Axolotl Care
Axolotl Care
Axolotls are available in various colours including dark brown, spotted, albino, gold, olive and
black. They can live for up to 15 years
Housing
An aquarium of 30 litres or more is suitable for housing 1 axolotl. The tank should be aerated
and filtered. A partial water change of one third of the tank water should be performed every
1-2 weeks combined with gentle filter rinsing. Fresh water added to the aquarium must be pre
treated with a product that removes chlorine and have conditioning salts added. This will keep
the aquarium environment healthy.
Axolotls should not be kept in the same aquarium as fish because the fish may bite and
damage the axolotls gills. If many axolotls are kept together they may bite each other and
cause injury. Damaged axolotls should be kept in a tank on their own while they heal. Interest-
ingly axolotls are able to regenerate new tissue to replace the damaged tissue and can even
regenerate a new limb to replace the one that has been bitten off.
Breeding
Axolotls reach breeding age at about 12 months. Males have a longer tail and a narrower head
than the female. The male also has a swelling between the hind legs. The female lays 300 to
1000 eggs which hatch in about 2 weeks when kept at temperatures between 14 - 18C. The
best way to grow young axolotls is to move them into a fish free outside planted pond. Pond
life will be the best starter food for baby axolotls. When grown to 4 6 cm long they can be
placed into separate small aquaria and fed live black worm.