General Axolotl Info

[Bradley1]

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking about getting a pet axolotl and I just wanted to get some general information about them. What are some of the pros and cons of having one? If possible, it would be cool if I could get some personal opinions from people that have kept them. Are they interesting pets? Fun to keep/fun to watch/interesting behaviour? I know that's a sort of personal question to ask and may not apply to me... but I'd just like some personal opinions. -Thanks

 

[khua]

Pros
easy to care for
doesn't need a large tank or heater
you get watch them grow (if you get a small one)
put them in the fridge if their not feeling well


Cons
trying to keep the tank cool

I'd recommend you get a sponge filter instead of a hob filter because they don't like moving water and it will stress them out(you can tell if their gills are curled forward.)They can't have gravel in their tanks as they might swallow it and cause complications, either have a bare bottom tank or sand as substrate. They don't need a heater as they are a cold water species. Don't feed blood worms as a staple diet, feed them salmon pellets or earthwarms. I had leucistic axolotl who I thought was interesting he would go sitting on the sponge filter, flower pot and climbing on the marimo moss balls.

 

[Bradley1]

Pros
easy to care for
doesn't need a large tank or heater
you get watch them grow (if you get a small one)
put them in the fridge if their not feeling well


Cons
trying to keep the tank cool

I'd recommend you get a sponge filter instead of a hob filter because they don't like moving water and it will stress them out(you can tell if their gills are curled forward.)They can't have gravel in their tanks as they might swallow it and cause complications, either have a bare bottom tank or sand as substrate. They don't need a heater as they are a cold water species. Don't feed blood worms as a staple diet, feed them salmon pellets or earthwarms. I had leucistic axolotl who I thought was interesting he would go sitting on the sponge filter, flower pot and climbing on the marimo moss balls.

Awesome! Thanks for the advice... seems like a pretty hardy pet I'm gonna have to get one!

 

[ThatNewGuy]

There actually not hardy pets in my opinion, they're very sensitive to light and water temperatures, they're very prone to fungus and when you keep more than one they can be cannibalistic when they're young. Also fridgeing an axolotl slows it's metabolism so depending on scenario this can be bad, usually this is a last resort ordeal. But pleas don't let me discourage you from them, I have 2 that I have kept since they where baby's and watching them grow just makes me bond with them even more, they're very dopey and cute to watch, sometimes they fallow you around watching you, feeding them is also fun as they fight the earthworms you feed them, I hope that if you did get one you did research prior to its arrival, like I said they're sensitive to a lot of things (touching, light, temperature, and water perma meters.) if you have any questions on them feel free to message me


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[tabruzzi96]

if you get them at a good size (~4 inches + imo) they are very tough. you can keep one in a 10 gallon bare bottom, run a sponge filter and do some type of screen lid. i use plastic chicken wire/mesh stuff zip tied to some pvc to hold it down. Throw in a 2 inch pvc elbow and youve got a cave. Toss them some shrimp pellets a few times a week and theyre good to go. Yes they are sensitive to higher temps but can and will function outside the ideal range.

 

[Herps and fish]

Khua and ThatNewGuy were both in the right. They are really not hardy because if your water quality is even a little bit off they can die easily.

The only other bad thing about them is what khua said - you can't make that cool of a tank for them. I recommend a few live plants, some marimo balls, pool filter sand for substrate, and just make sure all of your decorations are smooth.

You can go with any kind of filter you want - just build a protective barrier around the intake, and make sure the output hits a slate rock that's submerged around 1" deep so there's not too much current.

When I had mine he was pretty cool, but I wanted a savannah monitor more so I traded him. You don't really want to handle axolotls but if you want something to look at I recommend them.