Adult axolotl is only 11cm!

[Animal_addict_88]

We got our axolotl from a local store at around 7-8cm. It was only a few months old at the time.

As it was our first, it did take us a little while to get everything right and we had a number of issues with him refusing or regurgitating food.
It took us around 5-6 months to find a feeding routine he was happy with, but he got pretty skinny for a while there.
He is now eating regularly, keeping everything down, and has grown a little to roughly 10-11cm.

Thing is, we are now 18+ months into owning him and he isn't showing any signs of growing. He's been recieving the right care for at least 10 months now, probably longer. His belly/body is much fuller and he is now much more active and 'happy', but he has stayed quite small. Also, the little frilly parts on his gills haven't really come back either, despite the water being within ALL recommended parameters.

Does anyone have any similar experience with this? Essentially he wasn't properly cared for as a juvenile (partly him being dramatic lol, but mostly my fault as we didn't realise at the time, and I have spent a lot of time and money making it up to him!).

Will he grow? Or is he going to stay small forever? And will his gills ever recover?

I ask because we have a second 9-10cm animal arriving next week. Obviously sizes are fine for now, but if Ron stays the same size, I would be worried about the other one growing too large to be safely housed in the same tank.

I've attached pictures. Any advice would be great. Tysm!

 

[Animal_addict_88]

Just looked back at my original post when we got him ( originally thought it was a girl!)
At the time someone had said he looked like a dwarf. How can I tell? It would certainly explain some of the issues we've had!

 

[Autistic Catholic]

does the length include the tail or not?

 

[Animal_addict_88]

does the length include the tail or not?

Yep

 

[Edevingo]

We got our axolotl from a local store at around 7-8cm. It was only a few months old at the time.

As it was our first, it did take us a little while to get everything right and we had a number of issues with him refusing or regurgitating food.
It took us around 5-6 months to find a feeding routine he was happy with, but he got pretty skinny for a while there.
He is now eating regularly, keeping everything down, and has grown a little to roughly 10-11cm.

Thing is, we are now 18+ months into owning him and he isn't showing any signs of growing. He's been recieving the right care for at least 10 months now, probably longer. His belly/body is much fuller and he is now much more active and 'happy', but he has stayed quite small. Also, the little frilly parts on his gills haven't really come back either, despite the water being within ALL recommended parameters.

Does anyone have any similar experience with this? Essentially he wasn't properly cared for as a juvenile (partly him being dramatic lol, but mostly my fault as we didn't realise at the time, and I have spent a lot of time and money making it up to him!).

Will he grow? Or is he going to stay small forever? And will his gills ever recover?

I ask because we have a second 9-10cm animal arriving next week. Obviously sizes are fine for now, but if Ron stays the same size, I would be worried about the other one growing too large to be safely housed in the same tank.

I've attached pictures. Any advice would be great. Tysm!

When I got my first, she was extremely small for her age. I had her in a 20g long for well over a year and although she grew a lot, she still was small. I've kept and bred Cichlids for over 25yrs so my basement is filed with spare tanks. From experience I know that I can take a 3yr of cichlid from my 125g place them in my 375g and they will start growing again.
So I figured, I'd see if moving her to a 75g might encourage her to grow more.
Well it's been 6 months and now I'm wondering if she's ever going to stop.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

abnormally small (but proportional) axolotl

this is a picture of a year and a half old axolotl who belonged to my cousin for a bit of time last year. he was quite active and seemed happy, but very small for his age. he easily fit into the palm of my hand, and upon a breif physical examination, all organs and bones seemed to be in the...

www.caudata.org