Help please?

[Ender42]

Hello everyone, i am new to this forum, and have a couple of questions regarding what i believe is a mutating axo. i purchased a "water dog" from a local pets store and was told that it was purely aquatic, and i have searched all over and found this to be true in most cases. My axo(a.k.a. Falcor) looked completely normal for the past 5 months, but over the last couple of days its gills have gone, and its tail seems to have shrunk. Falcor now looks nothing like the original creature that i purchased. so my questions are:
Do i actually have an Axolotl, or is it some sort of salamander or newt?
If it is mutating what should i do to help its mutation?
and what tank set up should i have for a mutating/mutated axo?

Oh and if this is in the wrong area, or already answered somewhere else I'm sorry i searched the best i could. I will have pictures of before and after asap.
Thanks!

 

[Ender42]

Also i have just noticed that Falcor has been hanging out at the top of the tank more, with his head out of the water, should i somehow add a land mass so he can climb onto it??
this is what he is starting to resemble
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7161611.stm

 

[inkozana]

We'll need a photo to be able to tell you if Falcor is an axolotl or not. Firstly, I think you're confusing mutation with morphing The photo you link us to from BBC news - it does sound like your axolotl (if it is an axololt) is morphing.
Sometimes axolotls lose their gills when they are sick, apart from the bodily changes is he still acting the same? Taking food and swimming 'round?

Metamorphasis is a very stressful time for axolotls, for a salamander you'll want a tank that has both a land mass and a source of water. You can put some rocks into your tank that stick up out of the water for him to sit on, http://www.fishforum.com/userpix/348_sal15b_1.jpg there is the image source to an example of a tank suitable for salamanders.

I am not sure how you can help an axolotl through it's morphing stage, I have never experienced an axolotl morph - though no doubt some other members from caudata will come to your aid and correct me if I have said anything wrong.

Good luck though You're very lucky to have an axolotl morph, if that's what's happening

 

[Daniel]

If you purchased a "waterdog", it could very well be a Tigersalamander and not an Axolotl. Photos would be necessary to clear this up.
In the meantime I recommend you to have a look at the Tigersalamander Caresheet. Even if it is a morphing Axolotl (which is a really rare case), you will have to provide it a similar setup.

If the animal is morphing, you should give it the possibility to get out of the water as inkozana said.

 

[Kaysie]

It's almost certainly a tiger salamander.

http://caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55707

http://caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55637

http://caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56059

 

[Ender42]

thanks everyone, im thinking it might be a tiger salamander, but just to make sure here are some pictures i just took:

sorry about the poor quality. im trying to get ahold of some older ones before the morph.

 

[Kaysie]

Definitely a tiger salamander.

Do you have the appropriate setup for a terrestrial tiger? A quick search of the forum of 'tiger morphing' will give you lots of threads with good ideas on how to make his metamorphosis a comfortable and safe one.

 

[Ender42]

im working on a new set up. right now i have a turtle in a 20gal long tank, that i will be moving into a larger tank in the next few days. as a quick fix i put a turtle dock in the aquarium and lowered the water level so that there is a small bit of land until i can get the other tanks set up. is that ok? also how long does the morphing process take? im worried that i might stress it out to much during the move also, any advice?
thats the last time i listen to what the pet store tells me and not do research first

 

[slowfoot]

Good luck with him - he's a nice looking tiger. He looks like he is just about ready to start hauling himself out of the water. But definitely make sure he still has access to water as he is transitioning. I would just keep the water level low enough so that you could have a few large rocks breaking the surface - sometimes those turtle docks can be hard for salamanders to use.

I was in my local fish shop two days ago, buying worms, and I noticed an adult tiger salamander in one of the aquatic plant tanks - no land area available. Very pretty tiger - silver bars on a black background. The sign on the tank said 'axolotl' of course. I talked to one of the workers there about it, but he didn't care. I would have taken the little guy myself if I had room

 

[Kaysie]

How much of his gills are left? He looks as though he's nearly ready to be terrestrial, if not completely ready.

I would lower the water level down significantly, maybe just a few inches. Fully transformed tiger salamanders can drown if they do not have appropriate land area to haul out on.