Genetic Predisposition to Stress

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NadeZ

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I have two juvinile wildtypes, each coming up to 6 months old. They have always been kept in the same tank which has ample space and reasonable filtration for them.
Despite being near the same length when I got them (8cm around 2 months ago), one of them is now just over 16cm with the other a little under 14cm.
I find these differences in growth quite interesting, as they have been raised in the same conditions and are siblings. I can only assume that one of them is slightly greedier or it could be due to small differences in the genetics.
However, the larger axolotl has had its gills curled all the way forward for over a week, yet the gills of the smaller one are completely relaxed.
Has anyone else observed anything similar? Axolotls in the same environment exhibiting varying signs of stress?
 
It is common for one axolotl to succumb to the effects of a stressor faster than the others. It has less to do with genetics and more to do with individual tolerances. If there is an unresolved issue with their environment, I would expect the others to also show signs of stress in the not too distant future.
 
No two siblings are ever exactly the same.

I have a whole batch of siblings from the same batch at different sizes, even though they all hatched at the same time and have been kept in the same conditions their whole lives.
 
NadeZ said:
I have two juvinile wildtypes, each coming up to 6 months old. They have always been kept in the same tank which has ample space and reasonable filtration for them.
Despite being near the same length when I got them (8cm around 2 months ago), one of them is now just over 16cm with the other a little under 14cm.
I find these differences in growth quite interesting, as they have been raised in the same conditions and are siblings. I can only assume that one of them is slightly greedier or it could be due to small differences in the genetics.
However, the larger axolotl has had its gills curled all the way forward for over a week, yet the gills of the smaller one are completely relaxed.
Has anyone else observed anything similar? Axolotls in the same environment exhibiting varying signs of stress?
Click to expand...

I think I can comment from a unique perspective here - because my two axolotls are the siblings of yours!
When I changed their tank over to a larger one, so it was a new environment, one of them was totally fine with it right away, while the other was sulky and had rather curled gills for about a week. Also, the one that was originally the more stressed (and the smallest of the whole batch I raised) is now slightly bigger than his brother, and greedier generally. So I think it's probably normal.
 
bugdozer said:
I think I can comment from a unique perspective here - because my two axolotls are the siblings of yours!
When I changed their tank over to a larger one, so it was a new environment, one of them was totally fine with it right away, while the other was sulky and had rather curled gills for about a week. Also, the one that was originally the more stressed (and the smallest of the whole batch I raised) is now slightly bigger than his brother, and greedier generally. So I think it's probably normal.
Click to expand...

Very interesting indeed! Once I get home and move them into the big tank, I'll have to post some pictures so you can see how they've grown. A couple of tail injuries appeared on the smaller one, I assumed that this was from an accidental bite by it's sibling. They have always been fine together with the occasional jump. Anyway I decided to split them up so the smaller one is now in a small divided section of my 60L tank, just for this last week until I go home.
 
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