Question: Hiccuping Bubbles and slanted dorsal ridge?

Hi there!

I just got a new axolotl and it is a bit different than my last one and its somewhat worrying. This axolotl's dorsal ridge (does this have another name?) leans heavily to the right. The ridge is still firm, not floppy. Even when the tail is curved to the left, it stays right. Is it ok? Is it just a deformity or a sign of illness / known breeding issues?

Second, my axolotl seems to be hiccupping? Every 20 seconds or so, it lets out a bubble of air and it is audible across the room. She is not in a tank right now, might not be audible in an aquarium. Occasionally she'll make a movement that looks like she's trying to eat but there is no food. She hasn't pooped in 3 days but has ate like a pig and looks pretty bloated (but not like with air or weird distention)
No way she could've ate anything other than food as she's been in the tub since I got her.

Ideas? worried as it looks a bit violent.

would you be able to post pictures? It's hard to say what might be going on with the fin without seeing it.



She's in a tub. What's the water temperature like and are you doing 100% changes daily with dechlorinated water? Also is she going up to gulp air a lot? I've hard audible bubbles from mine a few times, not as often as you describe by any stretch, usually after one of them has gulped too much air. Sometimes frequency and circumstance are the difference between a problem and an axolotl being weird.

The water temperature is about 68, so on the higher end. I am doing daily water changes with bottled spring water with a good pH. Should I be dechlorinating that as well?

She isn't going up to gulp air frequently, maybe once every few hours? The air bubble sound is so weird though. She's been doing it for at least a few days but I only realized it was her today. She stops for a little when I go over by her tub to observe her, so it took me waiting around a while to see it after I suspected it might be her.

I'll get pictures of the fin tomorrow, very late here.

I have no idea...I honestly don't know if bottled water is treated with chlorine, the only bottled water I buy regularly is mineral water, which is for drinking not for salamanders. Might it say on the bottles? I mean, you hear "spring water" and you would assume it wouldn't be, but it's a wicked old world.


I read back over your post, the movement as if she is going to eat without food kind of sounds like yawning...I have no idea if that's actually yawning like you or I do, i've just seen it called that. I was once watching when Alexander did it facing me. It was disquieting.


Has she pooped yet? And is she still burping air with that same frequency? I'm wondering if she might be constipated.