Question: What HAVE YOU given up for axolotls?

[sde]

Well, I don't have axolotls, but I do have newts, so figure that's good enough

My mothers space :lol:

Money ( of course ).

Lots of time.

My fear of slimy worms.

My mothers space :lol:

Energy that could go towards other things.

My fathers tubs.

My grandmas aerator.

More of my mothers space :lol:

And MY SANITY!!!

-Seth

 

[FireStar]

1. Holiday. I don't have family or friends who (I trust) to feed and clean the axies (and frogs).
2. Time And Relative Dimensions in (and) Space
3. Sleep. (dear god! Has it been a week AND ONE DAY since I've cleaned the tank. (Restless sleep that night))
4. Money. The API water testing kit is more expensive than the price I brought my axies and tank
5. Friends. (Kim, I'm going to punch you if you say the word axolotl one more time)
6. Being embarrassed by my mom when she does the baby noises thing to the axolotls

7. I don't have to give it up, but my mum was quite upset when she had to give up the fruit bowl for the axolotl tank.

 

[HayleyK]

5. Friends. (Kim, I'm going to punch you if you say the word axolotl one more time)

I can relate. So bloody much. My best friend doesn't like animals much besides dogs - even then she won't walk, feed or play with them (her parents do.. Sad really) she weird things, including my axolotls so she gets annoyed/uninterested with me when I talk about them.

My sister doesn't understand my obsession, I show her some of the photos of all of the pictures I find on here and she's like " oh... Cool..... ".

My boyfriend was really into me telling stories and stuff but lately I've been bugging him to get an axolotl but he's got a spotted python and aquarium reef in his room with what he thinks is "not enough space".. But there is. And now I've been thinking he should make me another tank for my potential babies I could have... That I don't have yet.. Because my axolotls are babies themselves... He thinks I need help :crazy:

 

[FireStar]

My best friend doesn't like animals much besides dogs - even then she won't walk, feed or play with them (her parents do.. Sad really)

That is really sad!
I'm sorry to dis your friend, but what's the point in having a dog?

 

[HayleyK]

Don't be sorry, I ask her / diss her all the time. I think it's very stupid. Her parents and brother loves dogs (they always get pound / on kill street dogs - so that's a plus!) she just likes the look of having her backyard with dogs in there. She does occassionally walk/touch them but not that often at all. She hates their smell and dribble that's why she doesn't like playing with them. Puppies she can tolerate because you know how puppies don't have that doggyish-smell yet. It makes me sad because I can't have a dog anymore and would give up everything to have one and cuddle, play, walk, swim, do everything with

She's just not very into animal care.. Thankfully the dogs have her parents.

 

[texa]

To be honest, as a student with little time and money, I choose to keep aquatic animals because they don't need constant caring for and can handle themselves pretty well.
I spend two hours or so every week doing water changes/filter cleans for my two 150l tanks and feed both my lotls and tropical fish every couple of days.
Luckily I study marine biology and have many friends in my course keen/able to look after them if I'm away. They certainly are easier to care for than a cat/dog in terms of time and money, and I don't think I really sacrifice any social time for them.

There is definitely something very satisfying though about giving your pets the best care you can!

 

[SuburbanGirl]

I have sacrificed some time to care for them,
I have sacrificed some money to pay for them,
I have sacrificed about 40% of the counters in my kitchen.

I have gained so much more than I lost:
My family wants to come and see them,
My daughter thinks they are cool to look at and talk to,
I have met some awesome people at the LFS,
I have a sense of satisfaction from caring for them and watching them grow,
Many of my friends want to come and pick me up to hang out because they want to say hi to the Jacks.
My flower gardens are healthier because I dump my tank water on them,
I am developing muscles in my arms from lifting the water!

On an unrelated note, I quit using lotion about 7 years ago because most contain alcohols to make it dry faster. I use handmade soaps that don't dry the skin and even living in a desert while sticking my hands in the tanks every day I have not had any problems with dry skin. (ok, there was one time that I had to do too many water changes too fast and my skin did get a little dry so I broke down and used some non-alcohol lotion. Once.)

 

[Kimfishepet]

Funny you post this today. This morning I drowned my iphone while trying to use it as a flashlight to harvest brine shrimp to feed the baby axies. Again!!

 

[NexSocius]

I don't feel like I've given up much for Chernobyl, however the original outlay was quite expensive. The daily water changes, 10 min walks to and from work in my lunch breaks to check up on him, and then carting bags of ice home on unexpected 40c days to keep him cool.....
I dedicate 30-60 mins a day for feeding, pwc, icing, playing (follow the finger and talking) and poop scooting while he's in his temp summer tub. When he's back in his big tank, it will be a simple weekly water change.

I don't see holidays being a future issue, however I have family who could take care of him if I was gone for just a few days.

 

[BramJ]

- Lots of space (600 liter/158 us gallon tank with 192 liter/50 gallon filter-tank)
- Flexibility if I want to move to a diffirent place, this tank is heavy, need a good solid floor and it doesn't fit easilly through doors
- Quite some money, custom made tank, filter and stand. Aqua Medic Titan 1500 chiller
- Time building/setting it all up

Thats it really, because of my filter setup and chiller I hardly even have to do any cleaning. I never cleaned the bottom since I got it 8 months ago, and its pretty much spotless Also water changes are easy because of the extra tap and drain I made