Question: Axolotl growth concern and where's the eyes!

Hiya again,

I might be coming across as being a bit over concerned! Although it's quite hard to gather specific information on Axolotls.

We posted previously in relation to a few things we were concerned about. But cutting the story short, we've got 2 18 day old Axolotls. One looks to be a Leucistic axolotl and the other Golden Albino (Marshmallow and Wooper).

We're a little concerned about Marshmallows growth in comparison to Woopers. He/she is absolutely massive in comparison and you can see every detail including his/her eyes.

So first concern is Marshmallows size. Is this something worth worrying about at this stage? I've read it may be best to seperate them, but i'm not sure if it's too early. We've fed them BBS for the first 2 weeks and we're now feeding them a fairly large portion of Daphnia now once a day.

Second concern is, we can't see Marshmallows eyes. We can see Woopers as clear as day (Perhaps this is because he's golden Albino?), but there's nothing on Marshmallow yet and i'm not sure if this is why he's smaller - Maybe he can't see his food?

Any advice would be appreciated!

It's never too early to separate them.

Even if Marshmallow doesn't have eyes, axolotls can still hunt by sense/smell. I would look closely with a magnifying glass and see if you can't find his eyes. It could be that he's also melanoid, and the eyes are a weird color that blends in.

Separating them might be a good idea anyway. Then you can be assured that Wooper isn't eating all of Marshmallow's food. This will give Marshmallow an opportunity to catch up!

I would seperate them to be on the safe side. I had two babies that I was raising together, when one started to grow WAY more than the other. I came home one day to find my poor little one canibilized!

and the eyes? Axolotls don't really have great vision anyway, thier sense of smell is what they use the most when finding food! So, eyeless or not, your axie should be fine. You will probably notice the eyes once he gets bigger!

Also, with leucistic axolotl babies It can be difficult to even see thier eyes! My current batch of babies are about a month old, and I still can't find the eyes on my leucistics!

PICTURE---> Caudata.org - Member Galleries - Albino Larvae

Thanks for the replies .

I've just seperated them into two seperate containers now and they're both happily munching on their Daphnia. Was sad to see them get seperated but i'm sure they'll be fine.

I've taken pictures to show the size difference, although the camera quality isn't the best, you get the idea.

Thanks again

http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/clairebear-albums-18-days-old.html

Marshmallow looks to be an albino to me but I could be mistaken. To avoid some color confusion - Leucistics are normally white with black eyes and albinos are white/pinkish with pink eyes. If melanoid, the eyes should still be apparent on a leucistic, but (I know for my eyes!) nearly impossible to see on a white albino.

Also, it is not uncommon for axolotls of the same age to grow at different rates.They may hit their growth spurts at different ages, so as suggested, separation can be a good idea if there is concern. In addition to the daphnia, you could try blackworms (if they are available), and frozen bloodworm if you wanted, just to switch up a bit. Best of luck - cute names!