move to the surface and back down again, you increase the rate of gaseous exchange with the atmosphere. This is what air bubblers actually do - they don't really "add air" to the water, they turn the water over/circulate it.

No you can't - as soon as the eggs are laid that ship has sailed, but as I said, the plants themselves are not the benefit - being able to have water circulate around the eggs is what you want.

They're called larvae, not pups. As for the food question, a quick read of axolotl.org will answer that for you, but the answer is as soon as their egg yolk is used up (easily visible as a light creamy/white color in the gut of newly hatched larvae - use a flashlight if necessary).

Some people do that, but axolotls don't really need it. Turn off the air circulation in the bubbler and the brineshrimp nauplii will accumulate in one area, then turkey baster them out - some salt water won't matter as long as you are doing regular water changes for the axolotls.

Axolotls can manage first instar Daphnia right away. Just need to keep adult Daphnia in there to provide babies constantly, or a nice culture you can regularly net with a very fine net.

You can use blackworms exclusively from the start - they bite the ends off. No need to chop them. Don't bother with pellets until you have to - they decay very quickly. Stick with the blackworms as long as you can.

I'm not sure what you mean by 5 pairs of twins. Do you mean you have a bunch of twinned eggs? Trying to breed for mosaics is almost impossible, but GFP animals have a higher chance of generating them because of how brute-forced the GFP sequence was on axolotls. They don't even know exactly why.

You should cull any that don't grow or barely grow, at the very least. As for shipping, there is plenty of info on Caudata Culture on this: Caudata Culture Home Page

They almost certainly won't want them and most won't take them from hobbyists anyhow. Just sell or give away any excess.

You could do that, but some won't eat the eggs. They may eat larvae, but they usually ignore tiny ones until they're bigger.

this is all wonderful knowledge, thank you so much
as for the blackworms i have a single follow up question, when you say you can use the, exclusively from the start do you mean in place of daphnia and bbs? if so i definitely want to go the blackworm route
i assume you’d suggest a bubbler for turning over/circulating the water? should i do this with both eggs and larve? i assume yes.
again, thank both of you so much for replying, i really appreciate it. i’m very excited to obtain a male and begin the breeding, laying, hatching, and rearing process.
thanks !!
- ren

 

[axolotl nerd]

i’d also like to know which would be the best/easiest to culture
1) blackworms
2) daphnia
3) BBS

 

[the]

i’d also like to know which would be the best/easiest to culture
1) blackworms
2) daphnia
3) BBS

you would need to feed them something really small when they fist hatch (like daphnia or Brian shrimp) you would then need to move them onto something larger like bloodworms or black worms. hope this helps