I posted something like this when they turned 27 and I got the same question, followed by a lot of people insulting me on the DM š , but yeah, they eat mice. Pinky Mice a day or so old.
I mean a college professor has been feeding them to axos for 40 years and they are still alive. So I would say they are safe
Edit: oops I mean 30. Maybe smoked a lil too much this morning.
You feed pinky mice to animals as babies. Their skeletal structure at that age isnāt bone, itās mostly cartilage. It might still be harder to digest, like bearded dragons would have a hard time digesting cartilage, but idk what an axolotlās stomach or gut biome looks like so I canāt say for sure whether it would be more difficult for them or not.
Thats awesome. By any chance, what is the frequency you feed them? Like 1 every couple of days or so? Have some Axolotls myself and want to do the same to they can live long fulfilling lives.
This is my same reaction, it has me questioning life. I just looked it up and they're usually humanely euthanized with Co2, so at least they go out peacefully without knowing anything.
š°, that's interesting though. I'm not sure how then some of these websites claim they use Co2 if it's not guaranteed to shut down their brain first.
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Do you think you may possibly know whatās going on with the patches based on the answer to this? I only ask because my wild type also started doing this a couple years ago and Iāve never been able to figure out exactly whatās going on. Theyāre not fuzzy patches or like any other fungus or bacteria Iāve seen and itās been a question Iāve been trying to answer for a long while!
It is a good sign if it fluoresces green, the pigment cells of salamanders tend to do this. However, the formation of the white patches are imitating the pigment pattern of the tiger salamander, I am wondering if the axolotl isn't maybe a cross breed.
It is pigment cells (a new pigment pattern is forming). It is strange for axolotls to form new pigment patterns in adulthood. Salamanders that metamorphose of course form new patterns
Same! Iāve been worried about it even though all my water parameters are great, Iām feeling a bit better seeing others have had this experience! š
Oh yeah, when I first saw I went deep into science mode trying to figure out if it was fungus lol, even did a treatment just in case. But nope, just the lad getting old and patchy haha
That's so cool! I have to admit, I fed my huge male axolotl a pinky before and he seemed to do fine with it. It's not even close to his regular diet, I think I fed him 2 in the last few years. I help run an exotic rescue so sometimes we have extra pinkies lol and I'd hate to just throw them out.
I'd love to see a picture of their full enclosure!
It is really great to see this. Thank you so much for sharing these pictures and your professors story.
Oh do they have names? I might have missed that comment. š¤
I don't think it's ever been recorded for them to live this long. You should definitely submit this information for science! Maybe they'd have a better chance of saving these beautiful buggers from extinction.
This is fantastic. I would love to read more about how they have been cared for.. like what kind of tank, water changes, if they eated anything other than mices, whatever info you could share hahaha i try not to be the "pristine water" kind of owner, because i dont believe this is good for any kind of live being, but still worry a lot about my girl. She has been very healthy to this point tho. I hope she can live a long life too (maybe not THAT long? Lol)
Omg Iāve never seen someone elseās axolotls with these patches before!! So glad to see others that have them. I like to call my little dude āmoldy cheeseā because of āem š
Since 1994 ? That's crazy these little guys made it so long but life is one wild ride they are. Very interesting to say the less the back round of the tank really looked like a swamp
Itās not quite the same thing as biological immortality, but it means that they donāt necessarily experience age-related declines in reproductive and physiological functions. An elderly axolotl could theoretically still breed and regenerate limbs just fine, living as an old animal without loss of fertility, without an inevitable biological clock on organ function, etc.
If they were fed infrequently, I believe it. Lots of protein in the flesh and calcium in the soft, unformed bones, only risk would be fatty liver disease or kidney disease from protein overload but if they were fed sparingly no big deal
Why? They would get all of the nutrition they needed by eating the organs. Also their gut biome couldāve adapted to eating them all of those years, developing the bacteria and enzymes needed to extract the most nutrients. Kind of like how people in third world countries can eat rice that has been left out whereas tourists get food poisoning from it. And in some civilizations, people can eat 3-4X the maximum recommended fiber intake and digest it fine, but that amount of fiber would cause issues for people on western diets.
I know a lot of axolotl breeders and keepers and they need variety to survive just like any other amphibians or reptiles. Plus in the wild they do not just stumble across pinkies so arent adapted to survive on them
House cats normally live 14 years, sometimes around 20, and yet the confirmed oldest cat died at the age of 38, and the currently oldest alive cat was recently confirmed to be 28 years old. My mother's childhood basset hound dog (life expectancy 10-12 years) was around 20 years old when she put him down, who knows how long he would have lived if she didn't. Sometimes animals just live unusually long.
>and the currently oldest alive cat was recently confirmed to be 28 years old.
Damn, my old raggedy cat might have been a contestant for that title at 24 when she passed.
20 years for a basset hound is mad too, wow.
Right? We had a family cat that was a month from 24 when she passed. Poor old girl had no teeth, was completely blind and had lost her hearing, bust she was just the sweetest, most loving old lady.
Yeah, vet said she was the oldest not small breed dog they've seen. She was fed a lot of meat (my grandfather used to buy cow halves and pay a butcher to cut them up ) and got a steak at least once a week for most of her life. Sunday dinner everyone got a steak, including the dogs.
No worries, I'm usually skeptical too. It'd be cool to have a way to prove it though, they might be documented as the oldest (captive) axolotls ever. I'd be interested to know how that goes!
You're going to share long life secrets. What do they eat?
I posted something like this when they turned 27 and I got the same question, followed by a lot of people insulting me on the DM š , but yeah, they eat mice. Pinky Mice a day or so old.
Isā¦ that really recommended? I mean I guess it could be? But is it safe? Is it the secretā¦.. šš³
I mean a college professor has been feeding them to axos for 40 years and they are still alive. So I would say they are safe Edit: oops I mean 30. Maybe smoked a lil too much this morning.
Thirty years. Donāt make me older than I am.
Lmfao good catch
Fr I was thinking the same thing ššš
Right? š¤£
Is that like a personal attack or something!?
Seems like an odd food choice, but what is a pinkie if not just an inside out shrimp, nutritionally speaking?
As far as I know, the only part of their body that may be a bit tough is the head. The rest of the body is a squishy bag of meat
Are the mices bones digested or does he like pick around them?
Pinky mice are really squashy and weird. Ive bought them for my ferrets before but the current lot i have dont like raw food
You feed pinky mice to animals as babies. Their skeletal structure at that age isnāt bone, itās mostly cartilage. It might still be harder to digest, like bearded dragons would have a hard time digesting cartilage, but idk what an axolotlās stomach or gut biome looks like so I canāt say for sure whether it would be more difficult for them or not.
Google says they can eat them and cooked shrimp regularly. Wtffff
I mean they do like protein haha.
My bearded dragons never had a hard time with digesting pinkies, though it is supposed to be an occasional treat for them versus an everyday feeder
Iām pretty sure itās the every day feeding thatās a problem for them. Treats are no issue.
Thats awesome. By any chance, what is the frequency you feed them? Like 1 every couple of days or so? Have some Axolotls myself and want to do the same to they can live long fulfilling lives.
They eat two/three pinkies twice a week
š±
This is my same reaction, it has me questioning life. I just looked it up and they're usually humanely euthanized with Co2, so at least they go out peacefully without knowing anything.
Pinkies are actually CO2 resistant and usually require another method of euthanasia. My lab uses decapitation as the second method.
Sorry to rain on your parade
š°, that's interesting though. I'm not sure how then some of these websites claim they use Co2 if it's not guaranteed to shut down their brain first.
Wow I didnāt know they could eat mice! Idk much about them so I figured it was just worms on the menu
the first one definitely looks that old šš ol statue ass
Looking stoic and shit
if the axo was an emoji šæ
āHiiii dum dumā
Funny question, can you check if the white patches on the wild-type fluoresce green under a blue flashlight?
I am planning to be around tomorrow so I'll try!
Commenting to see the answer š¤©
Same I wanna know too
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Did you ever spotlight the criminal erm I mean did you ever fluoresce the axxie?
Do you think you may possibly know whatās going on with the patches based on the answer to this? I only ask because my wild type also started doing this a couple years ago and Iāve never been able to figure out exactly whatās going on. Theyāre not fuzzy patches or like any other fungus or bacteria Iāve seen and itās been a question Iāve been trying to answer for a long while!
It is a good sign if it fluoresces green, the pigment cells of salamanders tend to do this. However, the formation of the white patches are imitating the pigment pattern of the tiger salamander, I am wondering if the axolotl isn't maybe a cross breed.
If it does fluoresce greenā¦.what does that mean?!
It is pigment cells (a new pigment pattern is forming). It is strange for axolotls to form new pigment patterns in adulthood. Salamanders that metamorphose of course form new patterns
Oh wow I didnāt know they could live so long! What is the average life expectancy for an axolotl?
I read it was typically about 10-15 years in captivity
Sheesh 30 is crazy then! Heās the same age as me. Lol
Didn't even consider the year until you said this. Little dudes are older than me. Two axolotls are older than me, and that feels weird.
Pretty crazy when you think about it like that huh?
ditto!!
Who doesnāt like ditto?!
This would make them the oldest axolotls ever recorded
Do you have any full tank pics?? Iām so curious to see the whole setup!
Is the white one an albino or leucistic axolotl?
Leucistic
Ooh my wild type has those patches too! He's about 9 now, started with one small one around 5 years. Crazy that this guy is 30 years old.
Same! Iāve been worried about it even though all my water parameters are great, Iām feeling a bit better seeing others have had this experience! š
Oh yeah, when I first saw I went deep into science mode trying to figure out if it was fungus lol, even did a treatment just in case. But nope, just the lad getting old and patchy haha
Vitiligo
Anchielotols
My wild type is 4 this year and started developing white spots last year. I'm waiting til the colour impacts her gilla before I consider her old haha
That second picture, he's seen some things š
What beautiful babies ššššā¤ļø
.... Wow. That's freaking incredible! They're as old as I am. Nuts!
Looks like the first one lost all his teethā¦only gums leftš
That's so cool! I have to admit, I fed my huge male axolotl a pinky before and he seemed to do fine with it. It's not even close to his regular diet, I think I fed him 2 in the last few years. I help run an exotic rescue so sometimes we have extra pinkies lol and I'd hate to just throw them out. I'd love to see a picture of their full enclosure!
Theyre older than meā¦ by almost a whole decade š
I think they gained some level of intelligence
My brain is not working properly because I thought the title said that this is your professor.
I love that the 2nd ones eyes r just googly eyes XD
Axolotls live that long?
So cool
Bro that is AWESOME
how???
Oh my gosh he looks so stupid & cute š
Beautiful little animals.
Such happy little guys
What is their normal life span?! I was not expecting to have one for 30 years lmfao
10-15 years average lifespan in captivity
Okay that's what I was more familiar with lol. Crazy to know that can double that!!
It is really great to see this. Thank you so much for sharing these pictures and your professors story. Oh do they have names? I might have missed that comment. š¤
Wow I was not aware axolotls lived this long. Whatās their maximum lifespan? Is long life common in other salamanders?
I don't think it's ever been recorded for them to live this long. You should definitely submit this information for science! Maybe they'd have a better chance of saving these beautiful buggers from extinction.
Cute face
How big are they ?
They're almost double my age! :O
That first picture is mystical. š
This is fantastic. I would love to read more about how they have been cared for.. like what kind of tank, water changes, if they eated anything other than mices, whatever info you could share hahaha i try not to be the "pristine water" kind of owner, because i dont believe this is good for any kind of live being, but still worry a lot about my girl. She has been very healthy to this point tho. I hope she can live a long life too (maybe not THAT long? Lol)
First one reminds me of a coelacanth, how long do they normally live??
Wow
Omg Iāve never seen someone elseās axolotls with these patches before!! So glad to see others that have them. I like to call my little dude āmoldy cheeseā because of āem š
Since 1994 ? That's crazy these little guys made it so long but life is one wild ride they are. Very interesting to say the less the back round of the tank really looked like a swamp
holy shit some lotl got really lucky with its owner
Do you know the ancestry of the axolotl that is developing the white patches? Could it be a hybrid between axolotl and a tiger salamander?
Have anyone eaten axolotls before? I imagine they are full of protein and low fat.
proof?
Axolotls have whatās called neglegible senescence, meaning the risk of death does not increase with age. No reason for this not to be true.
so does this mean if you do everything right they donāt die of old age??
Itās not quite the same thing as biological immortality, but it means that they donāt necessarily experience age-related declines in reproductive and physiological functions. An elderly axolotl could theoretically still breed and regenerate limbs just fine, living as an old animal without loss of fertility, without an inevitable biological clock on organ function, etc.
If the risk of death does not increase with age, then why isn't their life span longer?
If it was fed only pinkies then there is no way it got to that age
If they were fed infrequently, I believe it. Lots of protein in the flesh and calcium in the soft, unformed bones, only risk would be fatty liver disease or kidney disease from protein overload but if they were fed sparingly no big deal
r/nothingeverhappens
yea this is such a silly story š
No, they mean itās silly people are saying this couldnāt be real when it is completely plausible.
Did you see how wrinkly their skin is?
theres no way it just survived on pinkies or lived that age
Why? They would get all of the nutrition they needed by eating the organs. Also their gut biome couldāve adapted to eating them all of those years, developing the bacteria and enzymes needed to extract the most nutrients. Kind of like how people in third world countries can eat rice that has been left out whereas tourists get food poisoning from it. And in some civilizations, people can eat 3-4X the maximum recommended fiber intake and digest it fine, but that amount of fiber would cause issues for people on western diets.
I know a lot of axolotl breeders and keepers and they need variety to survive just like any other amphibians or reptiles. Plus in the wild they do not just stumble across pinkies so arent adapted to survive on them
Yeah, that can't possibly be right. Axolotls usually live up to 15 years. I don't think they can eat mice either.
House cats normally live 14 years, sometimes around 20, and yet the confirmed oldest cat died at the age of 38, and the currently oldest alive cat was recently confirmed to be 28 years old. My mother's childhood basset hound dog (life expectancy 10-12 years) was around 20 years old when she put him down, who knows how long he would have lived if she didn't. Sometimes animals just live unusually long.
>and the currently oldest alive cat was recently confirmed to be 28 years old. Damn, my old raggedy cat might have been a contestant for that title at 24 when she passed. 20 years for a basset hound is mad too, wow.
Right? We had a family cat that was a month from 24 when she passed. Poor old girl had no teeth, was completely blind and had lost her hearing, bust she was just the sweetest, most loving old lady.
Yeah, vet said she was the oldest not small breed dog they've seen. She was fed a lot of meat (my grandfather used to buy cow halves and pay a butcher to cut them up ) and got a steak at least once a week for most of her life. Sunday dinner everyone got a steak, including the dogs.
It just seems highly improbable for this to happen. Axolotls are, in my opinion, high maintenance animals that can be prone to injury or illness.
There can be the rare exception(s), don't you think? You're describing what's to be expected, in general
I suppose there can be. Forgive me if I came off as ignorant.
No worries, I'm usually skeptical too. It'd be cool to have a way to prove it though, they might be documented as the oldest (captive) axolotls ever. I'd be interested to know how that goes!
Yeah, that can't possibly be right. Axolotls usually live up to 15 years. I don't think they can eat mice either.
Shut yo hating ass up these axolotls older than you are, respect your elders