6 Comments

Someone I once met kept their axolotls in a disused swimming pool...it was green. 10yo me was impressed. This is not a particularly useful contribution to this discussion but it is my story and where else will I get to tell it 😂

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I'll go against the grain and admit I have a strange fascination with axolotls. We had a pretty (well, it's subjective) pink one in our high school biology room - not the best environment, it seems! Just last week I was reading this adorable book with the kids:

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/dewdrop-hardback/31691002

I decided to look into the idea... which lasted about 5 minutes thanks to their hideous poo, eating each other's limbs, attempted escapes... eww. Can't commit to that for 10-20 years. But of course, now my kids won't give up the idea thanks to Minecraft 😳

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They’re a bit horrifying, like those strange undersea creatures, always with bits of near-shedded skin floating around their toes... an ex bf had a couple and when I was in his room I couldn’t quite get my attention away from them skulking about in their tank, reminiscent of drowned corpses. Off-putting. I’m open minded about most fauna (I married an entomologist!) but I found these creatures unlovely (though in retrospect maybe it was the boyfriend and I was just projecting).

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My son's class has 2 of them as class pets 😩 Now I feel even more sorry for those poor creatures as a class full of 5-7yr olds isn't the quietest place.. and school class lighting is pretty hideous!

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My son's class has 2 of them as class pets 😩 Now I feel even more sorry for those poor creatures as a class full of 5-7yr olds isn't the quietest place.. and school class lighting is pretty hideous!

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This column reminds me of a story by Julio Cortazar - About a man who becomes so fascinated by an axolotl that he goes to visit it every day until one day… well…

I suggest parents read it to their axolotl obsessed kids every night until they get over the idea and start asking for a dog or a pony again

https://www.bolles.org/uploaded/2016-17_Summer_Reading/Upper_School/Sophomore_Summer_Reading/Axolotl_Cortazar.pdf

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