00:00you should probably not own an axolotl
00:03yeah i'm sorry to say it don't click off
00:05this video yet cause i'm gonna tell you
00:08axolotls just are terrible pets what is
00:11up guys it is the turtle girl welcome to
00:13the channel or welcome back to the
00:14channel yes i said i said what i said uh
00:17i don't think axolotls are the best pets
00:21for a lot of people and for multiple
00:23reasons which we are going over in this
00:26before you hit the dislike button just
00:28like hear me out i have some reasons for
00:30this especially if you're doing some
00:31research into axolotls and if none of
00:34these things bother you then great go
00:36ahead and get an axolotl but i just
00:37think it's important to consider these
00:39things coming from an axolotl owner of i
00:42think three plus years at this point i
00:44feel like there's kind of just been a
00:45pop culture thing with axolotls recently
00:48just a lot of people are very intrigued
00:50by this really weird and unique creature
00:52that is called the axolotl and to some
00:54people it's actually a surprise you can
00:56keep them as pets other people are just
00:58like that's a real thing i want to keep
01:00it so this video is for all of you who
01:02are interested in axolotls and kind of
01:04wondered should i get one first off i
01:06would like to introduce my little
01:07sidekick here this is mochi my lucistic
01:10axolotl mochi this video is not meant to
01:14just so you know i love your little
01:15derpy face uh but you are an interesting
01:18pet to take care of and that's the main
01:20focus of what we're talking about so for
01:22one let me just get it out of the way i
01:24think axolotls aren't the best pets
01:26because frankly they don't do all that
01:29like they they swim around their tank
01:31sometimes uh a lot of the times they're
01:35and they kind of just
01:37derp about the tank you can't hold them
01:40you can't necessarily interact with them
01:42as you might with a normal pet there's
01:44only so much that they do and other than
01:46that they kind of just sit there and
01:49i would say well i'm they're not
01:51comparable to a pet rock so for instance
01:55thought betta fish were boring or if you
01:58thought even just a fish tank was boring
02:01axolotls are not going to be that much
02:03more exciting for you also very
02:05important their care is pretty
02:07specialized one of the most difficult
02:10things about keeping axolotls is that
02:12they are cold water animals so you have
02:15to keep the temperature of their tank
02:17lower than like 68 degrees if it gets
02:20higher than that it can shorten their
02:21lifespan and they get very very stressed
02:23there's not as much oxygen for them and
02:25so you need to be able to keep their
02:28tank cool and if this cannot be met
02:30you're just not going to have a very
02:32happy or healthy axolotl there are a
02:34couple of ways to achieve this i've
02:36actually done a video on it if you check
02:37up there but in general it's just a
02:40little more tricky to keep cooler
02:42temperatures for fish tanks which brings
02:44me to my next point axolotls are fully
02:47aquatic and in general i will say this
02:50for anyone getting into pet keeping
02:52fish are not that easy aquatic animals
02:55are not that easy to keep because when
02:57you have an animal in the water
03:00the water is just a medium in which
03:02waste kind of spreads quickly it can be
03:05easy for the conditions to get dirty
03:07keeping aquatic animals just generally
03:09requires a little more effort some extra
03:11maintenance to make sure that the water
03:13quality is staying super clean and
03:15healthy for them you have to worry about
03:17things like filters to make sure that
03:18the waste is being processed you have to
03:20do water changes frequently on a regular
03:23basis and these are all things that kind
03:24of add up to the time commitment of
03:26keeping an axolotl which depending on
03:28how much research you've done you may
03:30not expect to give you an idea of what
03:32my routine looks like i probably spend
03:3430 minutes to an hour every single week
03:36just cleaning out the tank doing water
03:38changes topping off the water things of
03:40that sort obviously it's not as big of a
03:43commitment as like your average
03:44household pet like a dog or a cat but it
03:47is more specialized i think that's a
03:49really good word to use it's just their
03:51care is more specialized to make things
03:53even more difficult axolotls are
03:56relatively sensitive aquatic animals at
03:59least compared to their counterparts
04:00like fish or even turtles because
04:02they're amphibians literally everything
04:04in their body is covered just by like a
04:06membrane and some mucus it's just very
04:09very easy for them to contract things
04:10like fungus or disease and just be more
04:13sensitive to fluctuations in water
04:15quality one thing i do want to interject
04:17in here however is that some people seem
04:20to have the idea that axolotls are
04:21actually illegal to keep this is false
04:24while axolotls are functionally i think
04:27extinct in lake sochi milko in mexico
04:30where they come from they are heavily
04:31bred in captivity and widely available
04:34to keep as pets so that in itself is not
04:37actually a hindrance to keeping axolotls
04:39just thought i'd add that the other
04:41thing to remember is that honestly
04:43axolotls are best in a species only tank
04:47or even a specimen only tank so you only
04:49have one axolotl per tank some people
04:52have had success keeping other axolotls
04:53with each other but when it comes to
04:55other tank mates like fish it just
04:57doesn't always work out believe me i've
05:00tried i've also got my fair share of
05:02hate for trying um i tried some white
05:04cloud minnows and the axolotl just ended
05:06up eating them obviously he's still fine
05:09but those just didn't survive so if
05:10you're looking for something that will
05:12thrive in a community tank i just don't
05:14think axolotls are really a good
05:16candidate another thing to consider
05:18about axolotls is their diet they will
05:20eat a range of foods from earthworms to
05:22live blackworms and frozen bloodworms
05:25but they don't always take too dry foods
05:27and so you have to be prepared to feed
05:29live wiggly earthworms or blackworms and
05:32things of the sort i would also like to
05:34add that these creatures can live a very
05:36very long time reptiles and amphibians
05:38in general have long life spans but i've
05:41heard of people's axolotls living 15 20
05:43plus years these are a long-term
05:45commitment and will be around for a
05:47while if you take care of them well so
05:49that's really important to consider
05:50before getting one as a pet also keep in
05:53mind this is a substantial amount of
05:54water that you are dedicating to this
05:56animal i would say at least 20 gallon
05:58long for an adult if not a 40 breeder
06:00they really do like the space and so
06:02this is not just something you can shove
06:04in a little five gallon in a corner
06:05obviously getting any pet is a really
06:07big commitment and so it's important to
06:09kind of consider why you might not want
06:12to get that animal as opposed to all the
06:14exciting things like they're cute
06:16they're cool they're unique etc now know
06:18that this video is not specifically to
06:20deter anyone from getting an axolotl i
06:22mean i guess it could be a bit of a
06:24deterrent because you see that they're
06:25not all that in a bag of chips you know
06:28well they can be they're pretty awesome
06:31it's more to get you thinking about the
06:33opposite side of the coin they are
06:35amazing animals don't get me wrong it's
06:37just you have to make sure you're ready
06:39for that commitment to keep them as pets
06:41and allow them to live a long happy life
06:43in your care i hope you found this video
06:45informative if you did feel free to drop
06:47a thumbs up if you disagreed with what i
06:49said feel free to hit the thumbs down
06:50that's fine too i mean you can't even
06:51see the dislikes anymore because youtube
06:56dislike it if you want to i it's fine i
06:59i mean i can see your dislikes
07:00um but but other people can't see them
07:03which is a whole other topic youtube um
07:06thanks for that in case you didn't catch
07:08my drift i am not happy about youtube
07:10removing the dislike button i think it's
07:11very counterproductive but that is a
07:13topic for another time i guess if i did
07:16like live streams i could rant about
07:17that uh speaking of live streams once we
07:20get to 50 patrons on patreon i'm gonna
07:22start doing monthly live streams to just
07:24catch up with you guys and see what's
07:26going on so make sure you join the
07:28patreon to get in on that lots of cool
07:30stuff going to be happening here soon
07:33i'm actually planning to redo my entire
07:36like space here my entire entire pet
07:38space so subscribe if you want to see
07:40that and thank you guys so much for
07:42watching have a totally awesome day bye