Spinner

Say hello to "Spinner"! Not his permanent name, this lil guy has had a rough start to life, when he was born in November his tail was unusually deformed, twisted and paddle like, (I posted about him here a few times a while back) he struggled, swimming in circles, wasting all his energy trying to get food, he wouldn't grow. After reading up on axolotls with such deformities and receiving advice from others that had similar situations it was recommended to euthanize him. I couldn't bring myself to do it, I knew he could be saved! Therefore I made the hard decision of surgically removing the portion of his tail that was affected, and hoped that he would be capable and strong enough to regenerate a more normal tail, I'm sure this may seem unorthodox to some but it was used as a last resort..Well here we are 6.5 months later! The tail is regenerating beautifully, he no longer floats and his spinning issue is nearly non existent! Hooray for Spinner! He is now a very healthy 2 and 3/4 inches (most likely around 4 by the time regenerate is complete) he is also a dwarf so I'm sure that attributes to his small size. I just love this little guy!

That truly is one of a kind

It's always fun to hear people who never give up on something.
But now there only remains one question :

Why is your axolotl so small ?
Is it genetic or was his growing proces interupted ?

Well I think the tail deformity had a lot to do with it, because of that he would float and spin in circles at the bottom of the tank, and this went on for quite a while because I wasn't sure what to do with him, I began hand feeding so he wouldn't have to fight so hard and he grew at a very slow pace, his tail also became more twisted the more he grew, after the amputation of the tail he seemed almost relieved, I had him in a tub with shallow water with hides that he used to anchor himself to the bottom of the tub and when the tail finally started to grow back at about 3 months I noticed he was able to ground himself at the bottom of the tub better. He is also a dwarf so he's already got the disadvantage of the small size there and I wouldn't be surprised if all of these issues have further stunted his growth some, only time will tell, his tail still has atleast an inch or more to regenerate, as soon as I noticed the tail coming back quicker I put him into his own tank and within a day he learned to freely sit on the bottom, I swear he looked so proud of himself the first time I seen it, just sat staring at me out the tank with the goofy smile as to say "look what I can do!" Lol and because of this bumpy road he's very use to being handled, he will sit in my hand and walk around on it and let me pet him. He had chopped worm for the first time last night and loved it!

This post warms my heart.
I've seen people on here perform amputations for foolish/wrong reasons, and they've lost their axies from it.
Seeing as you care so much for Spinner, and have researched them enough to be educated in your decision, I can't help but be happy that he's making a recovery. Please keep us updated on his recovery and progress.
PS. He's gorgeous!

He is beautiful ,so glad you made that hard decision ,sometimes it would be hard to know what to do well done