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New Juvenile!

L

lauren

Guest
I got a new wildtype yesterday! His name is Ichiro, and he is around 3" long.
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C

cynthia

Guest
Very odd color... I don't think I have ever seen yellow that bright on axolotl larvae.
 
L

lauren

Guest
Thanks Dev and Cynthia. I've been searching all over the web to find one that looks like this to get some inkling to what his adult pattern will be (I've never had a wildtype before). Right now, it looks more like the adult a. andersoni pattern!
 
R

ros

Guest
Ichiro looks very happy
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posing in 1st photo. I like his colouring & his home looks good. Well done Lauren.
 
L

lauren

Guest
Thanks, Ros. Here is his set-up. It's a 20L.

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His tankmate (a leucistic) is arriving tomorrow. The supplier forgot to ship them together, so it will be a reunion.
 
G

grant

Guest
Cool coloring for an axie! Is that an axie? Because it looks like it only has 3 toes upfront and I can't see how many in the back.
 
L

lauren

Guest
Thanks, Grant - He does have 4 toes up front, it's just that he's so small that the tips are nearly transparent.
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I saw one from the same batch that had more normal coloring, so I guess this little guy just got lucky.
 
E

eric

Guest
That is a beautiful axie. I love the coloration. I wonder, with so many people now breeding them as a hobby, if more patterns might crop up. I mean, we've taken wolves to chihuahuas and St. Bernards - what limits can we take axies to - especially with their odd genetic makeup. Stripes? Bright colors like blues, reds and purples? Extra limbs? Extra eyes? I wonder how many generations you would need?
 
E

eric

Guest
Hey, I just saw the bowl! I was thinking of having a bowl for them to eat out of - does that work?
 
R

rheann

Guest
feeding bowls are really important if there is small gravel in the tank because the axolotls can be trained to look for food in the dishes and eat out of them and avoid nasty gravel dinner. Pretty much any flat house hold dish can be used. Avoid using metal bowls that could change the water quality. Also avoid ceramic dishes that have led base glazes. A lot of ceramic objects are painted with led based ceramic paint. Eating dishes shouldn't normally have this problem.
 
L

lauren

Guest
Eric - He's still in early training, so he doesn't realize that food only comes in the bowl (it tends to fall between the gravel otherwise). But he does scrounge for the pellets when he happens upon the bowl, so I think he'll get the point soon. The bowl is a soy sauce bowl from a local Japanese store.

As for breeding - they did a genetic crossing study with lab axolotls, Mexico City axolotls, and Tiger salamanders to determine the genes for neoteny. They found that the metamorphosis genes that were linked in the lab axolotls were not connected at all in the wildtype. This means that the nearly 100% neoteny seen in lab axolotls is itself an artificial feature! A lot more wild axolotls spontaneously transform.

So the pets we have are well on their way towards being a true distinct pet species, so who knows what is possible? Most of the color variations in the Leopard Gecko appeared only in the last few years - so it wouldn't take that long to find new patterns if someone really tried.
 
G

grant

Guest
Axiescan come in tons of different colors that are outside of the normal. I have seen one that was a dark blue color with a blue bottom half. I've also seen quite a few odd ones that lok leustic but have certain spots that are any number of different colors.
 
R

ros

Guest
You made a good choice - Ichiro's home Lauren & it's well set up. I'm looking forward to seeing Ichiro's tankmate in there too.
Regards, Ros
 
L

lauren

Guest
Thanks, Ros. It will probably be a few months before my new one, Shiro, is in there. I can just see Ichiro mistaking him for a pellet!
 
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