What happens to all of these eggs?

[kaixingin]

Hey everyone! I'm a biology major and a medical student so I'm asking this purely out of curiosity and no judgment! I'm new to axolotl-keeping and I noticed that people seem to be very eager to relinquish accidental parents of hundreds of eggs or even babies regardless of morph. While I'm glad that these babies will have somewhere to go, it has gotten me curious as to what the most common reason for that is? To properly house so many babies seems almost unfeasible so is it for selling? For research? Just simply out of good will?

 

[kaixingin]

Bumping this! Just discovered some very grim news that axolotls are fried in Japan for food. This makes me all the more curious about the high demand for axolotl eggs. Any info would be very appreciated!

 

[Murk]

I've found the opposite - that it can be quite hard to find good homes for a full batch of larvae/juveniles. After all, there are only so many people who want an axolotl, and there's a lot of axolotl per batch.

I don't think the food market for axolotls is quite big, and big research institutions often have their own supply. In my experience, most axolotl eggs from pet owners also end up as pets (often, through re-sellers).

I do know a lot of resellers are a lot less finicky about culling eggs or larvae. For them, it might be much easier just to buy the eggs in bulk and see which ones grow up to be strong or have a nice colour, to sell. The rest will probably meet an unfortunate end.

 

[kaixingin]

I've found the opposite - that it can be quite hard to find good homes for a full batch of larvae/juveniles. After all, there are only so many people who want an axolotl, and there's a lot of axolotl per batch.

I don't think the food market for axolotls is quite big, and big research institutions often have their own supply. In my experience, most axolotl eggs from pet owners also end up as pets (often, through re-sellers).

I do know a lot of resellers are a lot less finicky about culling eggs or larvae. For them, it might be much easier just to buy the eggs in bulk and see which ones grow up to be strong or have a nice colour, to sell. The rest will probably meet an unfortunate end.

Yeah luckily its seen as a delicacy but apparently a very popular one in Osaka. Truly haunting imagery. And okay, that makes sense about culling batches for results. I guess its okay since it occurs in the wild a lot more indiscriminantly. Thank you for your response! This was keeping me up at night xD

 

[Murk]

Axolotls (and similar) were a popular staple food with the Mesoamerican native Americans as well (Aztecs, Olmecs, etc.) The Aztecs built their floating chinampa gardens on top of the lakes and creeks, which makes a perfect environment for axolotls: dark, cool, murky, lots of hiding places, lots of small critters. They supposedly taste very good, but I haven't personally tried

In general though, yeah, culling is almost always necessary. One batch of eggs can easily produce two hundred larvae. Most people cull the eggs before they even start growing, because that's probably more ethical. If you're a commercial reseller, waiting to see which ones are strong or rare is probably more practical.
I once decided it would be best to keep them all in one tank and let natural selection do its job, and came to regret that very much. I thought it would be the ethical thing to do, but all the starvation and cannibalism was unpleasant for both me and the axolotls. Culling them as eggs (freezing the eggs work) is much better for the conscience.

 

[kaixingin]

Axolotls (and similar) were a popular staple food with the Mesoamerican native Americans as well (Aztecs, Olmecs, etc.) The Aztecs built their floating chinampa gardens on top of the lakes and creeks, which makes a perfect environment for axolotls: dark, cool, murky, lots of hiding places, lots of small critters. They supposedly taste very good, but I haven't personally tried

In general though, yeah, culling is almost always necessary. One batch of eggs can easily produce two hundred larvae. Most people cull the eggs before they even start growing, because that's probably more ethical. If you're a commercial reseller, waiting to see which ones are strong or rare is probably more practical.
I once decided it would be best to keep them all in one tank and let natural selection do its job, and came to regret that very much. I thought it would be the ethical thing to do, but all the starvation and cannibalism was unpleasant for both me and the axolotls. Culling them as eggs (freezing the eggs work) is much better for the conscience.

I guess it was more the being deep fried alive that was bugging me especially since its not for subsistence but yeah </3