Question: Can anybody help me, i need urgent advice on Axolotl care

New to forum; Introduction to myself & my Axolotl Moomin

Hey, so my name's Jayda i live in England and i have a very special Axolotl.

I first saw Moomin in a pet shop, he was so stressed out his skin was peeling, his gills had almost curled completely around, he had two extra toes, really skinny, in a tank full of small gravel and i knew i had to do something. He was the only one in the tank and the person who worked at the shop had said all the others died, he didn't know what to do as he treated them like fish.

The pet shop refused to give me him so in the end i had to pay even though he could die as soon as i got him home, but i felt like he was worth the risk. He was so beautiful i just couldn't leave him there to rot and die like the rest did.

I only had limited knowledge on these guys but i knew i just had to do something, i had been given a tank and a hide from a friend who keeps fish after me explaining how much of a bad shape he was in. Set up the tank, and put my little guy in there.



This whole experience has been a massive learning curve, Moomin will always be my first Axie & stay close to my heart.

I just have a few queries, i was told he was a male by the pet shop but i don't really think i can trust any information they give me seeing as they were even feeding him on goldfish flakes.

I've had him for about a year now & still learning. I've done everything i can to keep him comfortable but without a decent income it's hard to buy him everything he needs which means we've just had to make do with alot of things & i could really use some advice.
Such as;
Water temperature has only recently became a problem and i'm using frozen bottles of water and ice packs to keep it cool before i can afford a small desk fan or something.
I'm afraid even though i have cheap filters, a spray bar and have the output spray over plants in the tank that the water flow might still be too high.
His gills have never been in optimum condition but they are so much better than when i first took him home, they still have a tiny bit of a curve but they haven't seem to have grown much & have just stayed kinda stumpy.
He has as of recently a very small bump on the right side of his head halfway between his eye and gills, it looks sort of like a little pimple. He hasn't got it anywhere else and it doesn't seem to be bothering him.
He has an extra two toes (kinda forked shape like a snakes tongue) coming out from his front left leg. I would describe it as the wrist area, might be due to him being attacked while at the pet shop or just a deformation from hatching.
I have no idea how old he is, i'm pretty sure the way he was treated in the pet shop might have stunted his growth but i can provide a measurement if need be. Just ask.
I don't know anything about types of Axies there are but it would be good to know.
And as i mentioned before i don't even know if my little boy is infact a little girl.

I know you might think it irresponsible of me for jumping into owning an Axie without having the knowledge i needed but if i had left him there he surely would have passed away.

Here are some recent pictures, sorry about the bad quality and i appreciate all the help, advice and knowledge you guys can give me. Thank you so much! :grin:

The water flow probably isn't a problem. He doesn't seem to be stressed at all, from the pictures you provided.
His gills will probably always be a bit stumpy. Not your fault, it's the pet store's. Either way, axolotls also breathe through their lungs so if oxygen is ever a problem for it, it will come to the surface for air.
Lumps and bumps on an axolotl are never really anything to worry about. Though they should be noted, they are more often than not benign and could go away after some time.
Extra toes is probably a genetic deformation. He may have been the result of an in-breeding, though you can't know for certain.
Looks to me you've got a golden albino here. And it's a girl. You can tell because the cloaca (a spot behind the legs) isn't developed, and your axolotl looks rather plump in the belly, and has a wider head than most males.

It seems you've been taking very good care of her thus far, so no one could be too angry with you for such a spontaneous endeavor.

Welcome to the forum Your little axolotl looks super

If you think the water movement may be still too high, you could attach some sponge to the out let of your filter.
The gills look fine, some axolotl have little stumpy ones, some have long fluffy ones. Well oxygenated water may cause the gills to be slightly smaller.
The extra toes are more likely due to a previous injury, it adds even more character .

Oooft, I replied to you over in the intro board, didn't realise you posted here, too! Oh well, I got to see Moomins cute face again

Thanks everybody!

Finally feel reassured about my little GIRL, golden albino? Cool

Julia I always thought her extra toes added a little something extra for me to love, even though guests ask me if she's okay and things because she has a weird growth on her foot. But atleast i know know that she's doing fine.

Haha sorry Mewsie I posted it before i read the main introduction thread where people were complaining that it wasn't for people to post particular things it was just for introductions. Then i couldn't work out how to delete it so just posted here too. Sorry for the confusion, i'll go read the other one now too.

Thanks again guys

She looks so much better now compared to that skinny little thing when you got her. Glad she's found a nice home. :happy:

Perhaps you could write a simple letter or e-mail to the pet shop just stating the basics of axolotl care. Hopefully they would take some of it into consideration. After all if they stock healthy happy animals they're more likely to get recurring customers and it's also good for the axolotls.

Well while i was visiting her in the pet shop i asked to speak to the guy in charge, i told him everything he should do to make her more comfortable but he just refused to listen. Told me that he was the pet shop owner & he knew what he was doing, i was so angry i never went back after buying her. He was very rude and ignorant, so i don't think a letter would help.

His arrogance is what made me make such a spontaneous decision about taking her home with me seeing as he refused to make her stay there a bit more comfortable while i was trying to cycle my tank properly and get everything perfect for her.

She's awfully cute and such a lucky girl to have you rescue her. One of my axies also has extra digits and I was wondering about that. Glad to have that answered. Have you thought about getting her a friend?