Hiya!

I'm Brittany and I'm new to the forums. I recently purchased a little axolotl from an aquarium pet store and spent quite a lot of time lurking about these forums as a guest to learn more about axolotls prior to adopting the little one.

This is my newest baby, Harry Pottl


I don't have a ton of experience with exotic aquatic pets (and if you all don't consider an axolotl exotic, sorry)- I've kept a few number of fish in my lives- goldfish and guppies as a child and a Betta through some of high school and most of college, and I tend to have good luck with fish because I'm pretty anal-retentive about clean tanks. So, I'm excited to have an axolotl and I'm looking forward to continue learning from everyone about these fascinating (and cute!) salamanders while watching Harry Pottl grow and thrive.

So anyway, hello! Pleasure to meet you all!

Hi, welcome to the site.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid that's no Axolotl. It looks like a larval Tiger salamander to me, maybe someone with more experience with Tigers will confirm what I'm thinking.
Tiger salamanders make great pets, but if you really want an Axolotl you should take it back to the store. This kind of thing happens all too often, although most people have no idea they've been ripped off until their 'Axolotl' loses its gills, turns stripy and climbs out the water!

Thought I posted back, but I guess I didn't! Thanks for pointing out what may or may not be an axolotl. I posted in the axolotl forum to see if others could help with identification. The aquarium store I purchased Harry at has been in business for over 25 years and is one of the best places for people to visit in the immediate area (and people drive about an hour away to come to this place for their aquarium needs). They've sold axolotls before, so I'm really hoping that they didn't make a mistake with Harry Pottl here; especially since I specifically went to them because of their reputation.

I would guess a tiger sally species as well because of the head shape and eye placement. Just a lotl novice though, not my area of expertise.

If they are wrong I wouldnt be too hard on them. When they order livestock they probably ordered axolotls and assumed, much like you, that who they were getting them from knew what species they were selling. Unless they have fairly experienced salamander staff its hard to tell the subtle differences in ambystoma. If theyre running a store theres alot of information to assimilate about alot of different species of fish alone, which I'm assuming is their primary focus. Just because they didnt pick up on that small detail doesnt mean theyre bad or dont know anything. If you get a definitive identification, I'd let them know, theyll probably be appreciative of the information if your not argumentative about it. I never assume anyone in any shop knows all, its not possible. Its as much our responsibility to find the information about a species we want to keep as it is theirs. Hey, sometimes mistakes like that work in our favor. You can sometimes end up with a much more rare and exotic species/morph because of their ignorance. :happy: I once got a whole clan of necturus maculosus dirt cheap because they were being sold as axolotls. It makes me suspicious of their wholesaler but they werent at fault, axolotls is what they ordered. Just keep learning about things you like then you dont have to rely solely on their competence.



Cheers

I guess that's fair. I haven't contacted them yet about it- especially because in my ID thread, another user said he's definitely an axolotl. When China Dog mentioned that Harry may be a tiger salamander, I did do some research on tiger salamander larva, and I mean, as a new person to the salamander world, I don't really know a lot, but Harry's markings seem to be more in line with a wildtype axolotl than a tiger salamander- of course, this might be because I want Harry to be an axolotl and not a tiger salamander.

Not sure if this helps or not, but at the aquarium shop, he was in a tank with two other juvenile axolotls who were albino. Is there such a thing as albino tiger salamander larva? I've been searching for that answer and can't find much about it, and I'd find it odd that a tiger salamander larva would get mixed in with axolotls if they're all from the same breeder.