Axolotl gills- what is normal?

[mary]

Hello, my lovely 2 babies are approaching juvenile-hood. My pink "girl" is lovely and so interactive. the dark wee man who was always so precious and always floated has now become a "normal" axie and cruises around the bottom. His gills have got very large and frilly and are larger than his sisters. Do others have gills of different sizes? is this a bad sign? Also i noticed when i stopped feeding him blood worms and gave more "solid" food his floating stopped.

 

[sharn]

gills can be all lengths, some are just stubs, some are so long they curl right over to touch their eyes!!! its part genetic part enviroment, ive never had a axie whos gills grew longer but they certanly do get more fluffy in warmer temps (due to decreased oxygen).

not sure about the food and floating but he could have just been having probs digesting the food?

 

[mary]

HI there Sharn, yes his gills are very fluffy now anf it has been warm here- not for much longer tho' i suppose!
i do think he has digestive probs the wee love.They have grwon so fast now that i have to look at a larger tank!!

 

[joan]

Gills are variable depending on how much dissolved oxygen is in the water as well as stress. With your tank being larger, and having a moving current (which is BAD!), they'll have more dissolved oxygen, and will have been stressed by the current, both causing gill-loss.

Have you read www.axolotl.org yet? It's a good place to start.