more on my ambystoma!!!

asprine · Apr 20, 2009

hey guys long time not seeing each other!!! or reading... well i don't have any issues right now with my axies or salamanders, I just wanted to show off a little, here are some pics of the tank of my morphed ambystoma, you can take a look at him now and tell me what type of Amb he is??? anyway! hope to hear from you soon!!!

The Ambystoma:

THe SETUP:

pete · Apr 20, 2009

My bet is that it is a Mexican (velasci). I suppose it could just be a morphed Axie. Looks great nonetheless! Something about it's head shape I find reminiscent of CA tigers.

asprine · Apr 21, 2009

i think his head is too small :S for an ambystoma at least

Tim S · Apr 21, 2009

Until the adult color pattern is fully developed it might be difficult to say exactly which species or subspecies it belongs to. The head is not to small for an Ambystoma. If it was collected from a local natural source near Mexico City, I would be inclined to agree that it is A. velasci. The width of the toes on the hind leg makes me think it is not a metamorphosed A. mexicanum.

pete · Apr 21, 2009

Just for clarity purposes. Is this the same salamander mentioned in this thread?

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?p=183900

ttess · Apr 21, 2009

pete said:
Just for clarity purposes. Is this the same salamander mentioned in this thread?

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?p=183900

yes, its the same :happy:

John · Apr 21, 2009

Still looks like Ambystoma andersoni to me, not velasci.

asprine · Apr 22, 2009

Yeh it´s the same salamander, it definitely isn't an Ambystoma Mexicanum, I have 3 of those, still looking good and healthy. This salamander was bought from a local store, I live in Mexico City and I understand Velasci are from Hidalgo (north of mexico city) and Andersoni from Michoacán (west) so both are great possibilities, I dunno, I guess I'll keep you guys updated with photos. What do you think about the setup? Is it correct for him?

Tim S · Apr 23, 2009

You might try asking the shop owner were the salamander(s) came from. However, since the above mentioned species are protected to some degree, he may be less than honest.

I would be curious to know what the current laws in Mexico are for the regulation and protection of A. mexicanum, velasci, andersoni, and others.

asprine · Apr 28, 2009

Hi Tim! Well here the store owners aren't really aficionados of the animals they sell, not even the big stores, it's a shame, I would dare to say they go out and fish them in ponds around Hidalgo and Michoacán, both states very close to Mexico City, while in the whole country the laws against the commerce of A. Mexicanum are pretty strict (you can't get them at any store) you might still get them through universities here in the City with their proper papers, and they're not caught in the wild, all three of my A. Mexicanum came from the biology campus of UNAM, and I have papers for the three of them, they're legal and pretty.

Unfortunately the protection status of axolotls, makes other species more vulnerable, which are andersoni and velasci, it's really really common to see them in markets all around, being sold as simply "salamanders" being sold in very horrible conditions, our ambystoma was saved from a store where they kept it on a simple tank without anything else.

You could look into these websites from Mexico, but they're in spanish :S

http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/Pages/inicio.aspx

It's great that sites like this one exists, but I think its a shame it holds very few mexicans interested in their own ultra cool animals.

kenya · May 16, 2009

I agree! Mexico has some strange and beautiful critters indeed, I would love to travel the world one day and just explore and take pictures. :]

SludgeMunkey · May 17, 2009

asprine said:
Hi Tim! Well here the store owners aren't really aficionados of the animals they sell, not even the big stores, it's a shame, I would dare to say they go out and fish them in ponds around Hidalgo and Michoacán, both states very close to Mexico City, while in the whole country the laws against the commerce of A. Mexicanum are pretty strict (you can't get them at any store) you might still get them through universities here in the City with their proper papers, and they're not caught in the wild, all three of my A. Mexicanum came from the biology campus of UNAM, and I have papers for the three of them, they're legal and pretty.

Unfortunately the protection status of axolotls, makes other species more vulnerable, which are andersoni and velasci, it's really really common to see them in markets all around, being sold as simply "salamanders" being sold in very horrible conditions, our ambystoma was saved from a store where they kept it on a simple tank without anything else.

You could look into these websites from Mexico, but they're in spanish :S

http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/Pages/inicio.aspx

It's great that sites like this one exists, but I think its a shame it holds very few mexicans interested in their own ultra cool animals.

Thank you for that link, it made for some very interesting reading!

(for you folks that can't read Spanish, the google site translator helps quite a bit or I will loan you my wife...

)

Newtility · Dec 8, 2009

Hi all,

to clear up the scene a bit on this Ambystoma, it definitely has nothing to do with andersoni, not even close. I have raised many andersoni last year (in fact most in the US came from my stock), and I have A. velasci (raised from larvae) in my stock as well as ordinarium (raised from larvae) and many types of tigrinum and mavortium, and other species of Ambystoma. The specimen on the photo is hard to judge without knowing it´s origine but it resembles much of A. rosaceum. When it was larval I thought it might be velasci but the adult pattern (right after metamorphosis it is fixed, only intensity may vary) doesn´t even get close to velasci. OK, velasci is somewhat variable but not at all of this type.

The setup looks good so far. But is that cocopeat as a substrate? I highly not recommend this as cocopeat is made from platation coconuts which are heavily sprayed with herbicides and pesticides which may remain in the coconutshell and thus be in the cocopeat. I tried this out for dartfrogs, and different types of salamanders and newts. Sometimes unreasonable losses occurred and ever since I avoided this substrate. But this is a personal experience and view.

Best regards

tdimler · Dec 8, 2009

I would certainly agree that the coco fiber is a poor choice for substrate. I attribute several losses in Salamandra to it...

Punkamph · Dec 9, 2009

he is adorable! you are lucky you got to watch that process. Your set up is way cool btw.

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