Axolotl query

M

matt

Guest
Hi again all,

I've spotted the most enormous golden albino axolotl in the local petshop. (I initially thought it was a tiger salamander.) Before running off to buy it I thought I'd pick some of your expert brains about something I noticed.

It's gills - by which I mean the red, feathery, vascular bits - are minimal to say the least.

It has been suggested to me that this is not - as I again assumed - due to the animal preparing to metamorphose but because it has been kept in a very shallow body of water. Put it in a deeper tank and they will grow back, I was told.

Hoping I am not being lazy in asking you info I could find at Caudate Central if I were to hunt on... but is this plausible?

Cheers,
Matt
 
There's a sheet on Caudate Central on Axolotls and then there is the axolotl web site as well - go to the cover page and look for Caudata.org sites.

Axolotl gills tend to be smaller in cooler water, and also if anything's been having a nibble on them. You only get massive gills when the water temperature is over 20 <SUP>o</SUP>C for a number of months. Some adult axolotls will never develop larger gills if they already have small ones.

I don't believe that shallow water thing. If you can get that animal to metamorphose just by lowering the water, you should buy a lottery ticket because you would win.
 
Thanks for the answer, John, and the sign-posting.

The person who attributed the... er, minimal... gills to a low water level was ***not*** I think suggesting metamorphosis. I think the point he was suggesting was shallow water = living close to surface = good oxygen supply = smaller gills.
I think.

No? Maybe that's a bit far-fetched too. Lottery ticket, anyone? ;-)
 
The depth of aquaria is such that oxygen content shouldn't be affected by depth.
 
Matt / John - I have seen axos that seem to show more of a genetic link that affects gill size. ie : some animals seem to pass on long gills to their offspring. It can be confusing if you dont have the history of the individual axo. Injury or previous damage to the gills ( eg: acid water ) that the animal has recovered from may lead to a different length of gill filament forming later. I would also doubt water depth affects the gill length as they simply move to the appropriate depth for oxygen if they are oxygen deprived.
 
I have a book where they state that lowering the water or adding iodine will slowly shrink the gills and that you will end up with a metamorphosed axolotl. Maybe that where he got the idea. Also, I was just on giantgeckoes.com, and they had a metamorphosed leucistic (spelling)for 250.
 
I heard many years ago (from biology teacher at school) that you could grow extremely oversized axies by adding trace quantities of iodine.

I can only remember the gist of the discussion but it was something to with iodine acting on the thyroid gland. I also think it was an over-simplification of the situation.

I also recall having a book I got from a pet shop when younger. It too said lower the water line and leave an island . Overtime reducing the water level will force the animal to onto the island and it will morph.

Axies don't tend to morph. It's quite rare. One or two have claimed to achieve it by adding thyroxine to the water.

To my mind, there isn't too much reliable information on axies out there. A lot of it old, out of date and just plain wrong. You won't find better than right here on caudata.

My own non-scientific observations concur with John. Warm water results in bigger gills but cold water sees them shrink to their 'normal' condition. There is some variation between animals...I guess that is probably attributable in part to genetics. and in other parts to environment, diet, growth conditions etc.
 
Snork, the younger of my 2 lotls, has an impressive set of feathery gills. Muff - my partner's lotl who lodges with us - has small stubby ones. I've always put it down to water quality (on the basis that i am much more scrupulous about water changes, and grubby water shrivels ya gills!) However, as Snork lives in the top tank (where the water is slightly warmer) maybe this is the answer?

Last week we put the 2 of them together in the top tank - so i'll run a little experiment and see if Muff grows a ruff lol!
 
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