officially breeding axolotls!

[the lion who ate the sun]

The female searching for a place to deposit eggs.

The eggs at day 3

Theyre hatching! They began hatching last weekend, and have been making their way out of their eggs one by one since. The external gills are already clearly visible. So far we have identified a handful of albinos, but it is difficult to say with any amount of authority how the others will shape up.

The hatchery. The three miniature tanks up front hold specimens, organized by size. The organization process involves using a very large turkey baster, and moving individuals in an extremely careful manner. This is necessary, as they will cannibalize their siblings if there is even a mild disparity in size.

One of several daphnia colonies. They are loving them

A few of the larger daphnia appeared to be attacking a recently hatched axolotl. Not much that can be done there. More food was added for the daphnia, and the behavior ceased.

 

[the lion who ate the sun]

If you are interested in owning a baby, pm me and I will let you know when they are ready to depart from the hatchery. Pricing will be quite cheap.

We are hoping for a nice variety of specimens. There is not a great deal of info regarding phenotype diversity, but other breeders on caudata have claimed to have bred leucistic x leuxistic and wound up with a diverse array of phenotypes.

 

[nigaharu]

Very exciting!! Congratulations


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[the lion who ate the sun]

Thanks! This is me and Kimmie's first successful breeding venture, so were very excited! I'll compile some growth shots in the thread. Looks like about 350 of them have hatched so far, with another 50 eggs remaining.

 

[appak]

They are so creepy, I love it! Following along, this is so cool!

 

[the lion who ate the sun]

Here is a shot of the male. He has to remain separated from the female for at least 2 months to ensure that they do not immediately breed again. Hence the wall. He's still really upset about that.They often sit on either side of the wall, nose to nose, staring at one another.

Its very Romeo and Juliet, but she could die if she tries to breed again so soon at her present size.

The female:

Another of the male:


It is difficult to see, but the babies have grown by a millimeter or two. They are hard to photograph. I might try to break out the Nikon sometime this week.

 

[deeda]

Very cool and congrats on the spawning!!!

 

[jstanley_06]

very cool

 

[the lion who ate the sun]

Thanks guys! More pics to come later tonight. The largest among them are beginning to develop their legs, and all of them have fully developed their external gills!

 

[the lion who ate the sun]

A few shots of the growth progress. It is difficult to see, but select individuals are already beginning to develop arms!

As a result of this awful weather, the temperature in our house dropped. Evidently it was enough to get the male and female's hormones running wild. The male managed to bypass the barrier last week, and they produced another batch of eggs! Kimmie and I were quite worried for the female, as she only just laid eggs. She is fine at this point, and is both active and hardy.

Here are some shots of the new batch: