Axolotl Morphing into salamander

[MarieKarma1311]

Hello Everyone,

I Have been keeping axolotls for the last 7 months now. I have 3 wild types, one albino, and one golden albino. My wild types are all related and came from the same clutch of eggs. I got to see the parents in their breeder tank at store and there was no question about it - they are axolotls. The particular store I went to did not sell salamanders, and all of my wild types have been growing into normal, healthy, beautiful axolotls... except for one.

Approximately two and a half weeks ago my axolotl Logan stopped eating. He got very skinny, lost his gills, crest, and tail fin. I removed him from the tank believing that he was very sick and starving to death. That's when I began to notice he was looking very different from his siblings. His gill stocks disappeared, and his eyes began to grow eyelids. Last night I was informed by a member on Caudata that he was morphing into a salamander.

Logan is currently sitting in a plastic container that is 12 x 7 inches. There is 1 inch of water in the container, just enough to cover him, and a raised platform leading out of the water onto a dry rock. Logan himself is only 5.5 inches long. He has not left the water so far, And I am still having difficulties getting him to eat. The temperature has been between 66 - 70 degrees F, or 19 - 21 degrees C over this last week. ( cooler at night and warmer in the day )

I have no experience with keeping salamanders, And as of this moment I do not have a terrarium set up for him. I plan on keeping him and I want to give him the best possible life he can have, I'm just not certain what to do as of this moment. I have heard that morphed axolotls don't live very long, What kind of a life expectancy are we looking at? This occurred naturally, and all of my axolotls that were in the same tank as him are perfectly normal and healthy.

I could use all the help and advice possible! Here is a photo of Logan that I took this afternoon.

 

[Bellabelloo]

It does look like it is morphing, and you are taking the right steps to help.

The care will be similar to that of a newly morphed tiger salamander. With my tigers once they leave the water I moved them to a soil based tub. I provided lots of cover such as cork bark, slate, broken terracotta pot etc. I also prefer to have a water bowl in case they want to wallow. This tub could be well stocked with small earthworm and maybe woodlice.. my tigers adore them
My understanding of morphed axolotl is that if they are still reasonably young, the life expectancy should still be good. A few Caudata members have experience with this and they may offer better advice.
Do please keep us updated as our shared knowledge will help others.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

Thank you! Its good to know that I am doing the right things to help him. Logan is only about 6 and a half months old, so he is very young still. Regarding the soil, what kind of soil would be appropriate to get and about how much? do they require more space than a normal axolotl? ( my axolotls are separated into a 30 gallon and a 55 gallon tank right now, plenty of room )

 

[Bellabelloo]

I use my garden soil as I don't use any chemicals. I add leaf litter and sometimes cocofibre. This is so it can burrow . It won't need a huge amount of space o start with. I use a food safe plastic lidded box... you may need to add some holes for ventilation. For you little axolotl, I would use something maybe in a similar sized container as it is now. Currently it does loom a little underweight, so providing lots of tempting live food would be good.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

I will begin making his terrarium tonight then so that its ready for him when he is ready. Regarding the feeding, He has been rather reluctant to eat much of anything recently. He turns down live earth worms and I can only get him to eat frozen blood worms lately, but he has hardly eaten any of those either, and seems to have difficulties sucking them up. Do you know why that may be or have any tips on getting him to eat some more?

 

[MarieKarma1311]

I have left live feeder guppies and frozen blood worms in the container with him for the last 24 hours with no luck. he is getting quite skinny and i am worried for him. he still hasn't left the water and is otherwise looking healthy.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

He left the water this morning

 

[Niels D]

Definitely a morphed axolotl indeed. Once you see an axolotl blink at you there's no stopping the process. Eyelids are the only way you can say for sure your axolotl is morphing.

 

[MarieKarma1311]

well I haven't seen him blink yet but he is developing eyelids. as of the moment I have him on damp paper towels with a cup to hide in, and at the other end of the container is about 3.5 cm of water and a rock. there is a live feeder guppy I'm the water, and plastic wrap over the top taped down with ventilation holes. the air temperature I'm my house is approximate 50 degrees F right now, will that be to cold for him?

 

[MarieKarma1311]

He winked at me this morning when I found him hiding under the cup . I added in a few more hides so that he feels safe, and his container is kept in a dark room at all times.

Here is a photo I got of him this morning

 

[emdalliance]

Aaaaah so cute!!! I'm glad he's okay!


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[MarieKarma1311]

Thank you Emily, and Logan is doing great now. I got him to eat an entire earth worm last night and was very excited about it. It was so cool watching him gobble up his first worm in 3 weeks. This is such an exciting experience.

 

[Odd]

He is just so cute!

As a question to other folks, if a person were to breed two morphed axolotls, would their offspring be more likely to morph? No asking should it be done, more of a scientific query

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[MarieKarma1311]

That's a great question Odd.

As an update Logan is eating more regularly now, and his weight is slowly increasing. He's become much more active, exploring his container moderately then retreating to his little hide in the corner. Today is officially 3 weeks since he started his morph and he has come quite a long way! If anyone is interested I have a photo album on my profile page dedicated to the process of his morph that shows photos every few days that I took during this amazing change.

 

[tipnatee]

That's amazing , I have never have morphed axolotl over 10 years of keeping them , I'm abit jealous at the moment. And omg he still have the gold iridophores . That's awesome!! Congratulation!!! I wonder if somewhere along the line of his great great grand parent was mixed breeded with tiger salamander, maybe that's why your wild has such beautiful color and patterns?

 

[MarieKarma1311]

A photo I took of Logan today before feeding him, he was very attentive.

 

[ChrisBish]

Wow, this is fascinating. Thanks for sharing


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[MarieKarma1311]

I wanted to thank everyone on here who has helped me with Logan, all off the members on Caudata. You have all been so kind and helpful, and the information that everyone is able to pool together to help others is outstanding.

As an update on Logan, he is doing fantastic! He eats regularly, has gained a stable weight, is more active and has increased his strength quite a bit. Logan still prefers to hide in the corner under his hide but seems quite content otherwise.

Here is a photo that I took of him today.