I'd like to open the year with experiential science, specifically regarding my axolotls. I got them in mid-June, a melanoid and a wild-type. They've grown quite a bit since I got them, though I'm not sure exactly how much because I never measured them when I got them, but the tank was always big enough for the two of them to share. The other issue regarding growth was that at the size of their arrival, they were too small to be sexed, and I never put much effort into figuring out how.
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| This is Chalchi, my wild-type |
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| And this is Xochi, my melanoid |
Of course, I had to find that one out the hard way when the Monday after Thanksgiving I found a bunch of eggs in my school tank. Long story short, I had a lot of fun trying to ship the eggs out to a fellow member of the forum I got the two from in the first place, and I still ended up with quite a few after classmates bailed out. To be fair, they were timed terribly (two weeks before finals), but at the same time, I don't have the time, space, or transporting ability to rear 100+ axolotls plus Xochi and Chalchi.
There was also the issue of separating them: I was able to get another tank for Xochi to live in while I'm home, but my school tank **ahem** already breaks school rules because it's too big, so I have a DIY divider made of needlepoint mesh and rocks for stability planned for when I get back.
And finally the eggs. I found that color is determined by 4 separate genes, and because I enjoy Punnett squares more than I really should, I spent one night earlier this week figuring out the possible combinations of alleles Xochi and Chalchi could have (8 and 16, respectively). Using SciencePrimer's Punnett square generator to save me time and paper, I determined the probabilities of each allele combo of the eggs. Once I got ahold of the lady I bought the parents from from and the guy I sold the majority of the eggs to, I was able to narrow it down to 2 and 4; it turns out that Xochi and Chalchi were from the same batch (oops), their parents were an albino and a leucistic, and some of the other eggs came out as albino and leucistic as well. Here were my findings:
- Wild - 39.6% (speckled greenish brown)
- Golden albino - 13.2% (recessive for the gene that controls melanophores; yellow)
- Leucistic - 13.2% (recessive for the developmental gene that controls color; pink)
- Melanoid - 13.2% (recessive for the gene that controls iridiophores; black)
- Melanoid albino - 4.4% (recessive for the iridiophore and melanophore gene; very pale yellow)
- White albino - 4.4% (recessive for the developmental and melanophore gene; white)
- Axanthic albino - 0.9% (recessive for the melanophore and xanthophore gene; white)
- And then a bunch of other ones that weren't important because they didn't have named colors and their percentages were too small.
The road block I'm at now is regarding food. The holidays messed up the shipping schedule for their food, plus some of my eggs hatched earlier than I was expecting, so now the hatchlings are in the fridge while I wait for their food to come in. It doesn't help that pet stores sell brine shrimp in every form but eggs, or that everyone still buys out all the Sea Monkeys for Christmas. (Fun fact: they're actually brine shrimp.)
Struggles aside, here are the things I've learned:
- Find a forum of fellow owners. They are an indispensable source of knowledge and will help you in the tightest of pinches.
- Know how to sex your animals if you're going to put more than one in a tank.
- If you're not ready for eggs, don't put them in the same tank, even if they seem too small to breed. Mine were less than a year old.
- Refrigerators are your best friend. Unhatched eggs will go into hibernation mode.
- Buy food for the hatchlings a week before you're expecting them to hatch. They will hatch early.
- And don't freak out. Concern is good, but stress is not.
If the hatchlings survive their refrigerator adventures, I'll post about them again. And if you want one, let me know.
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