I think my so-called "Axolotl" isn't an Axolotl... help from professionals!

I apologize ahead of time if I am posting in the wrong forum. I just really need somebodies opinion on this, because I want to and need to make sure my little critter remains as healthy and happy as possible.

So I have been WANTING an Axolotl for years. For my birthday last year, we ordered one but it never came in. So I went down the other day and asked, and the owner said that he only gets the wild types, not the color I wanted. So wanting one for ever, I said I didn't care what color. Alls i cared about really and truly is if it were healthy. This owner has incredible pets and animals, I have bought from him in the past and his critters are very hardy and have great personalities. I got my African clawed frog from him 16 years ago, and that frog is still with us. So I trust that his animals are healthy and see that they are taken care of.

I picked it up today, an active little thing. I couldn't believe how social it was/ how it basically ate food right from my hand over the food in the tank that was floating. After really looking at it, I noticed it really didn't look like the Axolotl's I have seen on the internet. This one has golden brown eyes; it is a greenish-yellow color, it has really small gills that are black along with iridescent spots on its back. It is very active/ not shy/ afraid of really anything, it swims a lot and seems to be very healthy, so I mean that is my biggest concern when it comes to a pet. However I need to know for sure what exactly it is. It has a whitish/ florescent belly, kind of metallic looking. In some lights it looks dark green, others it looks greenish yellow.

In all my searches on Axolotls, I never came across the idea that it could be a Tiger Salamander Larvae until I actually noticed this little guy was rather odd looking and googled wondering why his gills were so small. Even when researching, never once did I hear of the similarities until I asked if its small gills were normal, which kind of boosted the question and concerned me if he was alright. So I followed it; I started reading up online. Now I feel like I am almost positive it is a Tiger Salamander Larvae.

The pet shop owner kept saying it was going to "metamorphis". I told him Axolotls don't do that, and if they do it is extremely rare (from my findings, not trying to put anyone down, i'm sure he has much more experience in exotic animals than me). I was extremely confused when he said that, I had no idea what he meant. But he said it was an Axolotl, I figured that he was saying it was a possibility. Not once did he mention anything else. So I went home, and noticed that this little guy didn't look like the ones I have seen photos of. Expecially the gills, his are so small theres nothing to really flap or bother him as I have seen some people say Axolotls have done, the "gill flick".

I am afraid that if it IS a tiger salamander, I need to know the necessary things when it chooses to metamorphosis. I would need to know what exactly to do to allow it to remain healthy and the kind of environment it needs. I have not too much experience with salamanders, however we have frogs who are about 16 years old. I always wanted an axolotl, I had the tank/ set up and everything. However I also know it is hard to distinguish the differences, but I am sure that professionals and people who have been in this industry and hobby for awhile know much better than I do.

All's I know about this critter is he is from Malaysia, and I paid about eight dollars USD for him. Its not that that bothers me, I feel guilty if I were to return him, yet I also don't really have a set up for a tiger salamander nor do I really know much about the differences once they morph. I feel torn. It was sold to me as an Axolotl as I understood. A wild type, as it was called. It is highly social, not afraid of anything, takes food right from your hands and looks very healthy, and that currently is all that I care about, its health over what it is, but in order for me to keep it healthy, I need to know... what it is. I also need to know if it would be a problem if it is a tiger salamander, and does morph.

I'm no professional. I tried to get some photos of it, because I figured maybe people would be able to help based off of the images. But alls I know is by what I have been looking up, I do not know first hand really and truly, and don't want to guess and be wrong. So for you all to see, Here are some images:

http://www.tylonproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/critterimages.jpg

Nobody I know really knows anything about lizards or salamanders or axolotls, so I was really hoping that this forum could help me better understand. Sorry for the quality of photos too, they were the best ones I could get/ kind of are blurry and bubbly. Any help/ information on what to do would be great! I just got it today (I don't know why I refer to it a a him lol). I noticed that he surfaces often and kind of puffs his face out, i know I fed him and he seemed ok with it from my hand, but not floating food. I have all kinds of foods, from the flakes to the freeze dried blood worms, to the pellets big, small, medium you name it. He seemed to really like the small "baby" pellets as they are called, the ones with vitamin enhancements that are recommended for salamanders/ newts/ aquatic life. He doesn't really hide even though there's lots of spots in his tank, he'd rather look and watch what people do and follow them. He swims kind of weird, he keeps his two hands tucked on his side. He rarely ever uses them when he swims, he uses them when hes trying to cling to something/ sitting atthe bottom of the tank, which is rare cause after observing him, he doesn't seem to sit still .

I just want to make sure that I am doing/ do the right thing(s) and be a good owner. Like I said before, I am new at this (owning one, that is), so I will probably be around this forum more asking questions.

Thank you very much for reading! I appreciate all responses/ comments/ feedback. Or even personal experiences, anything will really help.

As you've probably noticed, it is not easy to distinguish between larval tiger sals and true axolotls by a photograph. But there are a couple of things that tip me off that you are dealing with a larval tiger: (1) the pet shop people say they can only get wild-type, and (2) they seem to have some notion that the animals they get go into metamorphosis. Your photo certainly looks like a larval tiger, but I can't say with 100% certainty from the picture. Another tip-off would be cost. If your pet shop were ordering "true" axolotls, you should expect to be paying a retail price of $30 or more. If it cost less than that, it's a wild-caught tiger sal for sure.

This caresheet should help a lot. In particular, note the section on "Care during metamorphosis".
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Tiger salamander
For information about long-term salamander care after metamorphosis, see:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/tiger_sal_101.shtml

I had the same concern when I got mine but mine was $20 The more he grows he looks more like an axolotl but when I first got him he was only 3-4 inches and now he is 5-6 and his gills are much much larger. It's so hard to tell sometimes when they are little larvae. I guess I'll just keep monitoring him but he seems super happy for now :]

and I'm not an expert either buuuuuut yours does look more like a tiger salamander. It's hard to tell though. So I'd await a professionals opinion. And the fact that he said he was going to go through metamorphosis kinda makes me wonder if it's a tiger salamander. Pet shops are pretty terrible most the time about identifying the current species. Either way I think you'll be able to tell in the future. His gills will start to shrink and his eyes will start to bulge more.

You should put a platform or something where he can get out of the water if he needs to just in case so that if he IS a tiger larvae he will be able to comfortably change. Good luck! I think tiger salamander's are super cool too :]

I also think wherever it came from (shipped overseas) it wasn't fed properly. I noticed over the past week it has plumped out, when I got it it was so skinny, alls you could see was it's big head. It eats very well and is extremely social; it takes food from your hand and everything and waits, latches up on some of the plants and opens its mouth when it sees me expecting food to just fall into it. I also noticed I think after observing it, it's gills look much better, they seem longer now than they used to be, perhaps wherever it came from they didn't treat it all to well. It wasn't my pet stores fault since it arrived that morning I received it, still in a bag from shipment. The shop owner said to give it flakes, It dosn't like flakes or even the blood worms I give it; It sniffs them and then spits them out. It seems to only like and eat the baby pellets I got; the vitamin enriched ones.

I decided before I leave for school I'm going to redo the tank to add some land just in case. I wanted to take it to school but they will not allow anything out of the water, which is why I ordered an axolotl. The fact that it will metamorphosis and will go on land the school won't allow, so It's going to have to stay home. My family dosn't know what to look for, so better safe than sorry for the little guy.

I don't care what it is; as longs as it is healthy that is all I care about. I know some people who have said theirs has morphed in a few weeks, others took a few years. So I have no idea how to tell it's age or anything. Guess alls I can do it keep an eye on it.

Thank you for the feedback! Its good to hear from others who have had experiences.

definitely let us know if it starts to change :] Always exciting to watch the process even picture by picture.

I wouldn't mind if my axolotl turned out to be a tiger salamander cause I think they're really cool too.
But I'm pretty sure mine is an axolotl. It's still really young though so we shall see. Upload some pictures of his tank and your salamander! :]

It looks a bit like a tiger salamander but I'm no professional either, but it does look a bit like an axolotl larval so I'm not sure, its gills arnt too small for if it is a larvae, but they should grow. good luck with him!

It has been about a week; I have noticed already that it's gills look much larger/ more filled out. I have taken some more pictures for feedback/ comparison. It also has been eating very well; It was so skinny when I got it wherever it was shipped from. It is very active and social, so to me it seems to be healthy. Much healthier than when I got it a week ago.

What I don't understand, why it's gills are larger. I have the comparison photos from when I first got it and what it looks like now. Unless it is just me? After doing all the research I was concrete on it being a tiger slamander; it always looked odd... however now, I am not so sure, I didn't expect it to grow so much/ its gills to get bigger, to me they should be getting smaller if it was a salamander? It also is a picky eater; It dosn't like eating live bugs/ worms or anything. My frog was the same way; he would only eat pellets. Till this day he refuses any kind of live bug or critter.

Heres the Then and Now picture comparison: http://www.tylonproducts.com/wp-con...ater/screen-shot-2011-08-27-at-9-48-00-pm.png

Here are some latest pictures I took today: A Week Later
Here are the ones from about a week ago: New Pet

I have no idea what to think now. It has been baffling me. Even my family is confused and surprised at how much its looks has changed within a week or so.

Thank you everybody who has commented/ replied too!

Cool pics
And I don't know! He definitely has changed a lot. I still think it's a tiger salamander larvae but really the best you can do is just wait it out. If it is an axolotl he is a most unusual looking one.

I would still just recommend providing a place where he can get out of the water if he needs to just in case. but really the only thing you can do now is wait lol. His gills have grown though it looks like in the picture. That's unusual that he doesn't eat live food but then again some pets are just picky and have their own personality, I'd just make sure they are bite sized for him. I had to cut worms up into small chunks for a good month or so before mine was big enough for a whole one. Any rate, good luck with him!

Thanks.

I feel that way too, but seeing it grow every day, just makes me wonder. It's gills are filling out; they once looked glued to its head, now they have been getting longer and longer. Iv'e been tracking its growth every day, and the pictures before and after don't lie... I just feel worried if something is reversing now since it doesn't seem to be adding up why it's gills are getting larger rather than smaller, I wonder if something is wrong, I worry. It's just weird. I don't know any experts who have dealt with this, so the only exposure I really have is this forum and other sites with users who own similar or like pets. I don't really know what to expect anymore. Either way, only time will tell.

I'm defiantly going to redo his tank this week. It actually ate some shrimp pellets I got from the store to try and give its diet variety. All of the stuff I buy for it are bite sized; I have probably 7 different foods (we also have water frogs, so they eat a lot of the same things) and this little guy is so picky when it comes to food. I tend to always get picky pets. At least it eats, and eats pretty good too.

Thanks again!

I would say almost 100% tiger sal.
Its colouring and fat toes (see pic 6 of a week later) make me think so.

He's very cute
Mel

I think im dealing with the same kind of suprise. A friend of mine met a woman selling fish and amphibians through one of his frog breeders and bought three "axolotls" (one for himself and one for me and another friend). They were 15$ each which i thought was low but they were billed as emerald green ones. I know the albino ones would be closer to 30$, i thought maybe the natural green ones were less popular and less expensive. He is eating worms and cut up krill like a champ but when his feathery gills started to shrink i worried that something was wrong. Then i saw him swimming up to the surface to gulp air and his green shimery spots turned lighter into yellowy splotches/stripes,
I lowered his water level and he rests with just his now gill-free head above the surface and his body underwater. His tail is thining and he blinks sometimes. Its so strange yet amazing to watch him change- although now i need to rearrange everything to keep a tiger salamander instead of an axolotl. I have him in a ten gallon tank at the moment but am doing all the research i can to see what hell need as a full grown adult. This thread has some good info, thank you all for that!

I'm glad this thread could be of help! I am learning more and more about these incredible creatures.

Mine doesn't seem to really want to change. It's gills just keep getting bigger and more filled out. Iv'e been trying to find something for the tank so it can go on land; however it doesn't really seem to be interested. I have some plants/ floating things; it just enjoys pushing them around the tank with its nose or just tries to attack them. I'll watch it swim up and try to bite the edges.

My dad is going to make some kind of glass divider for it, just incase because I'll be off at school and I want to make sure it's all set up and alright. Cause when I first got it, it looked like it barely had any gills; how its kind of like it is reversing. I was worried at first; but it is so active and social and eats fine, so I assume that it is alright and healthy. I have tons of plants and things for it to latch onto; it never sits still and doesn't really hang out by the surface too much; only when it sees me and opens its mouth looking for food.

Can Tiger Salamander Larvae even reverse?

I have seen so many incredible tank set ups I would love to do myself; just my critter seems to be getter bigger, but shows no sign/ will to metamorphosis. It swims so fast; I also worry if I put land it will restrict its swimming/ water in a 10 gallon. The little critter is probably about 6 inches now; fast little thing. Also extremely social; It comes right up and over to you; it will follow you around. I have all these hiding places and stuff I got for it, it never uses.

Might sound weird, but google/ youtube tank ideas for salamanders. There are some great looking set ups out there. Thats what I have been doing; been trying to get a good idea how to make it. There are some great youtube videos on how to set up a salamander tank and stuff.

I lowered the water level to about 8 inches or so and rearranged some curved driftwood pieces from my other fishtanks so that he can easily crawl out onto the damp wood or swim comfortably around underwater. He is not super active like yours seems to be. This morning when i checked on him he was all the way out and resting on the wood! Im glad i fixed the tank when i did, i was concerned he would exhaust himself trying to swim to the surface to breathe, then i second guessed myself since he would just poke his head out but spent most of his time submerged. Apparently i was right to change things!
I have seen some very impressive setups for the adults- im in the process of finding a 20gl long tank to move him to. As i understand it they dont need a heater, and even something as simple as a plastic bin with soft, damp substrate can work just fine. Its going to take a little more research and planning to get him into a home that looks pretty- but im fairly confident that i can at least give him a space he will be healthy and comfortable in through each step of his growth.

Tigers rule!