AXOLOTL CARE GUIDE | Housing, Feeding, & Tank Mates | Ambystoma mexicanum

hi fish fam this is a gamer's wife here with a care guide on the axolotl also known as abastoma mexicanum it's an entirely aquatic salamander from a couple of high altitude freshwater lakes in mexico and they never lose their external gills unlike normal salamanders unfortunately they're probably extinct in the wild from water pollution and non-native fish but because of their powerful ability to regenerate practically anything they're very prolific in scientific research labs and in the pet industry at full size most of them grow to about 9 to 12 inches and i've heard they can get up to 10 years in age for an exotic pet they're actually not that hard to purchase they are illegal in certain states like california but you can usually find one in an exotic pet store or probably a facebook group for axolotls you'll definitely get a list of reputable breeders there for me i didn't know anything and i just looked on craigslist and found a breeder locally costs can range anywhere from 20 to 100 plus depending on the coloration i'd say the most common types are wild type which is going to be a dark earth colored axolotl albino leucistic which is white but with black eyes and melanoid which is black or gray colored any of these types might also come with gfp or green fluorescent protein which comes from the scientific world splicing in jellyfish dna it doesn't seem to harm the axolotls and is actually inherited through breeding nowadays causing them to glow green under blue or black light for tank setup most websites say 10 gallons per axolotl i would maybe do 20 gallons for your first axolotl and then 10 or 20 per additional one because i found when putting two axolotls in a 20 gallon tank it was way too much waste for me to handle other pieces of equipment you'll need are a thermometer you want to keep that water cold which we'll talk about in a second very very good filtration but with low flow so you'll need to use like a spray bar or a baffle or a sponge filter for substrate most people recommend a bare bottom tank maybe slate tiles or a fine sand people are really divided on whether to use gravel or rocks of any type because they're really afraid of axolotls swallowing it and getting impaction while other people say that axolotls swallow gravel on purpose to help with buoyancy so do your own research i personally use a bare bottom tank because it's a lot easier to keep clean they're not a big fan of high light situations so definitely keep the lights off when you can and use lots of hides for them to well hide in for decor of course any kind of fake aquarium decor is just fine um live plants you just have to be careful that it might be uprooted or crushed under the weight of a axolotl trying to rest on it in general axolotls are mostly bottom dwellers but many of them like to swim up top or rest on various surfaces your water conditions are going to be pretty similar to fresh water fish you want the chlorinated water you want the tank cycled uh ph can range from six and a half to eight is what i've heard but they do come from mountain water which is usually on the harder more acidic side word to the wise axolotls are very messy creatures they make these little log-shaped dog poops and yes they step on them and it immediately becomes poop dust everywhere so you're definitely gonna have to do weekly water changes maybe more if you don't have enough filtration in fact some people even use turkey basters to pick up poop whenever they see it or they do a small siphoning after every feeding yeah that's why i recommend more gallons if at all possible as for temperature axolotls really like 60 to 68 degrees fahrenheit and can even go lower if needed i definitely follow some of the advice on websites that said oh 72 74. it's fine and they weren't fine colder is better they're from the mountains remember in my setup i actually wrapped three sides of the tank with reflective foil insulation and had a fan blowing across the top of the water that means using either no lid or maybe like a screen top lid so that evaporation can really cool down the tank it was really effective and a lot more reliable than using bottles of ice and cheaper and had a smaller footprint than using a chiller axolotls are carnivorous and if you put anything in front of their face they'll pretty much try to suck it up like a vacuum luckily they only have little stumps for teeth so it doesn't hurt if they accidentally bite you for younger axolotls i would recommend feeding them anything from frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp to live blackworms and other small micro worms then you can move them up to red wigglers or nightcrawlers might have to cut them up at first found commonly at walmart or any fishing store with bait as well as soft sinking pellets um i've heard people use hikari massivores salmon feed and lexolotles i'll put links to those in the description variety is key though when they're younger you'll want to feed them every day and actually when they're older and not growing as rapidly every two to three days a good guideline is shooting for an abdomen that's about as wide as the head as for tank mates unfortunately fish uh like to nibble on the gills of axolotls they look like little worms and axolotls like to eat fish so uh maybe if you want to raise feeder tank mates like shrimp or white cloud minnows that's a possibility in general species only tanks are the safest way to go except a few caveats axolotls less than six inches are cannibalistic and may nip or bite off body parts from their roommates also a lot of people like to keep adult axolotls of opposite genders apart so they won't over breed their females alright so time to rate the axolotl as a pet in terms of availability and cost not bad at all for an exotic pet but definitely going to cost more than your average freshwater fish their heartiness is high because of their amazing regenerative powers i dock them in terms of ease of care and difficulty level because a it's harder to keep the water cold and b there's just not a lot of good information out there because axolotls aren't as popular yet in the pet industry and finally with appearance super cute super unique can't be beat overall would i keep them again definite thumbs up [Music] well i hope you enjoyed my take on axolotl care for more information go to axolotl.org or check out the forums at caudata.org links in the description best of luck with your new pet axolotl and if you have any questions feel free to comment below [Music]

Channel: Girl Talks Fish

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Id: hZzSbCCC3KM

Length: 7min 57sec (477 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 10 2018