There are so many great choices for pets these days. So many that it can be hard to choose which pet is right for you or your family. These are my top reasons to choose an Axolotl as your companion and top reasons to choose another pet. I want the Axolotl to have the best home possible and I believe that starts with being well informed. (This is an opinion piece but I’m including sources where relevant)
Reasons I think Axolotl are great pets
- They’re more interactive than most fish and will look at you from their tank. They recognize you when you go to feed them or clean their tank and cleaning doesn’t seem to stress them. I’ve kept beta fish for years and only beta fish and some goldfish have been as interactive with me.
- They’re easy to keep and don’t need much from me day to day. They only need food and for their tank to be cleaned periodically. I can’t forget to give them water or forget to take them out to potty. I can leave them for a week long trip and not have to find a babysitter.
- They’re cute. I enjoy watching them and interacting with them. They have little personalities and each one is different. Some are aggressive and bold, others are shy and curious.
- There is a lot of medical and vet resources available, far more than most pets. This is because Axolotl have been used as a scientific test species for over 200 years now[SOURCE SOURCE]. Many exotic pets have very little known about them in comparison because other exotic pets aren’t used to develop medicine.
- They’re longer lived than most fish (over 20 years). I love keeping betta fish but it’s difficult to deal with how short their natural life is. I see this as a benefit to their interactivity as we will be forming a longer term relationship.
Reasons I think Axolotl would not be a good choice
- You do not enjoy changing water in an Aquarium periodically. Bigger filters and more plants can reduce how often in needs done but even then it will need to be a regularly scheduled thing. Changing water means taking old water out, putting new water in (with conditioner). Filters will need cleaned as well, this is usually done less frequently but still needs to be done regularly. This means disconnecting it from the tank, taking it apart and rinsing it. More expensive filters make this easier so look out for that [SEE EQUIPMENT].
- You want a pet that you can touch and hold. Axolotl will let you do this if you are calm and gentle, if you want to handle them you must however wear protective gloves. This is because human skin excretes oils that can give them rashes or worse. You can’t wash the oils off for 2 reasons. 1 Your body makes the oils constantly and as soon as you are done more will be made. 2 You need to wash your hands with soap to remove oil and soaps are even more dangerous to the skin health of the Axolotl. Best practice is to wear food safe gloves and rinse them first without soap[SEE HANDLING].