What a surprise to wake up one morning and find your axolotl tank absolutely covered in eggs. Your male and female axolotl have been sharing a tank for a while then suddenly, as hoped for, or as a shock, you find an abundance of eggs. The egg phase is not really that long, so you have to make prompt decisions on what to do.
Move some or all of the eggs to a large container with fresh dechlorinated water, based on how many eggs you are going to breed. Any remaining eggs are likely to be eaten by an adult if not moved and humanely disposed of.
Let’s have a look at some of the decisions you are going to have to make when all these new eggs appear.
What To Do When Axolotls Lay Eggs
If your axolotl laying eggs is a new experience to you it can be fascinating to watch it happening. The female axolotl can lay in the region of a thousand eggs, so it really is an impressive sight. Eggs will be laid on pretty much anything she can attach the egg to, including plants and features. Many will end up loose on the substrate.
At this point it is important to think about what you want to do and then plan around those decisions. Do you have a spare tank or containers to keep and hatch the eggs? Once the female has finished laying the axolotls should be separated so further breeding doesn’t happen. So really that means a minimum of two tanks, one for each axolotl, plus at least a couple of good-sized containers to get going with the eggs.
If you are seriously considering breeding you will need something like a full rack of containers so you can manage the complete process of multiple eggs hatching and rearing through the larvae stage.
If you can’t become an overnight breeder there may be someone who would take on the eggs. Maybe the breeder you got your axolotls from might take the eggs or advise where to go. Time is of the essence if you wanted to pass the eggs on. Alternatively, if you can’t find someone you’ll need to consider humane culling.
How Long Does The Female Axolotl Take To Lay Her Eggs?
The overall process of laying eggs can take the female axolotl anything up to around 72hrs. The male lays down sperm packets and guides the female to gather the sperm up through her cloaca where it then fertilizes the eggs she has stored inside her. This happens for about 30 minutes to an hour.
Once the eggs are fertilized the female axolotl will spend the next 12-72 hours laying those eggs. During this time she may not be eating and just focused on the job at hand. This is physically challenging for the female and she will need to recover after the laying is complete.
When should I remove my axolotl eggs?
As soon as your axolotl has finished laying eggs it’s time to start moving them out of the tank. There is likely to be many eggs on top of the substrate and the easiest way of gathering those is by using a turkey baster to gently suck them up, and put them in your gathering container which could be a clean bucket.
There will be many eggs that are attached to all sorts of things in the tank, so the choice is to scrape the eggs off and transfer, or move the whole item across with the rest of the eggs. The eggs are protected by a slimy gel with an anchor point holding them in place, so a gentle scrape or tug breaks them free. Once you have freed a few eggs you can judge how firm to be without damaging them.
A common place for the female axolotl to lay her eggs is on any plants in the tank, because there are so many natural surfaces throughout the plant for the eggs to be secured to. If the plant is artificial there is absolutely no problem in lifting out of the tank. If it is a live plant it too could be moved, but bear in mind that the plant will be helping with the cycling process, so it’s important to keep a close eye on the water parameters for any changes.
Any eggs that are missed may become a food source for the axolotl left in the tank. It’s best to keep an eye on the tank and pick out any you may not have previously spotted.
How To Take Good Care Of Axolotl Eggs?
You don’t really want more than about 100-200 eggs in a container. In fact, if you are not a breeder that is still a big number to be responsible for and you have to consider what you could possibly do with over 100 growing axolotls.
While in the egg stage there is no requirement for food, but there might be debris in the water from bits of plant breaking off when harvesting the eggs. The debris will start to rot, just as food does, so it’s important to try and pick out as much as possible. You can use a turkey baster to do this, being careful not to suck up eggs as well.
Water should be partially changed every few days with fresh dechlorinated water, and the temperature of the water shouldn’t be fluctuating between changes.
What Is The Survival Rate Of Axolotl Eggs?
The first part of this depends on how many eggs you intend to keep for breeding, based on the equipment you have to hand. If you only have a couple of containers then 100 might be the maximum. In which case you might have around 900 eggs that are not going to be kept. If you’re not a breeder and just want a couple more axolotls then maybe 10 eggs is all that is reasonable to keep.
Of the eggs you are keeping there will always be a few that don’t develop. In most cases those eggs didn’t fertilize correctly. There will be no exact number, it will be just down to luck how many make it and it’s just part of the natural process axolotl breeding goes through.
How To Cull Axolotl Eggs Humanely?
It’s not the most pleasant of topics, but if you can’t keep eggs for whatever reason there should be a kind way to dispose of them, rather than just chuck them away with the water. For the axolotl eggs you can’t keep you could place them in a bag and freeze them. This will gradually shut them down as the temperature decreases, to a point they would be unaware as they move into total freezing. Once frozen the eggs can be disposed of.
If for some reason the axolotl eggs are more developed than you realize this can be a good kind method of dealing with them. For example, you might be away for a few days and eggs are a surprise when you return. It doesn’t take long for the larvae to start taking form within the egg, and you may feel uncomfortable throwing them away without culling.
How Long Do Axolotl Eggs Take To Hatch?
The time it takes for an axolotl egg to hatch is dependent on the temperature of the water.
The absolute highest temperature you should allow the axolotl eggs to get to is 25°C. At this temperature the eggs will hatch the fastest in around 14 days. At the ideal temperature you normally have your adult axolotl tank at, which is 16°C the hatching time would be extended to around 20 days. The chosen temperature should be stable throughout hatching.
So it is important to plan and have control over the temperature. If you are not prepared but want to keep some eggs, then keeping them at a lower temperature will give you some more time to organize and get supplies and food in, ready to rear your baby axolotls.
Summary
It’s all very well having axolotl eggs but life can be very difficult if you don’t plan out what to do if you intend to keep them. Not just for you but for the welfare of the baby axolotls. Raising a handful of larvae can be interesting, fun and rewarding if they can be properly homed as they get older. Once you have decided how many eggs you want to keep all the fun begins!