Has anyone had an axolotl morph and survive?

[shelly]

hi

my monster baby is morphing and i was wondering if anyone had experience with this?

 

[kapo]

Yes, See:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/73206.html http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/55429.html?1141689894

 

[shelly]

thanks kapo

mine has developed the same kind of eyes. thats what made me think morph rather than sick

 

[layla]

hi guys can i just ask iv had my axy 4 about 2 years now and iv tried my best to find out as much info as i can but id never heard of morphing cud u explain it to me if u have a bit of spear time many many thanks.x.

 

[jennifer]

Layla,
morphing = metamorphosis
Just like frogs, most salamanders have a major metamorphosis where they lose their gills and switch from living in water to living on land. Axolotls are an exception: under normal circumstances they do NOT morph. Rarely, one does, and it becomes a kind of tiger salamander. For more information, please read:
http://www.axolotl.org/
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_mexicanum.shtml

Shelly, the information in the 2nd link I gave may be helpful (see section on "Care during metamorphosis")

(Message edited by jennewt on April 24, 2007)

 

[stephen]

Are more axolotls starting to morph because there has been a lot of posts on axolotls morphing lately.

 

[glen]

I don't think more are - it seems many of these posts with suspected morphing have ended up with just a sick axie

 

[shelly]

nope mine really is ! i changed the set up yesterday. lost half the water and put all the stones at one end of the tank with a cave on top so there was a shallow end and a deep end. checked on monster baby a few times in the night and he is wedged between the cave and the glass with nose and eyes kept out of the water. tail seems to be more flexible and he was using it to help prop him up. is that a salamander trait?

 

[karrie]

Can you post a picture of him? would like to see.

 

[shelly]

not very good at reducing size of pictures but will have a go and try post some tomorrow

 

[stephen]

Has your axolotl fully morphed yet? I hope you can post a pic soon because I would really like to see what it looks like.

 

[shelly]

i cant find the lead to my camera but as soon as i do i will post pictures.

i spoke to the guys at the pet shop today and they spoke to their whole saler who thinks that a water dog may have got mixed up with the axolotls.

so i might have a full blooded tiger salamander on my hands rather than a morphing axolotl

either way my next pay cheque is going to be spent kitting out a new tank set up

 

[g_k]

here are a couple of pictures i took of Monster Baby. The first one is when i noticed something different about him. The 2nd one is after i changed the setup in the tank.

 

[Jennewt]

Since this is the axolotl section of the forum, you should probably mention that this animal is probably NOT an axolotl. I think you have a lovely tiger salamander on your hands.

I would suggest that you change the setup even further: to a terrarium. This is the natural habitat for a tiger sal (or a morphed axie too, for that matter).
See:
www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups3.shtml
Tiger sals kept long-term in semi-aquatic tanks generally don't seem to do as well as those kept in soil.

 

[g_k]

i only put the pics in that bit as when people were asking for pics i thought it was a morphing axolotl

i was meant to get a new set up today but when it was checked it had a crack in the glass so have to wait for the next delivery which should be end of the week.