Please Help :( Im Scared - Sick Axie

pic of her now:
Here is a Pic of her when i first got her:


I've never seen her look this bad! Her gills have shrunk immensely even though they werent too fluffy and feathery to begin with. I went two weeks without changing water for first time and changed it earlier today. i dont have a ph tester or anything so idk if that was the cause. please tell me she is going to be ok. she is really lethargic which isnt like her but she still eats with quite an appetite. is there anything i can do???? i try and keep the water below 75, but my parents dont like me putting the air below 79 so i always keep my fan on in my room. the water temperature always reads around 72-75, is there anyway i can keep it colder? i know there are water heaters but are there water coolers of some sort? I have another axolotl in the tank with her they are around the same size and he is doing just fine. his gills look great compared to her...there is no change in his behavior though.

here is a picture of him:



Do you think they have a fungus or parasite?

I have good news and bad news for you.

The bad news is that you don't have 2 axolotls. You have a tiger salamander and an axolotl.

The good news is that the "sick" one isn't sick. It's metamorphosing into a terrestrial salamander. Sometimes axolotls will do this, but in your case your metamorphosing salamander is 100% a tiger salamander, not an axolotl. Aside from the shape of the body, the gills, and the coloration, a very big giveaway is the shape of the toes (compare the toes in the "when I first got her" photo to the toes of your axolotl. Notice how the axolotl's toes are longer/narrower and pointier?).

So now you need to make preparations to keep the tiger salamander correctly. Have a look at this page:

Axolotls - Metamorphosed & Tiger Salamanders

Good luck!

oh gee...thanks for your help though that is frustrating and upsetting, I am relieved that shes not ill. Never again will i trust a fish shop to sell me an axolotl :\ the people there didn't know much about them and had them in improper habitats with other fish. I thought her coloration was weird and unique but it never occurred to me that she may be a tiger salamander....thank you so much, I will set up a proper enclosure for her tomorrow, do u think i should wait to put her in one or do it right now as she metamorphosis?

As soon as the gill branches have completely disappeared, you can safely keep it terrestrial, but there's no harm keeping it aquatic for a little longer, just make sure the water is shallow, so the salamander can rest on the bottom but raise its nose to the water surface easily.

Thank you so much for all your help!

No problem!