Petco axolotl warning Hello everyone,

[MThompson299]

Hello everyone,

So me and my partner have purchased 2 "axolotls" from petco one which is our new tank and the other on our koi pond. Well they both started losing their gills and acquiring stripes and I mentioned this to petco and they proceeded to say "oh we do not sell axolotls we sell unmorphed tiger salamanders" which of course explains the changes not to mention they have been a little aggressive to our axolotls. So I don't know if this is an occurrence or practice throughout all petcos, but I thought I would provide fair warning as me and my partner are a little upset and saddened as we are going to have to remove 2 of our little guys.

 

[auntiejude]

Caveat emptor....

 

[Bette]

That's terrible. So they were labeled as axolotls? I would ask for my money to be refunded.

 

[MThompson299]

That's terrible. So they were labeled as axolotls? I would ask for my money to be refunded.

I plan on it. But they fact is they have been doing it for a while.

 

[Cacique]

Thanks for the warning. If I ever see any of these for sale at a local Petco I'll bring it up.

 

[Velice]

Not to defend petco, but there have been similar posts in the past and it always seems that the stores label the animals as some colloquial term for tiger salamander. Most people just assume they are axoltols.

I think in the end things turned out for the best. Axolotls wouldn't do well in a Georgia pond where temperatures can reach the high 80s (F) in the summer and often hover in the mid 70s (F). In addition, axoltols should be kept in a single species environment, excluding food.

Please don't buy anymore axolotls for your koi pond.

 

[MThompson299]

Not to defend petco, but there have been similar posts in the past and it always seems that the stores label the animals as some colloquial term for tiger salamander. Most people just assume they are axoltols.

I think in the end things turned out for the best. Axolotls wouldn't do well in a Georgia pond where temperatures can reach the high 80s (F) in the summer and often hover in the mid 70s (F). In addition, axoltols should be kept in a single species environment, excluding food.

Please don't buy anymore axolotls for your koi pond.

Actually our koi pond is covered and never peaked above 73 or 74 degrees even mid day or early afternoon. We kept a close eye on them as well as isolated them during feedings so that did not have to compete for food. At this point they have all been moved into a tank only because winter is coming and we wanted to see them more up close than we did in the pond environment. We thoroughly researched before just putting them in our koi pond and have always kept a close eye on them the entire time they were in the pond. And I was not bashing petco I was just providing some awareness as I asked specifically if the animal was an axolotl or something different and was told that it was an axolotl when I made the purchase. It was another employee who stated that they do not carry axolotls and that they carried unmorphed tiger salamanders

 

[blushed]

I think that if you specifically asked someone BEFORE you purchased the "axolotls" only to shortly discover "they don't sell Axolotls" something needs to be said/done.

I've never seen any for sale beyond my LFS, and I really just think it's ridiculous considering other people may have purchased them and the two types need different habitats... It's just all around a crappy situation.

Good luck getting a refund.

 

[MThompson299]

I think that if you specifically asked someone BEFORE you purchased the "axolotls" only to shortly discover "they don't sell Axolotls" something needs to be said/done.

I've never seen any for sale beyond my LFS, and I really just think it's ridiculous considering other people may have purchased them and the two types need different habitats... It's just all around a crappy situation.

Good luck getting a refund.

So we did take the tiger salamander back and spoke with the manager. They immediately refunded us the money. The next day we scooted back to check out their gold fish for our pond and they removed the label for axolotls and put up an even bigger label that stated that they were water dogs / tiger salamanders.