Hybrid Ambystoma mexicanum x Ambystoma andersoni

The flash highlights the sparkle of the iridophores, it looks a bit less dramatic in diffuse light but the cellar light is not bright enough for my camera. He's still in the temporary mainly aquatic setup as he is only feeding in the water. There is no sign of the other one (a probable female) morphing.
 

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For comparison here is a shot of the unmorphed probable female hybrid, she is getting rather tubby.
 

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Mine look much slimmer than Oceanblue's. Their water temperature is now down to 6 degrees, they are still eating but not so much. Here is a blurry photo of one that didn't swim off to hide :D
 

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The hybrids are fertile ! A friend who received a male hybrid from me bred it to a wild type axolotl and sent me all the eggs (as agreed as they will not be entering the pet hobby). They were layed 30th december and appear to be developing ok. I will be keeping a few to raise to see what they look like.
 
A brief update, my female is looking fine but the morphed male, now in a fully terrestrial setup is not thriving and looking thin when I see it, it is usually underground. It hasn't eaten as far as I can tell for a few weeks. I'm keeping it cool in the cellar so temperature is not the problem.
 
These all overwintered in my shed and have been in an outdoor tub for a few months. While trying to evict another invading frog, I fished out some of the hybrids for some photo's. No signs of an obvious male in these ones.
 

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I have an honest question and it may have been answered already but I haven't read through the entire thread.
Why would hybrids be an awful thing in the first place? And why would you cull the offspring just because you didn't want to raise them? Why not explain the situation to someone you know and give the babies that you didn't feel up to raising to them? Maybe I'm too liberal but I just don't understand that logic.
 
Jonjey said:
I have an honest question and it may have been answered already but I haven't read through the entire thread.
Why would hybrids be an awful thing in the first place? And why would you cull the offspring just because you didn't want to raise them? Why not explain the situation to someone you know and give the babies that you didn't feel up to raising to them? Maybe I'm too liberal but I just don't understand that logic.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure your question has been answered already on this thread if you read it all.
 
Thanks for the updates. They have some really nice colouration. I've been trying to get a purebreed andersoni for a awhile now but I dont think they ever made it to Canada.
 
I didn't realize how pretty Andersoni is. There is conflicting info online.... do they morph into terrestrial form just sometimes?
 
I had fished out three of the hybrids to clean their tub, so I took a picture of them.
These three have spent winter outdoors in their tub.

I have just put them in with the two that overwintered in the shed and right away they began investigating each other. Visually they could be both sexes, but looking at their cloaca I still see no differences in sexes.
 

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I have kept three in my shed this summer, the other two are in a tub outside.

I had noticed a few months ago that at least one of them was beginning to look like they could be male. I now need to fish out the other two to see if there are any signs of what sex they may be.
 

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thank u all for this topic!!
hybrids are my hobby!!
did u know,in the wild,when no same subspecies-partner is around,newts use an other ambystoma for there furtalisation??and after a few generation,only 2% of foureign genes survive??
 
thank u all for this topic,
the hybridgene will disolve after some generations,leaving only 2%,its genevigour!!
A andersoni is a more dificult suspecies,it will morphe,when fed worms,also needs good water!!
 
This is why modern humans have varying percentages of non-Homo sapien DNA ranging from 0% in some parts of the world and anywhere from 2-5% of DNA from at least 2 different species. Some people carry genes from both of the other species.

If not for these crosses, it's likely humans wouldn't have survived in these areas.
 
Joep said:
thank u all for this topic,
the hybridgene will disolve after some generations,leaving only 2%,its genevigour!!
A andersoni is a more dificult suspecies,it will morphe,when fed worms,also needs good water!!
Click to expand...

Yes, but are there any articles on this, for example a paper written about it?
 
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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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    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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