Moving (with new legs)

The axolotls are growing healthily! Their water needed changing, and their tank was too small, so we decided to move them to a larger, cleaner tank. After siphoning water from the adult axolotls' tank and painstakingly capturing and releasing baby axolotls for hours, the job was complete. The babies are excited to be in their new tank; it is awesome to watch them eating (whereas the last tank was too crowded) and being able to see the entire population without stirring the water. The white ones are even relatively transparent!I know of one death and only a few eggs that haven't hatched. This is an extremely healthy, strong, orange-bellied group of neotenic amphibians.
On some, we can already see little front legs budding. This exciting milestone also begins one of the most treacherous examples of Darwin's research, however. Before reaching maturity, axolotls enter a cannibalistic stage in which they feed on their weaker brethren. We are currently debating whether to and how to split them up. It is the cruelty of the natural world. Hopefully, since we are keeping them very well fed, there will not be too many casualties. We are beginning an adult brine shrimp culture in another tank to keep up with our rapidly growing axolotls. Using a dark blue bottle, a tank of warm salt water, and our current brine shrimp hatching expertise, we should be growing brine shrimp within the next week.

Wait... white?

A speckled hatchling

This past week while feeding the babies, we noticed something. Some of the hatchlings were white, or at least lighter than the others. We didn't expect it; both the parents are wild type, or brown, axolotls. This means they must be heterozygous, or, they carry the white gene, which is recessive. Since the wild type gene is dominant over the white gene, the white

A white (leucistic) full grown axolotl

axolotls must have gotten two white genes instead of a white and a wild, like their parents. Using our knowledge of genetics, about one fourth of the babies should be white and half able to have white children. We are excited about the variety! The hatchlings are also growing quickly. They may be able to eat larger brine shrimp soon - we have been feeding much and often. They are growing healthily and are much larger and more outgoing than when they hatched. We think that some may have front leg buds already. Hopefully we will be able to catch one with some and take a picture under the microscope soon. They are so fast, and the more developed ones are faster.

Feed Me!

The babies are very healthy. Most have bright orange bellies, meaning they are full of brine shrimp.We usually feed them two large feedings a day so they will grow quickly. It is hard work to be sure they won't eat the eggs or shells of the shrimp, which could be fatal. We always have two cultures going, one new and one that is a day or two old. This ensures that if a culture fails, we will have a backup. We haven't changed the water in the tank - and aren't planning on it... the water in Lake Xochimilco has never been changed, the sponge filter is bubbling nicely, the water is chemically balanced, and there is no need to stress out the hatchlings. Some are getting quite large! We hope to see leg sprouts sometime early next week. Unlike frogs, axolotls grow their front legs first.   There is a variety of colors; we may even have some speckled hatchlings! Until next time, watch a video of the feeding frenzy that ensues after the brine shrimp are poured into the tank.