Jaw deformed?

Hello guys I have a question about the bottom jaw of my juvenile axolotl. It seems that his method of feeding has made him form a weird rounded lip I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed anything like this or if it's Normal for a hand fed juvenile to develop like this. I've only had my axolotl for 4 days now and am waiting on daphnia culture to arrive and switch him to live food but for now it's handing feeding with tweezers twice a day about .33 a block each feeding. (S)he hasn't taken to chopped nightcrawlers like I was hoping for but it's still only 4 inches

...I am now going to have to go and peer intently at the lower jaw of all my pets.



OKay, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, Vita is not in a cooperative frame of mind. Which is something of a pity because she's black and might be the best comparison. I don't think I see exactly that kind of rounded dip, although like pretty much any axolotl you'd see they do look like they are smiling. That being said I don't use tweezers, I just dangle the worms from my hand, so I'm a pretty terrible control group here.



The big question is this....does your axie seem troubled by it? And also what are your water parameters, if only because it's a really good habit to check them, particularly if you think something is wrong.

I'll attach a picture of the test strips Im using Gage my tank, and my pH meter reading. But to your question about the bite bothering him, as far as I can tell no it's not a bother at all. He feeds twice a day almost a full cube in one day. I feed in a small container not in his tank and he doesn't seem to be bothered by my reaching into the tank and gently scooping him into my hand then being put into how feeding dish. I use his tank water in his feeding bowl as to not cause temperature shock or anything else. I feed single blood worms because he doesn't seem to notice them by smell yet. Also it eases cleaning up from feeding the works don't have to be removed from the water. But my only concern is that I don't want to make aproblem for the future while he is still young. My daphnia should be here tomorrow or Monday but I need to get the culture going before I feed them all away. If you have any advice in case I have the wrong test strips I'm welcome to advise

You might consider picking up an API freshwater master test kit. it's got liquid tests for nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and PH, and for my money gives you the most accurate and easy to read results. I've used that, strips and other liquid tests and I strongly prefer the API kit. Runs about 40

dollars Canadian but you get enough to last for ages, so you can't go wrong.



Your PH is pretty high... I've got genuinely no idea what to do about that sort of thing, I'm sorry, it's never come up. But that can increase ammonia toxicity, as can higher temperatures....which topic, do you have a tank thermometer? If not, i suggest getting one, they are pretty cheap and any kind of aquatic pet you want to be keeping an eye on temperature, they've all got an optimal range you want to maintain.



if he's eating alright and seems to be otherwise happy while it's possible there's a deformation it might not be an issue. hopefully if I'm wrong somebody will chime in, I invite you to do so. If I'm right...well, you know what? it's really great that you are noticing things and that you are concerned. that's how you take good care of a pet.

Thank you so much for the advice and kind words, I have a laser therm I use to monitor the temp and I cycled my tank for a full week regulating temps between 61-69 with frozen water bottles being changed threw the day I have 15 20 oz and 2ea qt containers the qts are for when I goto sleep and go-to work and after about 8-9 hours my temp only gets up to 69. And I will be getting that test kit with in the week, he has really gotten active the last 36 hours and it's making my self and my family very happy to see. My wife and I have a 5 year old and this is they're first pet, I was raised with turtles and lizards and wanted to share my passion with my child. Again thank you for your advice. My daphnia arrived today but they are eggs that I am hatching, so at least 10 days till it starts reproducing

Well that puts my thermometer stuck to the side of the tank to shame, then.



With regard to him getting active, it can take them some time to settle in after moving. Being subdued for the first few days is perfectly normal, nothing to worry about. there are probably going to be times when he's less active going forward, particularly when he's full grown. Amphibians are champion doers of nothing. The best thing you can do is what you're doing, be a student of axolotl behaviour and learn what for him is normal. And keep an eye on water parameters, keep the tank temperature cool and as steady as possible....which is going to get a whole lot easier soon, summer is rough for aquarium temper regulation.