Morphing?

hey

My name is jessica...just new here!

I have a heap of axolotls and about 5 months ago i bought a heap more. 7 in all.
5 of them grew heaps (they were only just on 6 months old) and could be sexed within a month.
But 2 of them - a wild color (tiny) and a dark grey (pips) - stayed realy small and i have been unable to sex them. About 2 months ago i noticed that tiny's gills were smaller than every body else's. Since then they have shrunk almost compleatly. Also, his (i call it a he) eyes have 'popped' out, his legs have become stronger, his top fin has shrunk (now gone) and he spend lots of time in the weeds at the surface.
Pips' gills have shrunk in the last month too, aswell as his top fin.
Are they morphing?
I keep the water realy clean (both to look at and chemicly). As soon as i noticed they were smaller than the rest, i put them both in a tub together. the tub holds 60lt. It has gravle (large) and plants with a light on top. All axolotls are kept between 18C and 22C.
I feed them Beef heart and the occasional feeder goldfish. (by hand)

Ok...If they are morphing...I don't want to stop them...what do i do to make it easier for them?

Thanks
Jessica

1) I dunno where you got your critter from, but it could be that it wasn't an axolotl at all, but rather, was a larval form of some other abystomid.

2) http://axolotl.caudata.org/tiger_salamander.htm has info regarding the housing requirements of morphed axolotls and tiger sals

hey

I live in australia and salamandas are VERY RARE and costly.

One of it's sibling was the mother of the babies i have, so it must be an axolotl.

As it's morphing, do i slowly add more rocks/gravle and/or lower the water? Any special care needed?

Jessica

care for a morphed Axolotl is very much like the care for a tiger Salamander, except that a morphed axo is far less active. I would provide points where it could easily crawl of the water. Once it starts spending most of it's time out of the water, I would move it to a tiger setup.

on another note, you should consider varying their diet more. try earthworms and bloodworms as well.

Thank you for that!

They are so cute! I could never hold them before, but now that their skin isn't so slimey i can!
Tiny will even come to the surface and crawl onto my hand! he,he,he!

It is very rare to find salamandas in australia, because the only ones we can have are morphed axolotls. Every body i talk to about them is facinated and wants to see them! (mainly because no body believes me!)

Thanks for the info, will keep you all updated
Jessica

Jessica, handling your animals is generally frowned upon. Your skin contains oils and salts and various things which are harmful for your salamanders. Especially yours, as morphed axies are more fragile than other Ambystomids. Your best bet is to handle them as little as possible.

Best of luck!