# One or two axolotls?



## Caramelsnake

Hiya,
I got my first axolotl a week ago and after a few teething problems (such as getting him to eat and an apparent hatred for his airstone, both problems are now solved!) he seems to have settled in ok. However, after reading a book on axolotls (by Linda Adkins if anyone's heard of her) my mum is now convinced that he needs to have a friend in the tank with him and that it is cruel to keep a single axolotl by itself. 

I do not know what age my axolotl is but he is a suspected male and about 6 inches in length so I think he is still a juvenile. I know that if I were to get a second one I would have to watch out for fighting (if another male), egg-laying (if a female) and no doubt moving them to a bigger tank in a few months depending on how fast they grow. 

I am a little hesitant to get him a friend as I have heard way too many stories of people buying their pets "friends" and then having to separate them after a few weeks. Is it cruel to keep a single axolotl by itself? I have seen many pictures of two or three axi's happily sitting in a tank together but pictures can be misleading!

Thanks,
Rachael


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## corpselight

i can't imagine that it's "cruel" to keep them alone. i don't know alot about amphibians, but i'd be surprised if they see each other as anything more than competition or mating partners...

not saying don't keep them together, as i've seen them together at shops, but i think it's a massive stretch to say it's cruel to keep them alone.

i do remember reading that they are voracious predators, though, and as such, cannibalism could be a concern.


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## aidey07

i used to have 2 axolotls, the only problem is, are you going to have enough room to house 2 of them. dont they grow quite big!
get another one if you can house it !
they are lovely :flrt:


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## aversaurus

hi i have kept them for years .most of the time thay dont go above 8in.i have allways kept them in small groups 2 to 5 with no problems at all as long as you keep them well fed.but be ready for babys if you end up with a breeding pair.


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## Caramelsnake

I had our vet look him over a few days after I got him and he said that he was in good health but seemed to be a bit sluggish, or words to that effect. He suggested raising the tanks temperature to 18 degrees C to make him more active, but the tanks temperature is already in the range of 18-20 degrees. (Which is crazy as my room is THE coldest room in the house and the tank is against the north wall and out of direct sunlight so I don't know why it's so high.) I also had issues with him eating for the first few days as I was feeding him sinking pellets which he mostly ignored but when he did chomp on them he then spat most of it back out again. Obviously he wasn't impressed! So I tried bloodworms instead and after a lot of faffing about managed to get the right technique of wiggling them in front of his nose (they had to be in just the right spot, fussy thing) and he took them and didn't spit them out again. 

Now my mum read this book which said axolotls are very social creatures and love company and she believes that being by himself is what caused the feeding difficulties and "sluggishness" as he is lonely. The feeding issues are now resolved as I've got the knack sorted and although he is a little less active than I would like I think it may just be his personality/temperament as I can't see any signs of illness/disease. 
However I could be wrong and maybe he is lonely?

I believe 10-12 inches is the average size of a fully grown adult, though they can get as big as 14 inches. 

My current tank is 60cm long and 30cm wide and my axolotl is about 15cm long, which as far as I'm aware is the length at which it is considered safe to house them in pairs, as long as their tank mate is of a similar size.
I don't know how fast axolotls grow, but I know that if I had two I would definitely need a bigger tank at some point! Once this guy reaches his full size I would like to move him into a 90cm by 40cm or similar, so a bigger tank is on the agenda anyway and a second axolotl would affect how soon I had to get it. I think my current tank would have enough space for two axi's for at least 3 months (again though, I don't know how fast they grow), but it would need to have another hide added to it incase they didn't want to share. 


(Apologies for the mixed measurements, my brain works in weird ways sometimes!)


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## aversaurus

10 in for a _axolotl is big .thay can get to 14in but i have kept them for over 20 years and have never had one grow to 14in.i do think you will need a bigger tank at some time.axolotls that are fussy eaters tend to love maggots but only the non coloured ones and not all the time.also in the tank try to avoid gravel large stones are better .as axolotls can eat the gravel when trying to eat live food.
_


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## Caramelsnake

Opps! Sorry aversaurus I missed your first post. 
If they can be kept in small groups then that's great. Did you ever notice them acting as though they were "lonely" if you had one by itself?


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## bellabelloo

Some axolotl are social, some aren't . My wildtype and leucistic spend time together, but my melanoid tends to keep well out of the way ( two are 30cm long). 
I would hesitate to have two in a 60cm tank as it may be a little small, also bare in mind that axolotl are mucky little things and two in a smaller tank will be harder to maintain. Do you use an internal filter in your current tank? These can sometimes warm up the water a little, likewise tank lights.
And as aversaurus says, avoid gravel in your tank. Linda Adkins book unfortunately shows her tank set ups with the stuff in it .


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## Caramelsnake

Yeah, I knew axi's made a lot of mess but damn! This guy is even messier than me! lol

I use river stones as a substrate so they are too large to fit inside his mouth. He doesn't have an aquarium light, I just use the bedroom light and the natural light that comes in during the day, though the tank is not in direct sunlight. I do have a filter in the tank so that might warm it up slightly, I will check on that when I get back from work. 

I have to say I wasn't overly impressed with her book. :? Like you say it has pictures of axi's on gravel and reckons that each adult axolotl only needs to have 1 foot of space!!!


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