Ghost Axies

I had an interesting thing occur in my tank this summer. I keep axolotls in my classroom at school. I had raised a number of axies in various color morphs from eggs and this Spring they began to lay eggs. I had lots of eggs and was able to use them for their intended purpose in my class - genetic studies and watching the eggs develop. When the school year ended I fished my adults out of their tanks and took them home. I had housed four adults in a 55 gal tank with an (unused) undergravel filter in it. I drained the water from the tank as well as I could and left for the summer. Monday, as I was refilling the tank so that I could but my animals back in their tank I discovered two axolotls that were floating around in the tank. Several problems exist with that scenario of course. First, the water I was filling the tank with was coming straight out of the tap, chlorine and all. Second, what in the world had they been eating all of this time. I remember that my axies had laid eggs just as the school year ended and collected a few but ignored the rest. These must have been from that batch but when I drained the tank there was no more than an inch of water under the sand. These animals survived nearly two and a half months without anyone adding any food, totally in the dark.

I take great pains to make sure that my axies are properly fed and get frequent water changes. However, these two juveniles beat all the odds. They have begun to feed and each day they eat a bit more. I have enclosed a picture. You can see how skinny they are still. They are the product of a melanoid dad and a leucistic mom. It will be interesting to see how their color recovers as they get used to eating properly and being in some light (not much still but not total darkness).

It amazes me how resilient these animals can be.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/bayhicoach/albums/developing-eggs/17543-ghost-d/

Wow, that is so amazing!! I dont think we give their survival instinct enough credit, after all, who knows what they must go through in the wild?? Droughts, heat waves, etc... Axolotls, I salute you!!

Oh how cute. Fingers crossed for them x

Wow! Their coloration is so interesting. I can't wait to see how they look when they're older and fatter!

What a strange situation.