Axolotl - Aquariums - The dark side of breeding. Lets talk mosaics.

The dark side of breeding. Lets talk mosaics.
Peekaboo!
Did a water change yesterday... what is this in the tank this morning?
Help! My Axolotl got 5 out of his 6 gills eaten... ��
Water
Should I clean my new tank for my axolotl before I let my axolotl to live in and how do I clean it
Axolotl floating
I recently changed my axolotl's tank from bare bottom to sand, and he's been a lot more active than usual. Is this alright?
Please help me with this...
Help?
Anyone know what these tiny little red dots are? Kind of worried about my lil bean.
Rate my setup! Newbie cycling my tank waiting for baby to arrive.
axolotyl approved.

The dark side of breeding. Lets talk mosaics.

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 03:46 AM PDT

Hello,

I know this community loves to look at cute axolotl pics and so do I. However, today I did not come here to look at or provide cute axolotl pics. I am here to talk about the unethical side of the axolotl breeding business, mainly the $$ in mosaics. This is gonna be kinda long, so please bear with me.

If you've been in the axolotl communities for a bit you probably saw them before and gushed over them: Mosaics are axolotls that have 2 different colorisations. It can be split evenly in the middle (often called "split mosaic" or "chimaera" although there are no real chimaeras in axolotls) or spread all over their body, making them look a little bit like dalmatinians or cows. Mosaics can happen from any two morphs and not all of them are obvious. Some are only identifiable by experienced breeders.

Mosaics often go for serious bucks, prices going up to $2000 for one animal are not unheard of.

So, how do mosaics occur? They can not be bred for, they occur randomly. To say it in laymens terms, its two eggcells fusing together to make one axolotl. Either right down the middle (split mosaic) or spread all over (marbled mosaic). The problem with this is that the cells of the one colorisation carry the genes of the one eggcell and the cells of the other colorisation carry the genes of the other eggcell. This means there is two sets of dominant genes in one body. This does make for a pretty axolotl, but comes with a multitude of health problems.

Problematic things that have been reported include, but are not limited to: Mosaic larvae dying for seemingly no reason, nearly all babies of a clutch from mosaic parents being born without eyes (eyeless mutation), spontaneous multiple organ failure, infertility, susceptibility to fungus and bacterial infections even with impeccable care and a heavily reduced lifespan. Check out this book for more info: https://books.google.de/books?id=hr_gdvIU8wEC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=amphibian+mosaics+organ&source=bl&ots=6CgcfVKGlg&sig=ACfU3U1ITwVFR19jvk7Pi0KfxB6eSVKq0g&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwixy4exwcfqAhVE3qQKHVAHC1sQ6AEwAXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=amphibian%20mosaics%20organ&f=false

So, how come mosaic babies are being sold for big bucks without disclosing the necessary info to the buyer? Their mosaic might die within 2 months even with proper care, its very likely not to make it to old age, you'll sink serious $$$ in medical treatments, you'll sink serious time into tubbing and quarantining when they yet again have an infection or fungus, you can not breed them. Why would you withhold that information? For the sake of making more money? That is so unethical I don't even know where to begin shitting on such behavior. Why are people willing to spend such an amount on an animal that likely won't last very long? Is it really that desirable to have a problematic pet and have it live a miserable, short life just for the sake of cool Instagram pics and credibility within the community? C'mon, be better than that.

Imho mosaics should only be rehomed, not sold. Under no circumstances should they be given to someone who is not experienced in axolotl care. Have the recipient reimburse you for the money you have spent on raising them to this point and cover the shipping and thats it. Don't encourage people to raise problematic babies against all odds just because they're seeing the big bucks on the horizon. Do background checks on your mosaic recipients.

And for the love of god don't breed your mosaics. Even if they produce seemingly healthy offspring, if the new owner of a baby with mosaic parent(s) decides to breed said baby and sell their offspring, they are introducing bad genes into the pool.

Mosaic owners, please use the comments of this thread to talk about your experiences. Have you had babies from mosaic parents die for no reason that you could determine? Is your adult axolotl susceptible to health problems? Have you lost a mosaic way too early due to water retention and/or organ failure? How many mosaic larvae have you seen die before growing up?

And please don't jump to the conclusion that mosaics are fine because you saw 2 healthy mosaics on Facebook. Do your research on mosaic amphibians in general and mosaic axolotls in particular. The scientific data to back this up is out there.

I would love if we could use this thread as a starting point to make the knowledge of the problems around mosaics become more widespread so that heartache and suffering animals can be prevented.

submitted by /u/progresspicthrowawai
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Peekaboo!

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 06:48 AM PDT

submitted by /u/Ielevely
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Did a water change yesterday... what is this in the tank this morning?

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 09:00 AM PDT

submitted by /u/AxolotlLove4U
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Help! My Axolotl got 5 out of his 6 gills eaten... ��

Posted: 11 Jul 2020 08:44 PM PDT

submitted by /u/randomkillerkid
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Water

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 08:17 AM PDT

Do I need some kind of thing to mix with my water in my tank for my axolotl for some reason

submitted by /u/AxolotlLover101
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Should I clean my new tank for my axolotl before I let my axolotl to live in and how do I clean it

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 07:45 AM PDT

submitted by /u/AxolotlLover101
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Axolotl floating

Posted: 12 Jul 2020 02:25 AM PDT

My axolotl has been floating at the top of the tank for the last couple weeks. His water quality is fine and his tank is cycled. Temps stay at 64-68 but never higher.

He is still eating fine but his tail fin has retracted and been a lot thinner for about a month and a half. He doesn't show any signs of morphing either.

I've already tried fridging him and he stopped floating. 2 days after he stopped floating I took him out and once his water warmed up he started floatinf again.

I wouldn't worry about it as much if whenever I scared him, he could go back down, but it looks like he can't even go down a little bit.

Any help would be appreciated!

submitted by /u/404Aroma
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I recently changed my axolotl's tank from bare bottom to sand, and he's been a lot more active than usual. Is this alright?

Posted: 11 Jul 2020 04:58 PM PDT

As the title says, Yesterday I changed my tank from bare-bottom to sand. My axie has been a lot more active since I changed it - he's been swimming a lot more than he used to. Is this normal, or is this something I should be concerned about?

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Please help me with this...

Posted: 11 Jul 2020 12:33 PM PDT

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Help?

Posted: 11 Jul 2020 08:44 PM PDT

So recently I've been thinking of getting an axolotl. And I've done all my research and right now I'm in the process of a cycling my tank, I'm doing a fish cycle (I know fish in cycles are disapproved of but it's the only way I could afford after I spent so much money on the tank and decorations itself and all of the nessacasities) So I started my cycling about 2 weeks ago and I saw there is cloudy water which I heard just meant there was a bacterial Bloom, but my parameters were no were near good , I had ammonia levels that weren't even on the chart, it was a VERY DARK NAVY LOOKING BLUE GREEN! and the nitrite levels were also high, but the Nitrate were at zero! So right now I'm starting over, I took all the fish out and put completely new water. I put the fish back in also. My eater used to be VERY dirty and The siphon COULD NOT pick all the little particles up, so I'm planning to feed the fish in a separate tub every day and clean the tank weekly. I need tips and advice on cycling because it's my first time ever! If anyone could help that would be nice! Xoxo

submitted by /u/le_happy
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Anyone know what these tiny little red dots are? Kind of worried about my lil bean.

Posted: 11 Jul 2020 11:32 AM PDT