Question: Anderson salamanders morph

A

achiinto

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I have gotten 8 Anderson salamanders 6 months ago. 2 dies due to aggression and I was forced to separate them. 1 is sold away. 3 out of the remaining have then metamorphed. And now one more is show sign to morph.

Why is this happening? I have kept axolotl as well and under similar condition of cares and do not metamorphs. Is there a stronger tendency for Anderson to morph than axolotl? What can I do to prevent this? Is there other mole salamander species that look like Anderson salamander?

Thanks!
 
This is my Anderson salamander. Sorry for a separate post as this is the limitation of the iPhone app.
 

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It seems that when stressed andersons tend to get up and walk away. Axolotls seem to stay and suffer. This is a bit of an oversimplification and the tendency could use more scientific analysis.
 
Clearly you are keeping them in less than desirable conditions if 1/4 of your Andersonis died from aggression.

Perhaps providing better care would show more regular results.
 
From the photo, I would say yes, it's Ambystoma andersoni. You may be seeing a delayed response. They were probably stressed during transport and the initial tank setup, plus whatever aggression issues you were having. This set them on the road to morphing, although maybe it didn't happen right away.
 
Thanks for confirming. I am sure I can set up a better place for them. But the temperary setup stayed that way for too long. Although I managed to buy my first home so that they can have a bigger setup.

Also I was intended to only keep half and help someone deliver a few. However that guy delayed picking up for months with other species as well. Leaving me to care more animals than I have expected.

The stress from importation is possible as well since they travelled a long way across border. I regret getting animals from that importer as I have bad experience with the imported gold dust newts.

Anyway, anyone know if a morphed axolotl or Anderson may still breed? Or it is for me to experiment and report back?

Many thanks for the replies.
 
Btw, other than the question regarding the possibility for them to breed, I also like to ask in a scientific approach, if a group of Anderson Morphs due to genetic?

Also to report my observation, the Anderson's gill deteriorated in around 3 days. Mainly from a beautiful branch of gills into short branch in a short time. The time it took seems much shorter than the other newts species I bred. Does it take such short time to change in other mole salamander species?

This observation also made me wonder if there are many terrestrial morphes of Anderson salamanders in the wild. Since natural environment will definitely have it stressful time.
 
For your information, this is a photo of a metamorphosed Anderson salamander.
 

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    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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