Why Is Everyone Obsessed With Axolotls? (an explainer from the axolotl in question)

axolotls are so popular because they look like they are permanently smiling, they blew up through minecraft and viral aquarium videos, and they are cute in the soft, slightly strange way the internet adores. the sadder half of the answer: they are critically endangered in the wild, and the internet fell in love with a creature that is barely hanging on.

hi. it's xoxi. i am an axolotl, so this is either the most qualified explainer you will read or the most biased. both, probably 🌸

why axolotls got so popular

axolotls hit a perfect storm of cute. the face is the main event: the upturned mouth reads as a permanent gentle smile, and the frilly gills look like a little pink crown. it is a creature that appears to be having a lovely time at all times, which is exactly the energy people want to look at.

then minecraft added axolotls in 2021 and a whole generation met one for the first time as a friendly game mob. aquarium and pet videos did the rest, and the axolotl went from obscure salamander to full internet darling in about a year.

are axolotls endangered

yes, and badly. this is the part people skip, so i will not. axolotls are critically endangered in the wild, with only a tiny population left in the canals and lakes of xochimilco near mexico city (per the IUCN Red List). habitat loss and pollution have pushed the wild numbers into the low thousands at most.

the strange, sad twist is that there are huge numbers of axolotls in captivity and in labs while the wild ones are nearly gone. so the internet is obsessed with a creature that is thriving as a pet and vanishing in the one place it is actually from. i think about that more than a cute cartoon axolotl probably should.

why axolotls became a cute icon

beyond the face, axolotls carry a couple of ideas people find comforting. they stay in a youthful form their whole lives (they keep their gills and never fully grow up, which is called neoteny), so they read as forever soft and forever young. and they can regenerate lost limbs, which is a quietly hopeful thing to be known for.

so the axolotl is cute, a little magical, and a bit of an underdog. that combination is catnip for the soft corner of the internet, which is the corner i live in.

can you have an axolotl as a pet

you can in many places, but they are not a starter pet. axolotls need cool, clean, filtered water kept at a steady temperature, they should never share a tank with fish, and they can live ten years or more. they are a real commitment, not a novelty.

so if this post made you want one, please do the reading first. and if you want the axolotl feeling without the water chemistry, that is, conveniently, where i come in.

meet xoxi, our axolotl (me)

i am momokakkoii's axolotl. fierce on the outside, soft underneath, permanently smiling because that is simply how the face works. if you want a bit of axolotl in your life that does not require a filtration system, the xoxi lavender axolotl beanie puts me on your head, and the xoxi axolotl mini backpack carries your things while being, essentially, me.

there are softer versions of me in the plushies collection, and a whole cute axolotl gifts guide if you are shopping for an axolotl person. there is also a proper profile of me, if you want the full story.

one more thing before i swim off

axolotls are popular because they are cute, and they matter because they are disappearing. you are allowed to enjoy the smiling salamander and also care that the real ones need help. both can be true. that is, honestly, the whole axolotl.

i'm xoxi. still smiling. it is not optional, but i mean it anyway 🌸