Question: I got an axolotl the other day and I have a few questions.

First off, I would like to know what kind he his. I'll post a few pictures in a bit, but he has white eyes and doesn't seem to have any color in the gills.

Second, I would like to know if he will ever gain color.

Third, I was wondering if he looks healthy or not. He's my first ever axolotl, and I'm worried sick that I'm doing something wrong. The tank he was in at the petstore had a few feeder Fish in there so I'm thinking that is why some of his gills are short.

Here is another picture my phone is being dumb

I just realizes both pictures are sideways maybe this will be better

He's very pretty. He looks like a gold albino, but I'm not terribly experienced with anything other than wildtypes, so it might be something else.

Yes, he will gain more color as he ages. Axies look very different as juvies than they do as adults; he'll fill out beautifully, just wait and see.

He looks healthy enough. His gills will have more color when he's active and blood goes through them more, and they'll also fill out more as time goes by. The fluffiness of their gills can fluxuate a bit sometimes.

As far as whether or not you're doing anything wrong, it would be easier to answer this if we knew the condition of your water and tank and such.

Know that axies are known to swallow pebbles sometimes, which can cause fecal impaction and death. It's hard to tell from the pictures if your substrate is fine enough or not, but especially until your axie gets bigger and thus more able to pass the smaller stuff, try to feed him in a way that will minimize the chance of him swallowing any substrate.

Next, be sure that your water temperature is kept cool. Generally, the low to mid 60's (Fahrenheit) are a good target temp. Keep the ammonia and nitrite levels as low as possible, and make sure your water is neither too basic nor to acidic.

Try not to keep animals of another species as a tank mate; this pretty much never ends well.

For more help, you should check out Caudata Culture. It's a very valuable reference.

So far he looks like a healthy little fellow. Keep his water cool and him well-fed and you should have a very happy axie

I'm going to get some water testing kits soon! I'll post the results once I get them. I bought sand for the tanks because I had read about the whole gravel thing.

I've got a few more questions. I've noticed I guess since he's settled in, he's been swimming around. Is that good or bad?

I'm not sure how to tell if he really is a he or not, I just always assume animals are male.

I also was wondering if it is normal for him to lay kinda with his tail in the air ( not to where his back feet are off the ground or anything) an his mouth closer to the ground

They're aquatic creatures, so... swimming is pretty normal

Right now he's too young to determine his sex; Axies mature around 6-8 months of age, usually. Males will have a large cloaca; females will have a smaller one. Trust me, you'll know if it's a male or not. It's kind of look at the difference between a male and female hamster.

It's fine that he is swimming around a bit. You may even see him going up to the surface to gulp air. You only need to worry if he starts thrashing frantically (think a cat trying to get a paper bag off it's head #panic and freak out) as this may indicate an issue with your water parameters. He may have a flurry of activity if you switch on the light when the room had been dark or if there is a sudden loud noise as he will effectively have been startled.

Floating and hovering in odd positions is one of the joys of being an axolotl. Mine hang upside down by the filter, hang nose down in their plants, hover/perch over their hide and a variety of other wierd and wonderful things! It is only cause for concern if he can't get to the bottom at all. This can be caused by them swallowing air and will be rectified once he has burped, or more seriously by bloat. Bloat can be identified by an abnormally large swelling of the abdominal area (which your Axolotl does not have), that can spread to the rest of the axolotl's body, bloat can only be treated by a vet.

Consipation can also cause an Axolotl's back end to float, you have a choice to either keep feeding and hope nature kicks in or to fridge. Fridging apparently triggers the Axolotl to void it's bowels to prevent food rotting/spoiling in it's gut.

For now I would just keep an eye on him, if what is going in is coming out and he has not begun to swell alarmingly then I would just accept the positioning as an individual quirk!

Good luck :blob:

I have another question. I'm not sure if these spots on his tail are supposed to be there. They remind me of ick kind of. Can these guys get ick?

The white spots are natural markings for Goldie's

Those are just iridophores. They contain crystallized prines, which basically means that they're shiny spots that will reflect light. They're perfectly normal, and are a defining feature of several color types.


You'll see them in wildtypes and some goldy/albino variants (there are different kinds of albinos) but you'll never see them in melanoids.

I have one last question for today. I know there isn't anything I can do about this now, but I paid $54 for him. Was that too much? They had him listed as a leucistic axolotl in the shop I bought him at.

That's a lot for an axolotl and he's not leucistic

Sorry, just because no-one really answered your question fully...

People are correct that the spots are normal (just reflective pigment cells) but yes axolotls can suffer from ich (a.k.a. white spot)... but it is very uncommon, and to be honest many sources say they cannot. However there are cases of a parasite-like infection with symptons similar to ich, and some scientific research backs up ich diagnosis.

It tends to occur in axolotls and other amphibians that are fed (or housed with) fish.

Oh ich, I thought it was a typo for sick not ick

My axolotl Valentino - YouTube

I've finally been able to get a video of him uploaded. I was watching this and noticed something on his side. That white circular thing. Is that a spot or his insides? Ahah I'm just really worried there is something wrong with him.

Ftskayla said:

My axolotl Valentino - YouTube

I've finally been able to get a video of him uploaded. I was watching this and noticed something on his side. That white circular thing. Is that a spot or his insides? Ahah I'm just really worried there is something wrong with him.

Click to expand...

What a pretty / handsome axie!
The shiny spots are amazing

The swimming is totally normal & if you keep an eye on water parameters (regular testing) & regular water changes you should stop worrying

The circle visible on the video is most certainly the intestines & I believe the red spot on one side will be the liver - there's a great biology of an axolotl link on here (can't work out how to post links from phone sorry) it shows where all the interal organs are located. While they are young they are very translucent & you can pretty much track the food.

I've attached a funny photo of my little one - back in the days when I had no clue what I was doing & was feeding him these terrible orange pellets

At first he wouldn't eat anything!
Food landed on his head & he didn't move! lol

Then he'd eaten them all up 0.0

Here's a shot showing the same circle thing

So I'd say it's all A.O.K

But worrying means you'll be on top of problems because they'll be picked up early keep up the good work & lots of update pics





<3 >o_o< <3

Are his gills what you consider "fluffy?" Or does that happen when they are older?

They're not fluffy, but he's still young.

So I was watching Tino swim a few minutes ago, and i noticed a bump on his side. I'm not sure if it is food passing through or what. There isn't anything in the tank for him to swallow. Is that normal for food to do that? Also he has been swimming around at the top for like an hour. Has he inhaled air? I can't get a picture of the bump because he won't quit moving.