![]() ![]() They’ve got really specific needs.”ĭanni Mokomoko, who runs Wellington Amphibian and Reptile Rescue, said the rescue received 25 axolotls arrive last week. ![]() “Right at the time that Minecraft introduced the capability of spawning said axolotls in the program – there were concerns at that point about the demands kids were then making to their parents around getting the real deal,” she said. Dr Helen Beattie of Veterinarians for Animal Welfare said she’d had concerns since last year, when she said increasing numbers of children began asking their parents for pet axolotls. Internationally, outlets began reporting last year that axolotls had become a hot new pet for Minecraft-playing children.īut animal care experts say some owners are naive about the commitment involved. Google trend reports indicate that searches for axolotl peaked when Minecraft introduced them in July 2021, but have remained elevated since. Perhaps the greatest contributor to the axolotl renaissance, however, might be Minecraft, the enormously popular children’s world-building game, where the amphibians were introduced as a companion creature in 2021. The creatures have been a hit on TikTok, where their hashtag has accumulated 2.6bn views.Īxie Infinity, an online game where players battle cartoon axolotls, peaked at about 2.7m users in November last year. Their growth has been driven partly by their popularity online, where their little faces, set in a constant grin, are well suited to memes and shareable videos. “That situation can very quickly get out of control.”Īxolotls are considered critically endangered in the wild, but are widely bred in captivity. “They can produce a huge number of eggs,” said SPCA science officer Alison Vaughan. The amorous amphibians ended up “having accidental clutches and not knowing what to do with the eggs … then ending up with literally thousands of them and not being able to find them a home,” she said. ![]() Seales said some inexperienced owners were failing to desex their pets or accidentally placing breeding pairs together in tanks. ![]()
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