My Morphed Axie

WHSTubaChick · Feb 28, 2008

Lately I have been observing a lot of changes for one of my Axies. Her gills started reducing in size very significantly; eyes started protruding out from the head; and the fin on the tail disappeared. She now had no more gills, and is completely out of the water and into a much bigger and larger tank with moist soil, a water dish, and some plants to hide around in.

I did not try to introduce her to morphing, and I hope I didn't. But to me it seems that she decided to on her own naturally because the other Axie I have is perfectly fine in Axie form and has not gone through any of the morphing steps.

Both of my Axies are doing fine and are really healthy, just one decided to morph.

I have a few questions though.
Now that she has morphed, should I keep the temperatures really cool, or now keep it at room temperature?

Are the eyes very sensitive to light still, should I keep her home semi dark?

Is she still nocturnal and active at night?

I will be providing pictures as soon as I can of my morphed Axie, she really seems to be doing fine and is very active.

Daniel · Feb 28, 2008

Now and then there happen spontaneous metamorphoses - sometimes with external triggers (food, water quality), sometimes "out of the blue".

The temperature for your morphed one should be in the lower 20°C (room temperature is depending on how cold/warm your room actually is...as far as I know they prefer a similar environment as morphed tiger salamanders). The lights should be turned low (most amphibia flee bright light) and most of them will still be most active in twilight / darkness.

Kaysie · Feb 28, 2008

Are you sure it's an axolotl and not a tiger salamander larvae that morphed? I've only heard sporadic claims of morphing axolotls from the US, most were not legitimate (read: were tiger salamanders).

WHSTubaChick · Mar 1, 2008

I believe it is a wild type Axolotl, thus far as I do not see any indications of it being a tiger salamander with it having the spots. (I do not see any spots on it yet, if I see any changes within the next few days I will let you all know)

As for the temperature of the environment it now lives in.. since it's no longer in water, how can I lower the temp without having to literally make my whole house as cold as 20ºC? I know I've used frozen water bottles when it lived in water, but what can I do about the soil etc?

WHSTubaChick · Mar 1, 2008

Here are some pics, sorry quality isn't that great... used a camcorder to take the pictures...

I also forgot to note, today she hasn't been very active at all - is this ok, is there anything wrong with her... is my set up bad?

I have earthworms I bought at the Pet Store, I stuck some in her home and I tried to feed her one but she hasn't taken a liking to it yet. I am thinking of trying feeder crickets if she doesn't eat within a week or so.

If you have any recommendations, please I will take all the advise I can get.

Levo · Mar 1, 2008

I am further from an expert then you will find on these forums. But axolotl.org definitely makes a good read and I have tried to read up as much as I can.

But even if it is a mole salamander or a tiger salamander this page: http://www.axolotl.org/tiger_salamander.htm you will find very useful.

Have you got any pics of your other axolotl's? Did all of them look the same before morphing??

pete · Mar 1, 2008

I'm just curious if you have a picture of the other aquatic axie. The pattern your salamander boasts looks quite blotched tiger. I was also wondering where you got the axolotls from. Tiger or axolotl, it's a very nice looking salamander.

Bellabelloo · Mar 1, 2008

I suspect as your axolotl has been through quite a huge change it may not be wanting to eat for a bit, I'd put some worms into the enclosure and when its ready it'll find them.

ben_tajer · Mar 1, 2008

Nice Morpholotl!

Kaysie · Mar 1, 2008

I'm still not quite convinced it's an axolotl. The toes are long, but not excessively. The face is kind of in between what a morpholotl and a tiger looks like. I have a tiger that looks JUST like that, face and pattern wise, but with fatter toes. He's definitely a tiger, as he was 'rescued' from a local swimming pool a couple of years ago.

As for keeping your setup cool, you can use frozen water bottles, or you can keep the tank in the coolest place in the house, out of direct sun and away from any heat registers or radiators. Your setup looks fine for a terrestrial tiger/morph. You may want to increase the soil depth and mix it with coconut fiber to 4-6 inches, and allow it to burrow. They're really not active at all. I rarely see mine, and only one comes out to feeding. The other (the 'funny' looking one) is shy and I never see it.

WHSTubaChick · Mar 1, 2008

Where I bought my two "Axolotl's" was at a Kiosk in a mall in Oklahoma. The guy who was selling them was pretty old, and he was only going to be in the mall for about a month selling them. (He actually had quite a few of them, I guess he bred them at a farm or something)

He didn't tell me what they were, but he specifically called them "Baby Dinosaurs", I guess to get the attention from a lot of people so he could sell the big amount he had.

Once I had two of them, I looked further into learning about what they were and what the requirements were to raise them. I figured they were Axolotl because at that time that's what they looked like. But now one of them has morphed! and I am wondering why.

p.s.
I have both a male and female, and I had them in the same tank. The female morphed.

Oh! And another hint, the guy selling them.... the only type he had were all dark colored (like the wild type Axolotl).... now that really concerned me, so maybe they really aren't Axolotl after all.

Kaysie · Mar 1, 2008

They're probably tiger salamanders. This happens a lot, the 'baby dinosaurs' thing. How big are they?

Edit: he also probably had tons of them because he collected them as eggs.

WHSTubaChick · Mar 2, 2008

Here is day 2 after she has morphed, I can see her colors are coming pretty quickly now.

Here is my male, in aquatic form... I now think he is morphing too, I notice his eyes are starting to protrude from his head and his tail looks a little different now.

If my male is also morphing, when do I know it's best to take him out from the water?

Oh and both are approx 8-9 inches in length.

DosJax 12XU · Mar 2, 2008

They really look like tigers.

Neotenic_Jaymes · Mar 2, 2008

They super look like tigers! The one in the tank is a tiger for sure! Lets see what everyone else thinks.

michael · Mar 2, 2008

I havn't seen any axolotls with patterns like that. What makes you think it's an axolotl?

pete · Mar 2, 2008

These are tiger salamanders. It's an easy confusion. You should remove him from the water at the same stage you took the first one out. It seems to have worked well for that one. You could also do a partial land/water set up and let him come out when he's ready.

DantezGirl · Mar 2, 2008

congratulations on the errm tiger salamanders there gorgeous love the pale markings on the female wish newzealand had them

WHSTubaChick · Mar 2, 2008

Thank you, I am sorry for my confusion! I couldn't tell if they were tiger because the only tiger I have seen were spotted kind and very bright colored.

I was looking around my pics and found a pic of the male before any of his changed were noticeable.
In this picture you can tell his head is much more rounded and that his eyes are not poking out. Plus his gills were as long as ever!

featherbutt · Mar 2, 2008

looks like blotched tigers to me

My Morphed Axie

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