Growth rate of a year-old Axie - is he/she too small?

Hello, folks, I've got a year-old axie who's between 4.5 and 5" long (11 - 12 cm) and is about 2 cm (less than an inch) in diameter at the thickest part of its trunk. My question is - is he/she too small? Shouldn't she be thicker/longer? I feed her twice a day with about 10 of 2 mm frog and tadpole bites by hbhpet.com. Thank you.

It does sound a little small, my 5 month juveniles are now close to 6 inches in size.....but having said this they have a sibling outside in much colder water that is barely an inch!.
Water temperatures will affect their growth, the colder it is the slower the growth. With regards to feeding I feed mine approx 1 to 1 1/2 inch chopped worms once a day and occasional amphibian pellets ( may be similar to your pellets.
This may sound like a silly question ( I can be very good at these!!) but is your axolotl deffinatly an axolotl, would you be able to post a photo so we can get a clearer idea ?
Hope this helps a little.

They really sound a little small for a one-year old. The juveniles I raised have about 16 to 20 cm at this age.
Do you know the content of these tadpole bites? It could be that they have too much of vegetable content for carnivorus Axolotls.

Could you post a picture please? I think that most other caudates would have morphed at this age (but I'm not sure on that) but you never know for sure

Hi, thanks for quick replies, first of all. The beastie's definitely an Ambystoma Mexicanum; I'll post pics soon, nevertheless. The water temp stays at 20 - 21 C - a little too warm, perhaps, but I guess contradictory to what might be the reason for slow growth.

She eats food available by hbhpet.com. On the web site, they list several different pellets, including ones made exclusively for newts and salamanders. I, however, feed her pellets intended for frogs and tadpoles. This feed is the only type of chow (albeit readily) available to me and after reading the contents of both types, I haven't found any significant difference between them.

The water's changed fully twice a week with MMR salts added lightly. There's also no flow as no filter's installed, etc.

Please let me know wheather it might be something isolated and otherwise normal, or if she might be stressed all the time without being able to display it more conspicuously . In fact, I became concerned with her growth rate after seeing photos of some really fat Axies on the web. I didn't know the age vs. size for them; hence, I figured I'd ask.

Thanks again.

my 7 month old female is 9 inches. I guess it depends on a lot of things, i.e genetics, being well reared by foster parent(human), good variety of nutritius food and general well being perhaps.

I'm willing to bet the low growth rate is because of poor quality food. Axolotls, like all newts and salamanders, are carnivorous. A vast majority of pelleted food is not high in nutrition. Even those that are 'aimed at newts and salamanders' are poor, as their main ingredients often include corn and wheat meal, rather than meat.

Hi Apsheron,

It does sound like a nutritional issue. My axie of similar age has 1 feed every 2-3 days and is about 18cm in length.

If you can find another food sourse or feed worms slaters crickets or beef heart or liver even steak.

Also on a different note full water changes will mean that your tank will take forever to cycle. As at every water change you are removing most of the good bacteria that has built up in your tank.

Good Luck

I have a male year old axie and he is about 35 cm. i feed him a mixture of daphina, mealworms and pellets. he isnt as fat now as normal but im putting that down to a smaller appetite while its cold.
try changing your axies diet and see if you notice any growth. could could also try changing the temp of the water. it may be a tad too cold!!! anything above 5 degrees c is ok but aim for about 12 - 16 ish. max of about 18!!!