need some advice

DAVEARNOLD · Apr 23, 2009

Hello.
I am new here and have a few questions that I would like some one to answer. I have a male axolotl and have had him for about 15 months, recently the red in his gills have faded to almost a light grey and they have seemed to shrink. He is a white axolotl not albino, he is still very active and seems healthy. Is there any reason for concern? I would also like to know if it is ok to feed him earthworms from my backyard or should I get them from a bait shop, his main diet is blood worms and he loves them.
Thanks.

ianclick · Apr 23, 2009

Hi Dave

Welcome to the site. Axolotls gills change colour with the amount of blood flow Pale when inactive and redder when active. Are the gills pale continually now? If they are then there may be alot of oxygen in your water which means less gill filaments needed to extract it. If you have a "Green Garden" (no chemical additives or leachates) then earth worms from the garden are a great axolotl food and free to boot.

I suggest you monitor your axies gill colour for a week and see if they change colour with activity.

Good Luck

DAVEARNOLD · Apr 23, 2009

thanks for the info, if there is too much oxygen in the tank is that a bad thing, and how would i reduce it. also are live plants a good idea for the tank, i have been thinking of getting some?

supergrappler · Apr 23, 2009

Try to vary up the diet a bit. I use mini crawler from a bait shop near my home 2-3X a week, then I feed them salmon pellets 2X a week. When it rains I get earthworms from a field near my home. All of mine have great coloration and are still growing very quickly.

ianclick · Apr 23, 2009

Hi Dave,

So long as the surface tension of the water is broken/disturbed either by filtration or aeration or both. Then CO2 and oxygen should complete the exchange in a balanced way.

If you have an oversaturation of oxygen you may notice a decrease in gill size simply because the gills don't have to work hard and do not need as much surface area to absorb oxygen from the water. As far as I know an abundance of oxygen is not Deadly, but if you want your axie to have full filaments then it is not ideal.

This having been said. There are many variables that can influence the amount of oxygen at play ie. filtration, number of occupants, live plants, cleaning and water changes, feeding etc.

Darkmaverick · Apr 24, 2009

Hi Davearnold,

If your axie is a leucistic, they also sometimes tend to accumulate dark pigmentation around the head, gills and spine region as they grow older. This might give it a greyish appearance. This is nothing to be worried about.

If your axie's gills are perpetually pale ALL the time and there are other accompanying signs of stress or illness, then there might be a potential health concern. Signs of poor gill health include unusual growths, shrinkage, deformity and twisting of the gill rami (the stalk) or evident scratching of the gill region. Reduction in gill fimbriae (the plumous filament) is normally attributed to oxygen concentration in the water and is not a pathology.

Cheers.

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