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Small gills on axolotl

Ferretz

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I noticed that my axolotl’s gills seemed smaller than normal the other day, and immediately did a water change. Now, they look the same. He’s acting and eating fine. Does anyone know if he’s ok?

And, initially when I got him and his sibling, their gills were much larger, which is the other picture, for comparison.
 

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Tye

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Are the two axolotls in those pictures the same one?
If so that's quite a drastic change not only in gill length, but caudal fin shape and color too.
I'm assuming it's a melanoid from the eye color. I know axolotls can change color but if those are the same one that's a really big change. I suppose it could be the lighting in the photos... How long have you had them?

A standard first question to ask is if the tank is cycled and the water parameters. Ammonia level, Nitrite and Nitrate levels. It would also be helpful to know the average temperature of the water.

I'm not an expert but it looks like ammonia burns. Definitely something with the water quality.
They also look a little thin, how frequently do you feed and what do you feed?
 

Ferretz

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The change in color was just the lighting. I feed them every day, sometimes every other day, but he might’ve just appeared thin from the angle, as from above his body is wider than his head. I’m not positive that that was the same one as two of the same color used to be sharing a tank, but I’ll include a picture here of one that I am sure is the same. Also, I’ve had them since early November.
 

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Tye

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Ok, if the greying color is just from the lighting then that's good.
I still think the gills and tail fin look rough.

Is there a way for you to test the water? If you've had them since November the tank is most likely cycled, but its always a good idea to check the water condition to make sure there haven't been any spikes. Temperature would be nice to know too since a lot of the US is going through a heatwave.

Have the gills been losing their filaments for a while? Was it gradual or did you notice it all at once? Your original post just said you noticed the other day.

Seems like a good feeding schedule. What are you feeding?
 

Ferretz

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I checked the parameters the day I noticed it and they were all ok. I also did a water change just to be safe, and the temperature is 68 degrees. I feed bloodworms, pellets and occasionally earth worms. Also, his gills almost seem to have gotten slightly longer over the past few days.
 
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