Introducing Monty

I mentioned in my previous blog that I have a pet axolotl, called Monty. He is so adorable and axolotls are literally the coolest animals ever, so I thought I would tell you a bit about their awesomeness and explain to you how I look after Monty (and share some cute axolotl photos of course).

Axolotls are a type of salamander, which are amphibians. The unusual thing about them is that they never actually turn from a newt into a salamander. They breed and reproduce as newts, something no other type of salamander can manage. The only time they ever turn into salamanders is when they are exposed to high levels of iodine. Apparently it’s really painful (well, I doubt anyone has ever asked an axolotl but that seems to be what humans think), so I will not be subjecting Monty to that, even in the name of science.

They can also regenerate. Sadly not in the Doctor Who way, but if an axolotl looses a limb, it grows back! This means that they have been involved in a lot of research into limb regeneration (a lot of which is sponsored by the military which is a little scary). See, I told you they were awesome!

So now you know a bit more about axolotls, let me introduce Monty:

The feathery projections on either side of his head are gills which mean he can breathe underwater.

Monty is speckled with gold, he almost glitters in some lights. This colour is called the wild type.

He lives in a large tank in the dining room in my house, out of direct sunlight. I chose to keep him in this room because there is no TV or radio and axolotls are very sensitive to noise, so he can watch people walking by without being deafened (also I couldn’t carry the tank up the stairs).

Monty’s tank. plants provide shelter and a plant pot adds interest.

Monty in his tank

The tank has lots of big stones in the bottom and a couple of plants and a plant pot for him to hide in. I did use gravel for the bottom when I first started keeping axolotls but this is bad for them when they get larger because they start swallowing the stones, so I switched to larger rocks (I would recommend this from the beginning).

I (well, my Dad most of the time because he can’t come to uni with me. I really doubt he would enjoy the train journey), feed Monty worms from a wormery we have outside. If you don’t have one of these you should totally get one, it’s a great eco-friendly way of disposing vegetable waste and if you have axolotls you can harvest the worms! Monty also loves water daphnia and even sea monkeys (although these really don’t last long out of sea water), because he has to hunt for them which he seems to really enjoy. I love to watch him with his nose touching the stones, waiting for an unsuspecting water daphnia to swim across his vision.

The wormery which converts kitchen waste to compost, and gives Monty a tasty dinner!

Me feeding Monty a live a worm. Yummy.

You may have realised by now that Monty lives on his own. This is really not ideal for axolotls; they do best with a companion. Sadly Monty’s companion Zuma died quite a while ago, leaving him on his own. I would love to get Monty another friend, but unless I can find another axolotl of the same size then the larger one will nibble on the smaller one which would be horrific (I don’t think they do it on purpose, they are just greedy). Hopefully one day I will find his perfect companion, but until then he seems happy enough.

Axolotls come in several colours, including this really pretty white colour. This was the colour Zuma was.

I hope this blog post opened your eyes to the adorable and incredible axolotl.  Maybe it even inspired you to look into owning one. (If so I hope this also provides some information on how to care for them. Remember to do lots of research before you decide to buy any pet). If you have any questions then please feel free to ask in the comments.