For many years, axolotl care products were either DIY affairs (such as Holtfreter’s Solution), or repurposed from aquarium fish use, as in the case of dried foods, medicines and water conditioners. More recently, axolotl specific products have become read
PRO-F AXOLOTL PELLETS — when it comes to dry food, axolotls want a nutritionally balanced, quick sinking food with a high protein content.
Rich in smell to entice even the most stubborn of axolotls, Pro-f pellets remove the risk of introducing disease pathogens from live foods. Smaller junior pellets are richer in protein and vitamin content (for healthy growth) while the larger adult pellets ensure optimal nutrition without excess pollution.
AXOSAFE TAP WATER CONDITIONER
— some commercially available aquarium dechlorinators contain aloe vera which isn’t desirable for axolotl care. AxoSafe is a conditioner that tackles chlorine, chloramine, halogens and heavy metals found in tap water, making it safe for use in waterchanges. Simply mix it with your water before use and you’re good to go. If you’re unsure of how much to use, NT Labs even has a dosage calculator to help you at ntlabs. co.uk/ dosagecalculator
AXOTONIC SALT MIXTURE — known amongst axolotl keepers as a ‘modified Holtfreter’s Solution,’ AxoTonic has many uses. Primarily, it caters to an axolotl’s need for optimal pH, KH and GH levels, it also helps to prevent fungal infections, and aid recovery should your axolotl become infected. In an idea world, it would be mixed with RO water, but if using tapwater (which will need to be dechlorinated first) all you need to know is the hardness level of your supply to calulate the exact dosage.
AXOCURE MEDICINE BATH — just like any animal, axolotls can fall victim to various disease pathogens, especially the likes of Chilodonella, Ichthyobodo, and monogenetic trematodes.
Instead of risking a haphazard (and potentially dangerous) aquarium fish medication, AxoCure is specifically created for axolotls. For symptoms like sores and blisters, sliminess of the body, peeling skin, scratching or rubbing, and assuming that water quality is as it should be, then this is the treatment you’ll need.
Prize layers
If you have a pair and keep them well, you’ll be rewarded with hundreds of frogspawn-like eggs at some point. They do seem to have a distinct breeding season—mine would usually spawn in winter, just when ensuring a steady supply of live food from my pond was hardest!
Starting with the basics: males and females look similar, but the males have an obviously larger region around their back legs where their testes are.
Females are usually a bit stockier as well. The eggs are quite large and scattered about all over the place.
It’s possible to get over a thousand eggs at a time. Remove some to a shallow rearing tank, and dispose of the excess. The rearing tank needs gentle filtration (a sponge filter is ideal) and shouldn’t be more than 10-15 cm deep. Don’t use sand in the tank as you’ll need to keep it as clean as you can.
The eggs take a couple of weeks to hatch, but because they’re large and transparent, it’s easy to watch the embryos develop. Eventually, the tadpoles wriggle out and start hunting. They enjoy hanging about floating plants near the surface, but will also crawl along the bottom.
They are ferociously cannibalistic if not given enough food. Daphnia and other very small live foods work well to start with, graduating onto live and then frozen insect larvae as they mature. Growth is slow at first, and it’s really important to segregate them by size if you’re aiming to breed them in significant numbers. If you don’t, you’ll probably end up with just one or two big ones…
Axolotls have poor eyesight and hunt by smell more than anything else, but they are attracted to movement. Use long forceps to wiggle something under their noses, and they’ll usually bite—or rather, suck!