Curled/bent gills on larvae?

Hi all, I've been doing great so far feeding blackworms to my babies- they've ll been growing like weeds. However, a couple days ago I noticed that some of them had their gills sort of raked forward at an angle- just a couple of them. Today almost all of them did. I'm worried that I might have introduced whatever was bothering some of them to the rest since I put them in the same container while I change their water! I don't see any fungus, but that's what I'm really afraid of.

I'm also worried it might come from the blackworms themselves. I've been leaving the blackworm bits in there with them until they either get eaten or die (taking them out as well when I change the water, though). The blackworms do tend to accumulate gunk when they knot together but I don't think it's fungus- it's usually fuzzies that fall into the water and dust and stuff. I usually blow them apart with a pipette when I'm cleaning to get most of it off.

Anyway, is there anything I should be doing differently to help? Are these not even curled gills and I'm freaking out over nothing again? (I hope so.) I attached a couple pictures, two with curled gills and one without. I know some of the worm bits look too big but I usually mush them into smaller pieces with my pipette as the smaller ones get eaten.

I am raising some spanish ribbed newt larvae right now and their gills seem to be forward but i think they were always like that from what I remember. They are about 2" long and I do a 100% water change daily and suck out poop and extra food twice daily. There is no current in the tank, and water parameters are great. Hopefully its normal.

Yeah, I also do a once daily clean for these guys... I don't know about other species, but I'm pretty sure curled gills is a sign of stress in axolotls- though when I looked again some of them had them flattened out again so maybe it's just random? IDK. These guys definitely weren't like that from the beginning.

They look fine to me. Are they eating regularly?

Yes, they've been getting a continuous supply of blackworm pieces, in that I always have at least 4-5 pieces in with them at all times. They're definitely eating them because I keep having to cut up more lol. If they look fine then maybe it's me just being a paranoid mom again. They're really growing like crazy, even the littlest is an inch long by now.

Curved gills are common in larvae. I don't think it's an adequate indicator of stress in larvae, especially the really small ones.

Kaysie said:

Curved gills are common in larvae. I don't think it's an adequate indicator of stress in larvae, especially the really small ones.

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I have found that a bent tail end is a better indicator that something is drastically wrong.

xxianxx said:

I have found that a bent tail end is a better indicator that something is drastically wrong.

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I agree.

Thank you guys, I'm relieved. Now back to just enjoying watching them grow.