Last updated February 22, 1999

This is how I usually find Earthy. He's essentially saying, "Hey, waiter- could we get some service here?" Earthy is a voracious eater. I have had to take a lot more care when feeding him than with any other axolotl. The others seem to stop eating when they're full; they'll only express interest in food when they're really hungry. Earthy, however, always appears to be hungry.

This is a larger, close-up version of the previous picture. A third-grade student named Earthy in a contest I had a couple of years ago. She chose that name because of his earth-tone colors. At the time, Earthy had a tankmate named Trembles. Another third-grader from the same class named Trembles because of the way axolotls will wiggle and shake when they're about to be fed. Sadly, Trembles died soon after he metamorphosed into a salamander. His metamorphosis was the result of a mishap that occured under the care of an acquaintence while I was away on vacation. It took Earthy about a year to recover from the same incident (he didn't morph), but he is now more active and healthy than ever.

Earthy just noticed the cat walking into the room. Inky doesn't pay much attention to the axolotls, though. He's much more interested in the crickets.

Little Ernie is full-grown even though he is less than half Earthy's size. They get along very well, although I have to keep them apart from each other during feeding time. When they are too close, they both go for the food at the same time and scare each other. Believe it or not, Ernie spooks Earthy a lot more often than Earthy spooks Ernie.

I named Ernie after my virtual pet, who died of old age after a full life of eight days. In this picture you can see Ernie's pretty speckles, which make him look sorta like a sausage.

Here is a large, "crystalized" version of one of the earlier pictures. It's kinda like looking at Earthy through a shower door. Which may or may not be an appealing image, now that I think about it.

Go to The Axolotl Page