In case you’re not familiar with these adorable amphibians, the axolotl is a real creature that lives in caves. Axolotls are a very rare species of salamander and are actually critically endangered.
They are native to two lakes in the Valley of Mexico, one of which no longer exists, so hopefully their appearance in Minecraft aids conservation efforts for the axolotl.
If you’re planning on making your own army of axolotl, the first thing you need is a bucket. These new creatures can be captured and tamed simply by scooping them up.
In order to get them to follow you, you need to be holding a tropical fish, either in your off-hand or main hand.
You can then empty your bucket in a cavern near your house to create your own little axolotl ecosystem, or get a few axolotl buckets and bring them along to your next Ocean Monument raid.
When you release your axolotl friends into open water, they will swim around and decimate every fish and enemy in the vicinity.
Although they aren’t all that powerful, they can ‘play dead’. This means hostile mobs won’t attack them, giving the axolotl time to recover and re-join the fight.
You can also breed any two axolotls by feeding them tropical fish. Babies take 20 minutes to grow to adulthood, but the time remaining is reduced by 10% whenever the baby is scooped up in a bucket.
There’s a very low chance to breed a blue axolotl variant, otherwise the colour of the baby is randomly generated from the colours of the two parents.
For more mobs from the Caves and Cliffs updates, here’s how to tame and breed goats in Minecraft.