I figured I would do a little update since some things have changed. It is now the end of day 13. None of the other eggs have hatched yet (it is 10pm here) which is okay. There is one axolotl (the very bright one) that I am extremely concerned about. It is unable to keep itself at the bottom of the tank. I fed them twice today. Once early this morning after moving them over to the bigger tank, and she/he ate well. Then later this evening I could not get him/her to eat. She/He just sat there at the bottom of the tank. So I waited 30 minutes after their feeding (as I have been instructed) before vacuuming up their food. I waited a little while longer and then did a very gentle 75% water change (I didn't want to disturb them too much because of the changes). At the time, he/she seemed fine and was moving around. I went and checked on him/her a minute ago and she/he was floating. Not dead but also unable to sink where they should be. His/her tail is facing downwards and her head is at the surface which is not a great thing. She/he keeps swimming down but floats right back up. I've been watching closely to see what is going on and i did some research and found that there are two possibilites:

A) she/he is bloated

B) she/he is impacted

I don't know what to do about either so I contacted the lab tech. But I know it is late. So I am just doing as much research as I can. This is just a lesson to everyone, especially myself, that anything can happen in a split moment. The axolotl seemed so healthy. Maybe it just went through too much and is stressed. While I would love to watch it all night, I simply can not. I am trying my best to do what I think is right for this axolotl but I do not see a positive outcome for this axolotl.

I have concluded that the issue is bloating. Based on the direction in which the axolotl is floating, how the others appear to be okay, and how it can still swim and function, it is likely minor bloating. The lab tech has not gotten back to me - and I did not expect she would I just wanted to make her aware of the situation - the issue is, now I do not know what to do. It is very difficult to find information on what to do. I am looking at putting the axolotl in a cup and in the fridge. It encourages the axolotl to expell the built up gas. But I do not know if this will harm him/her because they are so young. This has only been attempted on axolotls around the age of 4 months. Right now, she/he floats to the top but can sink down and settle on their own but is tending to remain in the middle of the tank, so not on the bottom and not on the top. I am just uncertain of what I should do at this point.

Day 13 night, 14 morning:

I carefully watched the axolotl that was floating last night. I do believe it was bloating caused by stress. After a 75% water change, being moved to a new tank, hatching, and me physically feeding them, it may have just been too much. The axolotls are all well and the one that was floating is now back on the bottom as it should be. During this process, at about 10:45pm, I took a look in the hatching tank and 2 axolotls had hatched. I didn't move them over because they can still feed on the nutrients of their eggs for 24 hours and I didn't want to cause more stress to the floating axi. Upon waking up, 7 of the axolotls total, had hatched over night. Making a total of 10 hatched, 6 not. I went to collect them and move them from the hatching tank for feeding and I accidentally picked up an egg and it hatched so now I have 11 hatched axolotls and 5 not. The one I hatched is doing really well. It happens to be one that's egg fell to the bottom of the small hatching tank so it was almost unavoidable to pick it up with all of the baby axolotls darting around to avoid being "captured." They have all eaten breakfast (frozen daphnia) and I will update you all with photos this evening.

One axolotl hatched a few minutes ago and upon attempting to remove it, the unfertilized egg exploded. I removed it as quickly as possible, and then two more axolotls hatched in the process. One of which has a crooked spine and js only able to swim in circles or upside down. Its heart is still beating and it is still moving around but its struggling. Even during its development process, this particular axolotl was upside down most of the time and very very curved. I've isolated it from the others to reduce competition to see if it's spine may straighten out but I think it just didn't develop properly.

Please, everyone know, that breeding animals can produce heartbreaking results. I am doing my best to keep them in perfect conditions and keep them healthy. Some just do not do as well as others. I was told before this breeding that some eggs would not be fertilized and I was also told that during the developmental process, I would begin noticing which ones would make it and which ones would not be able to survive no matter how much we cared for them. I was really worried about this particular one because of how it looked in its later stages. Even in previous posted photos, it is visible it was not growing properly. Sometimes axolotls with crooked spines can survive but they have a lifetime of pain. This one in particular is severely crooked/curved. I'm going to continue to care for this axolotl like I would any other, simply with a littke extra care, but sometimes I wonder if that is being cruel? In the meantime, I will watch over these guys and see how they do.

Day 15:

The axolotl with the crooked spine was euthanized so prevent its further suffering. Last night, I realized it couldn't eat at all. It could only swim in circles and upside down and sometimes it would flip itself over from frantically going in circles but it couldn't eat still. To prevent it from suffering after I realized it was exhausted and could barely move, I made the decision to euthanize him/her last night.

Today, the remaining 2 axolotls hatched and all of them are now swimming around in their big tank. They all ate good and seem happy enough.

That's crazy Nyx, hopfully the other axolotl babies are alright? Having to make tough decisions like that are honestly the worst when you've put so much work and care into little beings and they just can't live on without assistance and pain.

The other axolotls were okay. Until I gave them to the lab tech to take care of, all of them were healthy.

I took a trip to Denver with my honors society and was away for several days so I gave them to the lab tech to take care of. She said she would update me every day but that never happened. Upon texting her, a ton of them died. I had one positive GFP axolotl (there were likely others that I just couldn't see the gene in when testing but this one was the clearest) that wasn't separated in time and ended up getting eaten by its siblings. All that was left was a floating head without gills. I can't tell you how disappointed I am right now. The lab tech told me several others had died as well under her care. And when I texted my friend who is taking care of some of the other axolotls from eggs she has raised, she said a ton of hers died too. We have no clue why. So we have been trying to figure that out. She separated out all of the GFP axolotls she wants to keep and moved the sick ones to another tank. The ones that are healthy but being culled are in another separate tank. She said she also tried contacting the lab tech who did not respond at all. So it is a bit of a mystery right now. I'm hoping to get some back into my care soon but am afraid to move them since moving them could make them worse and anxious. I will take photos when I go to the lab this Friday. I apologize for the lack of updates but I am kind of in the dark on this too at the moment.

Was it the lab techs fault or just becuase they were moved? Or in a different environment?

Oh my God! That's so tragic, hopefully you guys can save the other little ones. I'm so sorry to hear that Nyx, and no worries, this is your thread. You update when you feel like it :)

I am not sure. All I know is that the one axolotl was eaten (it was my absolute favorite and it was probably my fault that one didnt make it, I should have separated it before taking it over but didnt), and many of the others just died out of nowhere. When I saw them, they all looked good and healthy. The one that was consumed was eaten the same day I took them over to the lab and we drove very gently/ carefully to the lab. I mean i am literally a 2 minute drive from the lab so I dont know if movement was the issue. The environment could have done it but the lab was climate controlled to match the relative climate in my room so it shouldn't have made a large difference. And I cant really blame the lab tech because my friend who is taking care of a bunch of the axolotls said several of hers just got sick and died out of the blue. She said it was "like a disease." I don't know. I just know I am really dissappointed.

Everyone is doing their best with the remaining ones. Food has been increased to prevent cannibalism. No limb buds have really been showing yet. And we have a ton of those little breeder betta tanks with the dividers that the axolotls are being separated in pairs into. They are being paired based on size last I heard. I am going to try and keep posting as much as I can here while I try and get all of this sorted and figure out what is going on. For now, our goal is to keep the guys we have alive and well.