She may also nudge the male’s hindquarters hence the courtship dance I mentioned. The male then also nudges the female’s hindquarters with its nose to see if the female is interested. The first sign that a male axolotl is interested in the female axolotl is that we can see the male swimming around, raising its tail and making vigorous twisting motions. Axolotls Mating BehaviorĪxolotls have an interesting mating behavior that can only be described as a courtship dance of sorts that aims to lead the female onto the sperm packets deposited by the male, which are required to fertilize the female’s eggs. It’s also a good idea to have plants and aquarium decorations in the tank where the female can more easily lay her eggs. It’s also a good idea to keep their breeding tank in a room where they won’t be disturbed and to create ideal tank conditions when it comes to temperature and water pH. The best way to ensure that your axolotls breed successfully is to imitate their natural habitat as closely as possible including aspects related to seasonal changes like changes in natural light conditions and seasonal temperature changes.įor example, keeping your axolotls in a room that receives natural light may be beneficial in signaling to your axolotls the seasonal changes in daylight length and temperature. There’s also an element of unpredictability to when axolotls breed, which may stem from the different ways male and female axolotls are stimulated by environmental factors.įor example, lowered temperatures (a sudden lowering in temperature) can trigger mating behavior in the male axolotl, but it’s not as efficient in triggering mating behavior in the female axolotl. Male axolotls, on the other hand, can be allowed to breed sooner than females since they usually reach sexual maturity a bit earlier, usually by a few months.Īxolotls can be bred at any time of year, although December to June is their natural breeding season, and most axolotl enthusiasts report breeding success in the first part of the year. At least in the case of female axolotls it’s best to wait until she’s fully developed to avoid putting too much strain on their bodies before they’ve reached their full size.Įven after spawning, female axolotls should be allowed to recuperate for a few months before they’re allowed to breed again. Ideally, axolotls shouldn’t be allowed to mate until they’re 18 months of age. Some axolotls reach sexual maturity as soon as they hit 5 months, others much later. Axolotls ReproductionĪxolotls can successfully reproduce, and they can be successfully raised in captivity. In this comprehensive axolotl breeding guide, I will discuss the mating behavior of axolotls, how to tell the gender of axolotls, how to identify a pregnant axolotl, and other aspects of how axolotls breed. Wild types have a tendency to change colors their entire life and can get vitiligo as they get older.If you’ve gotten great at raising and taking care of axolotls, maybe it’s time for you to take things a step further and try your hand at breeding axolotls.Īxolotls breed in captivity too, so you don’t need to worry about that, but there are a few aspects of breeding axolotls that require your special attention. They also have a bunch of different natural patterns such as spots and freckles. Their gills can be the same as their body color, purple, or blue. Wild types change colors pretty much their entire life and range from grays to mud-browns, to olive greens. I'm not sure if you were looking into wild types at all, but I also added pictures. I don't have pictures of either of these, but you can find some on google. Normal albinos and melanoid axolotls pretty much stay the same, but melanoids can get vitiligo as they get older. Normal wlbinos are pale white with pinkish gills and white/red eyes. Dont confuse golden albinos or leucistics with normal albinos. You can see that when Banana was about 5 months old he was much more yellow than he is currently. One thing to be aware of is that they do lose color as they get older. Mine's got some wonky forked gills, but that's just chance. They're yellow with yellow/red/white eyes. Golden albinos are all pretty much the same. They're the 'pink' ones will red gills and black eyes. Leucistics come in a bunch of different 'variations,' the most common being blue gilled (blue veins in gills), normal gilled (normal pink gills, usually not specified), dirty (with freckles), and pure (without freckles). Skittles is a blue gilled lucy (leucistic). Babies are almost always nearly transparent (you can even see their organs!) And will get more color as adults. Axolotls change a lot from baby to juvenile to adult with each morph changing differently. I included a couple of close-ups of their gills, pictures of different ages, and fired up and down. Here's a gallery of my two boys (Banana and Skittles) and a couple of bonus pictures of my boyfriend's female (Kiwi).
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