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I get to see the axolotls in person tomorrow. I really hope they are doing well (fingers crossed they are still doing good) |
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Game Moderator
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Fingers crossed with you Nyx <3 |
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Saw the axolotls and they look amazing. I am bringing all of the axolotls in the lab back home with me next week. The lab tech is really getting on my nerves because she said she was actually going to cull all of the axolotls she had in her care if I didnt take them by the end of next week (including mine) because she is just too busy. I am really upset about that. I dont know what she has going on but she really wanted to do this project and I am still a part of it but she doesnt update me at all anymore and I literally had to go in and ask if I could see them in the lab prep room because she was feeding them and I wanted to see how they were doing. So I am bringing home the remaining axolotls that were not culled already and have not gotten sick (many of the axolotls at the same time - even the ones cared for by students - died for no known reason). I will hopefully have my "babies" back home by next Friday but I want to get them back sooner so I can separate them out into individual containers as it has not been done already. I couldnt take them today since I walked to the lab but I really need to find a day/time we can both agree on so I can get the axolotls. Their sire and dam both look good, i saw them today and they are doing well. We still have not moved the golden female over to a new tank while we still wait for the large tank to get here so I really want to do that otherwise I fear it will never be done. In the meantime, I have been looking for homes for the baby axolotls and have found some. I will NOT be culling the ones that do not find homes. They will go to the specialist pet store for sale since I know they will take excellent care of them and only give them to good homes. I will make that my responsibility to find their homes because I am just really dissapointed in the lab tech and don't think she will do it. I am really ready to get them back home. Now I have to go buy a ton of containers for them to be separated into individually. They are normally put in those plastic food containers everyone usually has in their homes and they are fine just like that. I will be able to monitor them closer that way as well. And of course I will make sure all of the tubs are the proper size. I am huge into animal care so I will of course make sure they are in the right conditions at all times. Thank you all for the support. I will begin documenting limb growth when I get them in my care again since they have not yet grown. |
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Picking them up tomorrow. Super nervous to see how they look because I don't know how much the lab tech has been paying attention to them. I really didn't see that from the lab tech, I always thought she was responsible and someone who genuinely cared about the animals. To know that she would kill them like that without a second thought bothers me so much. She said it was the hardest thing for her... and I dont know if I believe that or not anymore. I am ready to have them back home. She asked me almost immediately after confirming that I could pick them up at 3, if I could pick them up earlier in the morning. So I don't know for sure what time exactly i will get them at this point. I know one of the future owners is coming over on Thursday to look at them since he wants to know everything I can possibly tell him about them which I am super excited for. Anyways, that is all the news I have for today. |
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Hey folks, so i got really really sick and was unable to pick up the axolotls on wednesday last week. I made every attempt to contact the lab tech and recieved no response. I saw her on friday last week and she appeared to do everything in her power to ignore me. I did however see the axolotls in the lab and they appear to be doing very well. She still has to go in to feed the other lab axolotls and so it is a part of her job to feed them regardless. I do not believe she has culled them. I am trying very hard to get her to give them to me. It is just a battle and, honestly, quite rediculous. I am going to keep attempting to contact her reasonably and will talk to my professor who employees her about getting the axolotls. I already purchased a ton of individual containers to set up for the axolotls. I am frustrated and tired and still getting over being sick. It was not covid or the flu or even seasonal allergies (I will spare you all the details of the illness) but I was very very sick. In the meantime, I have been helping a friend who is taking care of some axolotls herself and she is going to give me several of hers since she has about 23 axolotls and not enough small tanks to keep them in separately (and I do) but if I manage to get ahold of the other axolotls from the lab tech, i should still have enough room for both. Anyways, that is all I can really update anyone on at the moment. Thanks <3 |
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Hi everyone, I am devastated to say that this is the last post about the axolotls I will be making. I went into the lab today and the lab tech did not tell me she killed all of my axolotls. She refused to respond to my texts when I went to try and get her to let me pick them up. My professor is furious with her because they were mine and she took it upon herself to kill them all and never tell me. She did not tell my lab partner who was working on the axolotl project how to properly take care of the axolotl babies which obviously ended poorly. Today she brought them to me to see if there was anything I could do to make them better and I did not realize what poor condition they were in. They were over an inch shorter than they should have been. Upon getting them home, I rushed to the pet store to buy new water conditioner. When I got home to move them all over and separate them out, all but three were dead. Those three have also died. All of them has short, stubby gills and their bodies were deteriorating rapidly. They were all very pale. One died of a prolapse from what I could see. They were all so very small. The remaining three ended up passing within a matter of hours. I did feed them or try to feed them as soon as I got them home and had separated them out. I am heart broken and incredibly discouraged. I am thankful for the opportunity of seeing their development but do not think it is something I will ever do again. I do not recommend anyone do this unless they know what they are doing and can take care of them all on their own. Thank you all for the support and I am so sorry to everyone <3 |
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Game Moderator
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Nyx I'm so sorry you have had to go through all of this. It is truly awful what these animals have had to suffer from under the care of someone less than diligent and caring. Hope justice is served, and the lab tech gets the bad end of the stick. Thank you though for bringing us all along for the journey of seeing these creatures grow from egg to hatching, though they did have an unfortunate and devastating end, I'm sure they taught many about axolotls and the growth process! Much love dear <3 |
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So very sorry to hear this! 😔 Unfortunately not everyone has the same drive in academia and these poor axylotyl were the ones that paid the price.
Don't let this demotivate you; scientific advances wouldn't happen if scientists gave up after the first attempt. Adapt and overcome! And learn!! Even if the only thing you learn is to not trust anyone else with your test subjects. ...I don't even let some of my colleagues use my machinery or touch my cultures lol
Don't lose sight of what you love and what brings joy to your scientific journey. I'm sure you'd be able to find somewhere once you're out of school that will acknowledge your drive and eagerness to document, explore, and enjoy what you do. I've had friends that started off in pharmaceuticals move on to propagating rare and genetically modified plants. I had another friend who's primary job was to genetically modify a species a worm to only them kill them to harvest gonads. She now lives out her snowboarding/outdoor dreams in Utah while getting paid by a university who wanted her expertise. What I'm basically trying to say in my rambling is we all start somewhere and sometimes you've gotta truck through the bad times to get to the good and don't let it discourage you!
Its also pretty well acknowledged that us biology people are a weird bunch ;) No one would bat an eye if you were to bring up the fact you housed 100 axolotyl in your basement for your own enjoyment and worked on genetic/morphological additives or anomalies in your free time. Do what sparks joy as much as you can!
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Spirtasi Whims said:
Nyx I'm so sorry you have had to go through all of this. It is truly awful what these animals have had to suffer from under the care of someone less than diligent and caring. Hope justice is served, and the lab tech gets the bad end of the stick. Thank you though for bringing us all along for the journey of seeing these creatures grow from egg to hatching, though they did have an unfortunate and devastating end, I'm sure they taught many about axolotls and the growth process! Much love dear <3
Thank you tons, Tasi <3 I am glad to have been able to show everyone what they looked like as they developed. I found out that most axolotl eggs are actually brown or black and not white like ours were which is super unique. The adult axolotls both seem to be doing well and are healthy which I am glad to be able to report seeing that at least a few made it out of this mess in one piece.
LostCause said:
So very sorry to hear this! 😔 Unfortunately not everyone has the same drive in academia and these poor axylotyl were the ones that paid the price.
Don't let this demotivate you; scientific advances wouldn't happen if scientists gave up after the first attempt. Adapt and overcome! And learn!! Even if the only thing you learn is to not trust anyone else with your test subjects. ...I don't even let some of my colleagues use my machinery or touch my cultures lol
Don't lose sight of what you love and what brings joy to your scientific journey. I'm sure you'd be able to find somewhere once you're out of school that will acknowledge your drive and eagerness to document, explore, and enjoy what you do. I've had friends that started off in pharmaceuticals move on to propagating rare and genetically modified plants. I had another friend who's primary job was to genetically modify a species a worm to only them kill them to harvest gonads. She now lives out her snowboarding/outdoor dreams in Utah while getting paid by a university who wanted her expertise. What I'm basically trying to say in my rambling is we all start somewhere and sometimes you've gotta truck through the bad times to get to the good and don't let it discourage you!
Its also pretty well acknowledged that us biology people are a weird bunch ;) No one would bat an eye if you were to bring up the fact you housed 100 axolotyl in your basement for your own enjoyment and worked on genetic/morphological additives or anomalies in your free time. Do what sparks joy as much as you can!
I certainly did learn not to trust anyone with my subjects at all and if I do this again I will know that I need to be here 100% of the time and prepared to care for them from start to end. I do enjoy and still love biology and will continue to do biology work in the labs (I work there every Friday)! I am just working on different things now (more bacteria work and eel grass work than anything at the moment). Its still so much fun though and I am glad I did learn some lessons from it even if, as you said, it ended poorly. |
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