One has laid eggs! What do I do?

[Vangee]

Hi everyone,

I got home from work today and noticed a bunch of eggs attached to several areas around my tank. I've read I'm supposed to remove them but I'm not sure if they're fertile yet. Do I remove them with my hands or can I use a baster? I've attached a photo. Hopefully someone can help me out.

Thanks in advance.

 

[stanleyc]

Congrats! What species is this?

I've never removed eggs by themselves before, I always remove the plant, or cut off a part of the plant with the eggs. Your probably can't remove them with a baster because they should be firmly stuck to the plant, and removing by hand might damage the eggs. I'd put in a bunch of floating plants (elodea and java moss are great for this), so when they get filled with eggs, you can just remove those and replace.

 

[Vangee]

Thanks. I have axolotls. I thought this website was just for them. My mistake!

I've read here that removing them with your hands is quite common and that the eggs themselves are pretty tough. Is that incorrect? Do they look like they've been inseminated? This is my first time and unfortunately may be my last as I'm moving to central america and probably won't be able to bring them with me, though I am trying.

 

[stanleyc]

Maybe you can remove them by hand, I just haven't done it before, I'd wait for someone who's done it to advise. To tell if they're fertile or not, just wait a bit. If they are, you should start seeing changes in that yolk-like structure of the earliest laid eggs in a few days, a week tops. This is at least going on my experience with other caudata species, I'm assuming axolotls should be similar.