Hatching Axolotls

Your guide to an environment for hatching healthy Axolotls

Guide to Hatching a Healthy Axolotl

Hatching Axolotls will take approximately 15 days

How to determine if your Axolotl eggs have hatched

Once your axolotl hatch they will fall to the bottom of the hatching container and seem to remain lifeless for the first few days of their life.

Recommended care during Axolotl Hatching

Once you first notice the eggs, give your axolotls at least 2 days to ensure she has finished laying her eggs, then remove the eggs from the tank, if they are on a plant, remove the whole plant as they are hard to separate and make get damaged. place eggs in a separate tank as the mother may eat the babies when they hatch. The eggs should hatch in about 2 weeks. before eggs hatch, you must prepare they're food, we give our babies live brine shrimp. once the babies hatch, wait until they start swimming around before feeding.

once you start feeding them you will need to start doing water changes, make sure you have another tub of aged water set up, as the babies can get sick from regular tap water, water changes will need to be done very carefully as they are very delicate.

Babies should grow about 1 centimeter each week, once they are around 2 centimeters you can try and feed them daphnia, and once they are around 5cm they can try bloodworms. The eggs will require constant aeration which can easily be achieved with a small air-stone.

The airflow should be gentle to avoid damage to the freshly laid eggs. 

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What is the best food for a growing Axolotl?

Their food source will start with baby brine shrimp and other small water insects.  Although this will be a major part of their diet as they grow, other foods can be introduced including bloodworms, earthworms and pellets.

Following the egg laying and hatching Axolotls - the growth of baby axolotl can be very rapid so keeping up a constant supply of food is very important. They are very cannibalistic and it is very common to find axolotls missing legs when food runs out.

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how to determine your Axolotl’s health.

Ways to determine an axolotl's health is by their gills, if they are bright and feathery they're healthy, however if they are short and are more like nubs, they're unfortunate not well, this could be due to the water. If you notice white spotting on your axolotl's body, it may be fungi, we recommend buying 'methylone blue' a fungal treatment for axolotls. If your axolotl is rather skinny or pale, they may be bored of their current diet, or the water may be affect their metabolism.

What to do if my axolotl is sick?

If your axolotl is unwell due to the water, we recommend buying a test kit from your local pet store and checking the water levels, make sure you only have sand or a bare base in your tank as food can get stuck in pebbles making the water harder to clean. If they have a fungus on their body and gills you can buy 'methylone blue' this is a fungal treatment for fish. And if they are not eating, make sure to give them a water change as it may be the water and experiment with other foods that are safe for axolotls, as they may be bored of their current diet.

How many days before they need feeding

For those first 2-3 days, they survive on the yolk from their egg and then when you notice them starting to move around and swim hey are looking for food, we feed our babies baby brine shrimp, which we make up a couple days before they hatch.