Matt_95 Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Hey guys! My terrestrial axolotl arrived today She is absolutly stunning She is currently in a small 4 litre tub so she will fit in my upstairs fridge so I can keep an eye on her for teh enxt week or so. She also looks to have mites What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 New pictures of her, I was told to keep her on paper towels for now as she is looking a bit dry, I also washed the mites off. She has some damage on her foot, a white swollen lump at the base of one of her fingers, I think it was from the shipping, I'll check her over again later for any swelling, she is very shaken up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted December 10, 2011 Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Ah good. She really does look healthy regardless of that shipping job... she's lucky she didn't drown. I really think she should be fine, give her a few more days to settle down. VERY close call with the fish-job she was given though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Thanks Sarah, she should pull through, I hope her toe recovers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrefly Posted December 10, 2011 Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Its so cute and slimy! What sort of environment would you keep one of these in long-term Matt? Looks like she will need a lot of humidity/moisture, which makes me afraid of mould Does she still swim, or do they forget how once they've gotten to this point in life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Thanks Sarah! I absolutly adore her Once summer is over she will be going into a bigger enclosure with coconut fibre and leaf litre. Once she is a bit older her skin will be thicker and her enclosure can be less humid. I'll be adding some pill bugs to help keep it all clean. They can't really swim but they do like to have a dip in shallow water, I can't fit a tray in this tub, the bigger one is too heavy for the fridge. When she is living out of the fridge she will have a tray of water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted December 10, 2011 Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Hey Matt So do they still need chilling even when they have morphed? and how can you tell there sex when they have morphed? and She is so god dam cute Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Yes, it's a pain, you can't get a terrestrial chiller so it's in the fridge for her. The males cloaca is enlarged. The female also has a slightly shorter tail and is much more plump. She is I absolutly love her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jha Posted December 10, 2011 Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 (edited) They dont need to be constantly chilled mate,its humidity/moisture that you need to achieve for the ideal environment for them,just like keeping any amphibians.Also the temperature always changes in nature,you have hot\cold,wet/dry days and seasons.Its never stable,yet they can survive through all that climate change so you might want to give it a thought before you put him in the fridge,were I think it would be alot more stressful on them,especially when opening and closing it,and lights turning on and off constantly when you want to check on it or to simply grab a drink etc.Ive never even heard or read anything about keeping salamanders or axolotls in fridges before.I wonder who would have thought of doin such thing?.Also I dont think it would have gotten a swollen foot from the shipping?just don't see how that could happen,I think it might have scraped itself on something when it was in the dry container and maybe infected.Thier skin is still very fragile especially at this early stage. Just my point of view mate,as I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to it. cheers Edited December 10, 2011 by jha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 In their native habitat it is much cooler than Australia, in the wild they can also find a micro climate to hide out in over the summer. In America they are often moved to the basement over summer as that is several degrees cooler. We don't have a basement here. They have to be kept below 24 degrees otherwise there lifespan will be significantly shortened, they will stress and the chance of infection is much higher. I was advised by several experts that fridging her is the best option to ensure she survives the Australian summer. The fridge is only acessed by me or once every few weeks if we have people around. It's our second fridge and we don't really use it. It definatly wasn't an infection, the post is very rough and she would have been thrown around a fair bit, she wasn't using the foot yesterday either when she had first arrived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted December 10, 2011 Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 So Matt Are frigerater works on evaporation thats why things dry out in there so how do you keep her moist and cool? Just wondering and can you dose them with meds like you would fish ETC? Seriously I have so many questions about this my head is poping LOL Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 She has a lid and the moist paper towels will help keep it up as well. The container has lots of condensation. You can't use copper based meds, amphibians absorb toxins through their skin and copper is extremly toxic. I know you can use anti biotics though.Oh and if you were wanting to learn about their care requirements their husbandary is exactly the sane as the tiger salamander, A. mavoritum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 Just got back from feeding her, she just completed her second moult, she is going very well, she is eating and in great shape, almost ready to mover her off the paper towels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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