Sincere Questions About Axolotls

[decademic]

Hi there! Little bit of background, I don't own or plan on owning an axolotl any time soon, mostly because I live in California and according to the most recent post, they're illegal. Darn. I'm very curious about axolotls because there is no information about them that isn't a scientific study. No one talks about them! These are very honest (and maybe a little dumb) questions about them!

1. do axolotls have visible ears? I saw somewhere that they have internal eardrums, but nothing I've seen has mentioned the surface?
2. what color is their blood? I mean, don't cut your pet's arm, but if you know what it looks like offhand...
3. they're known for regrowing body parts, but if their gills are cut off, can they still breathe underwater? I know they can breathe air, but can they breathe in water with the same results?
4. can they swim well and do they often? or do they just crawl along the bottom of the tank most of the time?
5. how can you tell if they're asleep if they have no eyelids? do they nest in a corner or something?
6. how squishy are they? are their bones rigid like ours or are they malleable?
7. do they prefer solitude or can they live in groups?
8. how smart are they on average? cute little dumb babies or troublemaking escapees?

 

[Hayleyy]

Hello! I'll give your questions a go The forum here has pretty much everything you need to know if you have a few spare hours to go digging .
1- no external ears.
2- Red blood.
3- I'm not 100% sure how to answer this, if the gills are completely gone I imagine the axolotl will die or morph. If the gills have shrunken the axolotl can grow them back as long as it is kept in perfect conditions.
4- Excellent swimmers! The frequency depends on the individual. I've had a really sedentary one who just crawled along the bottom and I've had hyper ones that swim all the time and crash into the glass.
5- I assume if it hasn't moved in a while and does nothing when I walk up to it that they are asleep.
6- Their body is squishy but their bones are like ours (bone, not cartilage) so are rigid. But, they are a lot smaller so easy to damage!
7- Either is fine. It depends on the space you have. Less than 20 gallons you only want one axolotl. For every 10 gallons you can have one more, and one hide for each plus some. If there isn't enough room/hides they can fight. They're not pack animals so do perfectly fine alone.
8- They're not the smartest animals really, but they do learn habits pretty well. You can teach them to eat in a particular spot which is really cool (and handy)! Any escapees are probably swimming accidents.