Gill-less Ambystoma andersoni

On the 15th I drove 3 hours from my college to my dad's house for the holidays. I kept my salamander in the fridge at my dad's at 40 degrees F. Last week I went to visit my mom out of country and left the salamander at my boyfriends - his fridge is at 41. Today, I picked him up and his gills are GONE. They were looking pale when he was first in the fridge, but they were still there. My boyfriend did daily water changes (same temp water) with a pretty concentrated dechlorinator. He also was painting with tempera paints yesterday and I noticed paint on the outside and on the rims of the container. So, it's possible/(likely?) that some paint got into the water, and it's possible he was using a little too much dechlorinator (though to my understanding that's okay?). He hasn't been fed at all and while his body is about as about thick as his head (a little less), he looks sunken in around the hips. I'm obviously worried as he was supposed to be safe/vacationing in the fridge, not getting sick. If anyone has any ideas/comments/suggestions I would appreciate it... I plan on keeping him in my fridge till I go back home next week. How do I get him better when he's already in the "hospital"???

If the gills are gone completely gone and it is in fact an andersoni then chances are it has morphed into a terrestrial salamander. You'll need this caresheet now. Can you post some pictures?

Ok, they aren't COMPLETELY gone, but all the frilly parts are pretty much obliterated. I can't post pictures but he was perfectly healthy looking before and now he looks like one of those poor sickly axolotls with little curled gill-stems (don't know what those are called) and just tiny nubs of the frilly part of the gill remaining - tiny

I've been looking through the morphing axolotl posts. His gill stems have definitely shrunk over the last week, they have grown thinner and more curled, but don't seem to be receding into his head (yet). The feathery part is visible only as little bumps along the gill stems, when I first saw him today they looked completely naked. I'm really worried. I couldn't get him to eat the week I had him in the fridge (2 weeks ago) and so told my boyfriend not to bother with feeding (didn't want to worry about water quality); now I'm thinking that this gill loss could be a nutritional issue? I can't imagine it was a water quality problem with the daily changes, unless there is something up with the pipes at his place. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.... I don't think he's morphing, I REALLY hope he isn't, but I am still at a loss about what to do now. I just offered blood worms and he doesn't seem interested. I'll try earthworms tomorrow but like I said, the last few times I tried feeding he wouldn't take anything :/ I assumed it was because of the stress of the drive and then being placed in the fridge and he needed to settle.

Hi Amber,
It's not unusual for them to slow down eating when kept real cold. I feed my adult and subadult A. andersoni 1 to 3 times a week. My guess is the stress of moving around, constant water changes, possible paint problems, overuse of dechlorinator, change in feeding, or other factors has negatively affected the health of your andersoni. I'd put it back in a balanced tank with a good biological filter and feed lightly. They are quite robust animals and missing feed for a couple weeks should not hurt them. Sometimes backing off on feeding will trigger a feeding response faster than offering lots of food. Usually they will go for some chopped earthworms.
Changes in water quality, overfeeding, and improper nutrition are things that have been talked about as being possible triggers to cause Ambystoma andersoni to metamorphose. I'm only aware of 3 A. andersoni that have metamorphosed in the U.S.. It seems their metamorphoses was helped along with poor husbandry. Some gill shrinking can be reversed. Hopefully your animal won't metamorphose.

Thanks for your reply.
I took him out of the fridge yesterday - I was hesitant to change his conditions again but wasn't sure what else to do, plus the fridge has dropped to 38 F despite being on the highest setting, which is too cold from what I read.
I left a worm in with him just in case (he didn't eat it). I wouldn't be concerned about his not eating except for the sunken look he now has at his hips - I'm sure he will be fine though. His gills have expanded out quite a bit, which was my main concern. While they aren't nearly as frilly as they were before, the stems are back to their normal size - I didn't consider how much the cold could shrink them. That was very relieving to see. My cycled tank is at my apartment so he's just going to have to wait it out another few days until it's time for me to head home. I plan on continuing his daily water changes..... the poor guy. He is definitely NOT morphing. Just stressed. Is keeping him at room temperature water, even with the daily water changes, a terrible idea given his current state?

FINALLY, yesterday I noticed two bubble like formations on one of his gills stems. They are not fuzzy at all, they are perfectly round. They were the same size in the fridge as out of the fridge. Any ideas?

Thank goodness they ARE robust, the abuse the poor guy's taken. I have tried keeping a cycled tank at my dad's in the past for moving my critters back and forth but he won't maintain it. Next year I think I'll just try to find a neighbor to stop in for weekly feedings/changes over break.

Room temp should be fine this time of the year. Keep an eye on those round things on his gills. If they turn fuzzy try to gently pick them off or remove them with a turkey baster. I'd try feeding but not push it to hard. When it does get back on food slowly get it back in shape. Resist the temptation to give it some real big meals.

Good advice, I'll update if anything changes.

The round bits on his gills could be just start of regeneration of the new gills, Good luck with him.

A little update.

I am back at college and Gomek (he reminds me of a crocodile the way he eats, so ferocious) is doing a little bit better.

He finally ate yesterday. He has learned to identify red wrigglers by their smell and always rejects them now - there are probably 3 stray eisenia hortensis in my compost bin so I sacrificed one (or at least one end of one); success. I just ordered a pound of them. It was very nice to see him active and begging.

The "bubbles" on his gills stems are still there - actually a few more have popped up - and so far, unchanging. I hope they have something to do with regeneration. Anyone seen anything like that before?

Final update!
He's eating and snapping at anything/everything like his old self! The bubbles have been replaced by frills on his lower gill stems, the others are growing in nicely. Looks like he is a-ok.

Thanks for keeping us updated.
I have one that I noticed some gill shrinking on. I've slowed down on tank cleaning since early December when I had my rotator cuff worked on. One of the tubs started to have some water quality problems. One of the Andersoni in that tub had some gill shrinkage. Of course this proves nothing but points in the direction of water quality causing metamorphoses. I've cleaned up the tub a little and moved the anderstoni to a better balanced tank. Everything is receiving adequate care but some cleaning chores are stacking up a little. Hopefully all will be back on track in a few weeks.

I think I could trigger that Ambystoma andersoni to metamorphose but do not want to.

I have been following this thread and just wanted to ask a question.

If poor water quality was causing the gill-loss problem possibly leading to metamorphosis wouldn't this be an irreversible sequence of events? I just can't envisage a partially metamorphed salamander staying this way, or reverting back to aquatic. Or am I missing something? Just curious.

If he had been in metamorphosis, you are right Kerry, it wouldn't be reversible. From my reading of this thread, it seems that the sal did suffer some reduction of his gills, but not due to metamorphosis. It is good to hear that regrowth of the gills is possible.

Gill shrinkage is a sign that metamorphoses is taking place. Poor water quality and stress are thought to cause metamorphoses. Gill loss or shrinkage was evident. If it continued the animal would probably have died or metamorphosed. Probably metamorphoses hadn't started but if the animal continued to be stressed and the gills kept shrinking it might have metamorphosed.

At least that's my take on it.

The gill stems were certainly smaller, but I'm not sure if they actually lost any tissue - proportionally they looked the same, just thinner, shorter, more curled, and as I said, the gills (the frilly bits - is there another word for that?) were reduced to pinpricks (definite tissue loss there). In the photos I found of axolotls with gill loss, the stems looked shorter and stubby, not tapered like Gomek's. Within 24 hours of him being out of the fridge the gill stems returned almost to their normal size so I feel like that might have been a fridge issue but, I've never put an animal in the fridge before so I wouldn't know.

Timeline
1. At my apartment: normal andersoni
2. In the fridge for a few days after the long drive: won't eat, gills (frilly part) look more white than red
3. After 2 weeks in the fridge (one being at my boyfriend's with possible water quality issues): Gills stems are very noticeably smaller to me (he didn't notice, I suppose because he saw him every day/is unobservant), and essentially naked
4. Last day in the fridge: Clear, round bodies appear on the base of his two lowest gill stems
5. One day out of the fridge: Gill stems almost normal sized, frilly parts are now visible but still essentially gone, just little bumps. The frilly leftovers are red again (blood vessels expanding I guess). Won't eat (for another week or so).
6. c. 2 weeks later (today): Lowest gill stems look completely normal again, frilly parts are long and red, clear things have disappeared. The other gill stems look raggedy, the frilly parts are growing back a bit unevenly. Hopefully that'll even out. Eating like a champ.

He was stressed, and the water quality might have been an issue while he was at my boyfriends.
Still, I can't help but wonder if the gill loss might have been related to the temperature.
Just because of the way the frills turned white when he first went in - is it possible the the frilly part's vessels were so constricted that the tissue died and fell off? And the stems shrunk down?
I know axolotls tolerate very cold water and andersoni should be comparable, just an idea..