We are parents!!!!!!

[kelli-anne]

We got a little baby today - she is so cute!!! She is orange and I think very young.

I have a question though - she keeps "pacing" the tanks swimming backwards and forwards and keeps hitting her head up against the wall. Is this normal?

I have owned an axolotl before but that was years ago and I can't remember what happened when I bought it home.

I will try and take some pics in the day light tomorrow. We have I think a 2 foot tank and some nice hidy holes in there. We have also put a "lid" in there for her to eat off of.

So excited about having a baby to care for

 

[kapo]

Hi welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you have a golden. If you only got her/him today, s/he may be settling in.

A few questions though..

a) Did you cycle the tank? see: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

b) what is your tank temperature?

c) what are you using as substrate/tank floor?

Check out www.axolotl.org

 

[kelli-anne]

We have had the tank set up since Monday morning and have been keeping an eye on the ph levels - they are all ok now.

The tank is sitting at about 23 degrees.

We are using river sand as per some threads we have read on here!

 

[kapo]

Hi it's not the pH levels that you need to check while it's cycling the levels you need to monitor, now you've added your axie, are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

You need to test regularly, either daily or every 2 days, and if needbe (ie: ammonia/nitrite levels higher than 0) then do a 20=30% waterchange to keep it safe for your axie to reside while its cycling. No need to add any chemicals to fix the ammonia/nitrite levels as the frequent partial waterchanges will sort things out.(other than a tapwater treatment to remove chlorine and chloramines - water ager/conditioner).

If you don't have one, invest in a turkey baster, an axie owners' best cleaning tool! Great for spotcleaning uneaten/regurgitated food, waste and poo.

23 Degrees is warm, hopefully you're on the the tailend of your summer. Otherwise if the tank gets warmer then cool it down using a fan blowing across the surface. This can bring it down by a a couple of degrees.

Warm water has less oxygen and some axies are a little more active in warm temps.

 

[kelli-anne]

Thanks for that information. Maybe that is why she is swimming around and around. We are on the tail end of summer. We should be cooling right down but you know Queensland.....one extreme to the next.

Ok I am stupid but how do you check the ammonia and nitrite and nitrate levels?

What is a turkey baster?

Sorry about being so naivie.

 

[kapo]

Not naive! A few years ago I would have said the same

You need to get freshwater test kits for the 3 mentioned. The one I have is a master freshwater test kit which includes testtubes and tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, low & high pH tests. You can usually buy them individually or as a set, they're about $18 single or $55 cheapest for the whole set here in NZ unless you can find one on an online auctionsite. They are a worthwhile investment even if you just buy the ammonia and nitrite first.

You can alternatively take a sample of tankwater into your petshop/aquarium regularly while the tanks cycling and get them to test it and write the figures down for each. Saying that, they may try and sell you products to fix things which are not needed at all.

A turkey baster is usually used to suck up the juices and baste a turkey or (in our case leg of ham). Try the kitchen utensil departments of local supermarkets/department stores. We tend to have them in the bargain $2 shop stores here. They're a plastic or metal tapering tube with hole at both ends. At the upper end is a rubber bulblike thing that you squeeze to suck up the waste! Sorry if I've confused you any but my descriptive powers aren't exactly the greatest!