Mortimer
New member
Hello! I bought my first axolotl about two months ago. He is approximately 6 months old. (I am calling him a male at this point, but I'm not sure about his sex. Hopefully, I hope he will be happy with the name Mortimer if he turns out to be a she!) Anyway, when I bought him, the gills on his left side were significantly shorter than those on the right. The person that I bought him from said that he had recently been in a fight with another axolotl, and the two had just been separated. I assumed that his gills had been eaten/damaged and that they would regenerate. But...this was two months ago, and his gills haven't changed a bit. I'm fine if he happens to just be lopsided, but I was just wondering approximately how long it typically takes axolotls to regenerate gills? Or if maybe if this is just the way he developed?
Another question....my understanding is that axolotls' gills are red when they are fully oxygenated. Mortimer's gills have been black (or dark) since I bought him, EXCEPT for one morning following a water change...they were bright red. They haven't been red since. Is this significant? Others have told me that some axolotls never have red gills....but I'm not sure if that's accurate.
Thank you for any information you can provide!!!
Sharon
One other thing--as you can see in the picture I've posted, Mortimer's mouth is sometimes partially open. It has seemed to be less so recently, but I still see it this way at times. I have read that this could be a sign of malnourishment. I feed him a combination of black worms and frozen jumbo mysis shrimp (just started the shrimp today), and he always seems to have a healthy appetite. Maybe I am just worrying for no reason, but I'd like to make sure that he's okay.
Another question....my understanding is that axolotls' gills are red when they are fully oxygenated. Mortimer's gills have been black (or dark) since I bought him, EXCEPT for one morning following a water change...they were bright red. They haven't been red since. Is this significant? Others have told me that some axolotls never have red gills....but I'm not sure if that's accurate.
Thank you for any information you can provide!!!
Sharon
One other thing--as you can see in the picture I've posted, Mortimer's mouth is sometimes partially open. It has seemed to be less so recently, but I still see it this way at times. I have read that this could be a sign of malnourishment. I feed him a combination of black worms and frozen jumbo mysis shrimp (just started the shrimp today), and he always seems to have a healthy appetite. Maybe I am just worrying for no reason, but I'd like to make sure that he's okay.