Which baby should I keep?

[keiko]

The past few months I've been raising my first batch of eggs and now they're ready to go to their new homes. I have two little wild types and I'm going to keep one of them, but just don't know which one I should keep!
One of them is smaller, but it has a very nice personality - calm and gets along with others pretty well. And then there's the other one that has grown a lot bigger already and has beautiful gills. The problem with this one is that it has gotten pretty aggressive and has to be housed alone at the moment. I know they usually go through a cannibalistic phase, but it's just a lot worse than any of the others. What I'm wondering is if there's a risk that it will always be that aggressive and not "grow out of it"?

So which one should I keep:
1. Smaller, but calm and friendly
2. Big and beautiful, but aggressive?

 

[LoriML]

IMHO they all have different personalities and you can't count on it growing out of it. If you're ok with the possibility of him having to be kept alone that would be fine, but I personally would go with the calmer happier one. Not to say that he won't end up with a grumpy tank mate and you'll be looking at the same situation in the future, but I'd prefer peace over beauty. But that's just me.

 

[keiko]

I definitely understand what you mean. But what makes the decision even harder is that I have homes ready for all of the babies that I'm selling and the wild type that I end up selling will go with one of my leucistic babies which are all pretty friendly towards each other. So it would be a lot easier for the new home if they got two calm and friendly axies. I do have the option of putting up a divider in one of my tanks so I could keep the aggressive one separated if needed. If the aggression is just temporary then the bigger one would also be a nice addition to my breeding group (ofcourse not going to breed it if it's still aggressive once it grows).

 

[xxianxx]

They generally are not aggressive as adults with similar sized tank mates. I personally like to keep the bigger axolotls in a batch to grow on as breeding stock, if you think your smaller axolotl is less aggressive try adding some small ones in its tank and see what happens. Aggression is generally based on size rather than personality but there are exceptions. Just keep the one you like

 

[LSuzuki]

Well it sound like you are willing to deal with a potentially always-aggressive axolotl, and you would feel bad if it caused problems in its new home. Plus, it is a beautiful axolotl. I suspect you would be happiest to keep the pretty-but-aggressive one.

I hope you are happy with whichever decision you make. :happy:

 

[Nancy Haggerty]

I would talk to the person who is buying the wildtype and kind of give them the option. They may not be able to keep the 2 seperated. Especially if they are new to axolotls and if you are able to accommodate the aggressive one.

 

[Petersgirl]

Good suggestions, all.

It sounds to me like you want to keep both, but perhaps don't have the room? Faced with this issue, I'd do what Nancy has suggested - offer the owner who comes to collect a choice.

If you really can't choose, is there no chance you could keep both? I've had to cap myself at four - as a trainee teacher and youth leader living in a single room it's just not feasible to keep more than that - but your situation might be more lenient.

Snappiness is a dicey thing. Sometimes axolotls do grow more accustomed to other axolotls as they age, others remain more or less hermits the rest of their lives, unsuited to living with others. I have one who was too snappy to keep with others and I tried to find a home for her, but as time wore on, she became less aggressive - she only snaps when there is food about, as she always did, but she seems now to have more of a lid on it. It's one of those things we can't predict, but it'd mean always being prepared to separate the snappy one if needed.

I would, if I had been able to keep any of my babies, gone with the one which was the most sociable and healthy, and which I felt I had the closest connection to (in my case, this would have been the quiet and calm Sassy, who I nursed out of an injured foot as a baby).

In the end, it is your choice. I hope whichever - or even both, should you choose both - make you happy.

 

[keiko]

Thanks everyone.

if you think your smaller axolotl is less aggressive try adding some small ones in its tank and see what happens. Aggression is generally based on size rather than personality but there are exceptions.

Yea, I know. Ofcourse the smaller one would show aggression too towards smaller siblings like most axies do. But the bigger one was a lot more aggressive even when he/she was housed with similar sized siblings when they all were smaller. (The smaller one is now housed with 3 leucistics that are the same size and they all like to hang out in one big pile of little axies. ) The bigger one only later started to grow like crazy. And still keeps growing faster than the others. So I think I'm going to keep the bigger one. There is no way it could be housed with any of his/her siblings any time soon so it's just easier that way. If he/she will calm down as an adult, great. If not, then at least I know I can keep him/her separated so everyone's safe.