New to axolotls - how do they look?

[Biev]

Hi guys! First post. I'm a fish breeder, but I recently adopted these two axolotls. I've been a little concerned for their health since they came with feeder goldfish and that's all their previous owner fed them. I just expect feeders to be crawling with disease.

My wild-type female has also been snacking on the leucistic male's limbs - the poor guy came minus a forearm, and got two of his toes eaten yesterday. His gills are laid back, but the tip of his tail looks a little bit curled here:

He's not as active as the female is, and eats much less than she does, but he does eat. How does he look to you?

The previous owner told me that axolotls are much happier when they live as a pair, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to add a divider to the tank if she's going to keep chomping at him. The other option would be to resell one of them, but I'm really quite attached to both already. The male is obviously very pretty, and the female is so adorably goofy.

Any thoughts?

 

[Jammer]

I have a beautiful leucistic that was housed with feeder goldfish and the feeder goldfish ate all of her gills and nearly killed her. If I were you I'd take those all out emidiatly. As for your female chomping at your male. She is hungry. I feed my axolotls two or three earth worms every day or so. You should see a change in the behavior of the female when she is better fed. You can feed other foods to them as treats, but the worms make a great staple food.
Good luck and let me know if I helped.

 

[Biev]

I was surprised to read that she must be hungry, because she's constantly eating. I don't have earthworms yet, but I do feed them lots of frozen bloodworms, and she ate two goldfish in the past few days! But you could be right... She just started laying eggs

 

[emdalliance]

It's a lot of rubbish they prefer company. They're fine on their own or behind a divider.

You need to feed them both up a bit more they both look a little slim.

Leg chewing usually means hunger but you can also get axolotls that will just attack others. I have one. I feed my adults daily and she still attacks the others so she lives behind a glass divider.

I don't think personally feeder fish are a great idea. They must be quarantined for 30 days minimum too.
Plus they can eat the gills off your axolotl and pick at the slime coat.



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[GalLuvsAxolotls]

I agree that axolotls do just fine by themselves! I would put a divider between the two not only to keep the two from injuring each other but also to avoid breeding.

I would re-home the goldfish as soon as you can as well. They can easily injure your new pets.

Otherwise they look pretty good. Congratulations on your new pets!

 

[Biev]

Thanks! I'll try to find a store that will take the goldfish (one I'm not doing business with, because that's really doing them a disservice) and prepare a divider. I was hoping to get two axolotls of the same gender, but the previous owner apparently didn't know how to sex them. Or how to care for them, I'm realizing...

The male's tail isn't curled anymore, at least. I've been feeding them bloodworms with a turkey baster, because I want to see how much they're actually eating (and how much ends up in their bellies rather than the goldfish's). I'm also feeding them pieces of raw fish, since I'm lucky enough to live next to a great fishmonger, but I'll be switching them to earthworms as soon as possible.

How concerned should I be that the female is laying eggs while underweight?

(Their names are Falkor and Katla, by the way.)

 

[emdalliance]

Bloodworms aren't a good food choice for adults xx


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[emdalliance]

Sorry just read you're hoping to switch asap. Good luck with them xx


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[Biev]

Here's hoping they'll like the earthworms as much as they like the bloodworms... They really seem to enjoy those.

 

[Jammer]

If you want to try and rear the eggs you need to remove them to a small (maybe a 5 gallon) aquarium of still water. They will develop in 14 to twenty one days. 24 hours after they hatch the can be started on baby brine shrimp. Witch being a fish breeder you probably know how to do the brine shrimp. If not there are great tutorials on this site in the baby axolotl sections.

 

[Biev]

Thanks Paul. I've only found ten eggs, if I'm lucky she won't lay a ton... I've got them in a food-safe plastic tote and I'm working on getting a fairy shrimp culture started. I like them better than brine because you don't have to rinse them.

 

[Biev]

Here's a better picture to compare their sizes. Doing my best to fatten them up...

And some more pictures just to show them off. They walk right up to the glass whenever I pull out my phone.

 

[Biev]

Here's an update on these two.

First, I received the worms I had ordered. They are red compost worms, eisenia foetida. I set up a small compost bin for them, and seem to be multiplying ok so far. For some reason despite being in Canada, I can't find any place that sells organic Canadian nightcrawlers. Maybe I'll just have to go dig for some myself, once the snow disappears. For now, my axolotls really seem to love the red worms. They're not very big, but I still need to cut them in half if I don't want my axolotls to regurgitate them.

Katla is still as active as ever, and she has been gaining weight.

I had to rehome Falkor. He was so stressed, the poor thing. He would barely eat, and he was already so skinny. Katla kept snapping at him when he got close to the food, I had to feed them at opposite ends of the tank. She still managed to eat two of his toes, and cut off a small piece of his tail. Those have regrown since.

Falkor lives in a 10 gal tank now. It's a bit small for him, but he does seem a lot more comfortable. He barely ever hides, and eats a lot more. He's not very active, but hopefully that will improve once he puts on more weight. He's slowly gaining weight, but he's still got a long way to go. His arm continues to grow slowly. He has the beginning of a hand, now.

When I first got them both, Katla was laying eggs. I only found 14 in total. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but none of them hatched. They got moldy and I eventually had to discard them.

I found someone to take the goldfish from me. He hasn't been by to pick them up yet, so they are still in Katla's tank. They haven't bothered her in the least, possibly because she never hesitates to snap at them. I can't wait for them to leave, though. It will be one less thing to feel anxious about.

 

[GalLuvsAxolotls]

I am glad Katla is doing well!

Sorry, I got confused, but you had to rehome Falkor? If that is the case, I am sorry you had to, but it sounds like you did your best to make things work. If you still have him, is he still thin despite the nutritious food you are feeding?

It sounds like the eggs may not have been fertilized. That happens sometimes and does not reflect poorly on you!