Quiche
Member
Hello! I'm raising some axolotl eggs and I thought you lovely folks might be interested in watching them grow while learning more about the species
(Mods, I didn't know where exactly to put this thread, so please move it if this isn't the right spot!
...
10/09/2019
These eggs were layed 11 days ago on 09/29/2019. They were shipped to me on 10/07/2019 and I received them today on 10/09/2019. I ordered 25 but the breeder threw in a few extras, so there are 31 eggs in the above picture! Axolotl eggs hatch after 14-21 days depending on temperature; the warmer it is, the faster they will hatch. Right now it is 72F which is rather warm for axolotls, but based on where they are in development now, I wager it'll be another 6 days.
Here's a close up. Not a whole lot can be seen just yet from a camera, but in person I can see that some have the beginnings of gills. If I really get up close, some even have pigment!
As you may or may not know, there are many morphs of axolotls. Some of the most common examples are wildtype (brown-green, black eyes) melanoid (black, black eyes ringed with grey), albino (white-pink, red eyes), and leucistic (pink, black eyes). The mother was an albino that was heterozygous for leucistic and the father was a leucistic. That means that 50% of the babies will be leucistic and other 50% will be wildtypes, unless the parents have some unknown recessive genes. I know that may not intuitively make sense, so if y'all are interested I would be happy to explain more about axolotl genetics later! Another fun fact; because the mother was albino, all the eggs are currently white; they will develop pigment later. If the mother was wildtype, leucistic, or melanoid the eggs would've been black.
Occasionally one will wriggle if I accidentally startle it.
The photo above is of what I call the 'ehh' eggs. They likely won't make it, because they are either unfertilized or have a cloudy film over them. It's expected and natural for some eggs to not hatch; that's why the breeder sent a few extra.
I'll post the next log when I see their eyes or gills. Let me know if you want to learn anything about the eggs or axolotls in general!
P.S. Wish my boy Big Gray a happy birthday! I hatched him along with his siblings a year ago on 10/10/2018 Bonus points if you can guess his morph out of the ones I listed above. As the days go by I'll share more about my previous successes and fails with axolotl eggs; this is my third rodeo.
(Mods, I didn't know where exactly to put this thread, so please move it if this isn't the right spot!
...
10/09/2019
These eggs were layed 11 days ago on 09/29/2019. They were shipped to me on 10/07/2019 and I received them today on 10/09/2019. I ordered 25 but the breeder threw in a few extras, so there are 31 eggs in the above picture! Axolotl eggs hatch after 14-21 days depending on temperature; the warmer it is, the faster they will hatch. Right now it is 72F which is rather warm for axolotls, but based on where they are in development now, I wager it'll be another 6 days.
Here's a close up. Not a whole lot can be seen just yet from a camera, but in person I can see that some have the beginnings of gills. If I really get up close, some even have pigment!
As you may or may not know, there are many morphs of axolotls. Some of the most common examples are wildtype (brown-green, black eyes) melanoid (black, black eyes ringed with grey), albino (white-pink, red eyes), and leucistic (pink, black eyes). The mother was an albino that was heterozygous for leucistic and the father was a leucistic. That means that 50% of the babies will be leucistic and other 50% will be wildtypes, unless the parents have some unknown recessive genes. I know that may not intuitively make sense, so if y'all are interested I would be happy to explain more about axolotl genetics later! Another fun fact; because the mother was albino, all the eggs are currently white; they will develop pigment later. If the mother was wildtype, leucistic, or melanoid the eggs would've been black.
Occasionally one will wriggle if I accidentally startle it.
The photo above is of what I call the 'ehh' eggs. They likely won't make it, because they are either unfertilized or have a cloudy film over them. It's expected and natural for some eggs to not hatch; that's why the breeder sent a few extra.
I'll post the next log when I see their eyes or gills. Let me know if you want to learn anything about the eggs or axolotls in general!
P.S. Wish my boy Big Gray a happy birthday! I hatched him along with his siblings a year ago on 10/10/2018 Bonus points if you can guess his morph out of the ones I listed above. As the days go by I'll share more about my previous successes and fails with axolotl eggs; this is my third rodeo.
