Gills bleaking ??

[andre]

Hi,

I'm owner of 2 white adult axolotls and, for one of them, its gills have noticeably lost their reddish color and are now almost light pink.

The color turn back to 'normal ' when I'm feeding it (daily), then turn back to that light pink.

Water temp (19°C) and values are fine.

Anyone has any idea as to why this is happening and/or is it somewhat a sign of illness ?

Here are the pics of my 2 axolotls ... I'm kinda worried of the one shown on the right.

Thanx in andvance.

 

[charlie]

dunno if you should be worried but my golden lotl does exactly the same thing....mostly her gills are paleish pink except when feeding or if she's stressed (eg if i take her out of the tank to change the water) then they go red

 

[leighton]

I always assumed that the red colour is a result of increased blood flow/blood vessel dilation - like blushing, and the axolotl equivalent of breathing heavily (to increase oxygen intake). Our leucistic (Peely)'s tail is also prone to turning pink when she's agitated, and occasionally the blood vessels in her fin are visible, too.

 

[kelly]

My golden albino does the same thing. I think it's normal.