A lot of love for Axolotl Club...
Our Axolotl Club is a marvellous thing - Camilla Knudsen, Georgia Marley and Ebony Aloof explain why.
Every fortnight (depending on your year group) we gather together in Lab 7/9 to care and talk about the school’s axolotls and we take turns cleaning the tank. This includes changing their water, scrubbing the glass, cleaning the sand and washing the ornaments.
We also make posters about all sorts of interesting information to do with axolotls. For example, an axolotl is an amphibian, closely related to the salamander. They have feathery gills, a cylinder-shaped body, four short legs and a relatively long tail. They are carnivores which survive on worms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs and other small species of fish. We feed our axolotls blood worms.
Axolotls can live for up to 10-15 years and only 700-1200 remain in the wild (Mexico).
Unlike many other creatures, axolotls have the ability to regenerate limbs. This is done through their nervous system with the usage of stem cells. When a limb is removed, within hours new skin will be formed and limbs will begin to regrow. We have seen this as Goldy lost two of her legs by accident! Now she has fully regrown them.
We have five axolotls and four different colour forms. The colours of an axolotl are controlled by four genes. These genes make a significant difference in their pigment pattern and colour. Most axolotls are commonly black or brown with green or gold spots. If an axolotl is white, this is called leucistic which means they are white due to the lack of pigment. We think one reason there are so many white axolotls in captivity is because pet traders have bred axolotls to turn out white with black eyes.
Camilla Knudsen, Georgia Marley and Ebony Aloof, Year 8
Every fortnight (depending on your year group) we gather together in Lab 7/9 to care and talk about the school’s axolotls and we take turns cleaning the tank. This includes changing their water, scrubbing the glass, cleaning the sand and washing the ornaments.
We also make posters about all sorts of interesting information to do with axolotls. For example, an axolotl is an amphibian, closely related to the salamander. They have feathery gills, a cylinder-shaped body, four short legs and a relatively long tail. They are carnivores which survive on worms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs and other small species of fish. We feed our axolotls blood worms.
Axolotls can live for up to 10-15 years and only 700-1200 remain in the wild (Mexico).
Unlike many other creatures, axolotls have the ability to regenerate limbs. This is done through their nervous system with the usage of stem cells. When a limb is removed, within hours new skin will be formed and limbs will begin to regrow. We have seen this as Goldy lost two of her legs by accident! Now she has fully regrown them.
We have five axolotls and four different colour forms. The colours of an axolotl are controlled by four genes. These genes make a significant difference in their pigment pattern and colour. Most axolotls are commonly black or brown with green or gold spots. If an axolotl is white, this is called leucistic which means they are white due to the lack of pigment. We think one reason there are so many white axolotls in captivity is because pet traders have bred axolotls to turn out white with black eyes.
Camilla Knudsen, Georgia Marley and Ebony Aloof, Year 8