Question: Helping my Axie through a natural metamorphosis.

[Sindragosa]

Hello! First time Axie owner who's just found out that her little guy is slowly progressing through a natural metamorphosis.

About two days ago, I noticed Tony's gills were starting to retract. I thought it was due to me changing the water, but even after another tank clean, his gills continued to shrink. I looked up a few threads on here and noticed that this is perhaps a sign of him going through metamorphosis.

I've since reconstructed the layout of Tony's tank, where it now has 3/4ths rock sediment that leads down to 1/4th water, which is about two inches deep. As soon as I got him in the tank, he climbed up the rock slope and has been walking around.

Is there anything else I can do to help Tony along? And does anyone have advice on owning Tiger Salamanders? The guy I bought him from said he was a Tiger Salamander to start with, though he was clearly an Axolotl at the time of purchase.

Also, will he still eat the frozen bloodworms I bought for him? I still have about half a pack left, it'd be a shame to waste them.

 

[Kaysie]

It's probably a tiger salamander. The larval phase looks similar to axolotls. It's also extremely rare for axolotls to go through metamorphosis.

If the gills are completely absorbed, it can be moved to a terrestrial setup.

Have a read through this article on tiger sals.