Kms124
New member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2011
- Messages
- 22
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- Location
- Rhode Island
- Country
- United States
- Display Name
- Kristina
I apologize ahead of time if I am posting in the wrong forum. I just really need somebodies opinion on this, because I want to and need to make sure my little critter remains as healthy and happy as possible.
So I have been WANTING an Axolotl for years. For my birthday last year, we ordered one but it never came in. So I went down the other day and asked, and the owner said that he only gets the wild types, not the color I wanted. So wanting one for ever, I said I didn't care what color. Alls i cared about really and truly is if it were healthy. This owner has incredible pets and animals, I have bought from him in the past and his critters are very hardy and have great personalities. I got my African clawed frog from him 16 years ago, and that frog is still with us. So I trust that his animals are healthy and see that they are taken care of.
I picked it up today, an active little thing. I couldn't believe how social it was/ how it basically ate food right from my hand over the food in the tank that was floating. After really looking at it, I noticed it really didn't look like the Axolotl's I have seen on the internet. This one has golden brown eyes; it is a greenish-yellow color, it has really small gills that are black along with iridescent spots on its back. It is very active/ not shy/ afraid of really anything, it swims a lot and seems to be very healthy, so I mean that is my biggest concern when it comes to a pet. However I need to know for sure what exactly it is. It has a whitish/ florescent belly, kind of metallic looking. In some lights it looks dark green, others it looks greenish yellow.
In all my searches on Axolotls, I never came across the idea that it could be a Tiger Salamander Larvae until I actually noticed this little guy was rather odd looking and googled wondering why his gills were so small. Even when researching, never once did I hear of the similarities until I asked if its small gills were normal, which kind of boosted the question and concerned me if he was alright. So I followed it; I started reading up online. Now I feel like I am almost positive it is a Tiger Salamander Larvae.
The pet shop owner kept saying it was going to "metamorphis". I told him Axolotls don't do that, and if they do it is extremely rare (from my findings, not trying to put anyone down, i'm sure he has much more experience in exotic animals than me). I was extremely confused when he said that, I had no idea what he meant. But he said it was an Axolotl, I figured that he was saying it was a possibility. Not once did he mention anything else. So I went home, and noticed that this little guy didn't look like the ones I have seen photos of. Expecially the gills, his are so small theres nothing to really flap or bother him as I have seen some people say Axolotls have done, the "gill flick".
I am afraid that if it IS a tiger salamander, I need to know the necessary things when it chooses to metamorphosis. I would need to know what exactly to do to allow it to remain healthy and the kind of environment it needs. I have not too much experience with salamanders, however we have frogs who are about 16 years old. I always wanted an axolotl, I had the tank/ set up and everything. However I also know it is hard to distinguish the differences, but I am sure that professionals and people who have been in this industry and hobby for awhile know much better than I do.
All's I know about this critter is he is from Malaysia, and I paid about eight dollars USD for him. Its not that that bothers me, I feel guilty if I were to return him, yet I also don't really have a set up for a tiger salamander nor do I really know much about the differences once they morph. I feel torn. It was sold to me as an Axolotl as I understood. A wild type, as it was called. It is highly social, not afraid of anything, takes food right from your hands and looks very healthy, and that currently is all that I care about, its health over what it is, but in order for me to keep it healthy, I need to know... what it is. I also need to know if it would be a problem if it is a tiger salamander, and does morph.
I'm no professional. I tried to get some photos of it, because I figured maybe people would be able to help based off of the images. But alls I know is by what I have been looking up, I do not know first hand really and truly, and don't want to guess and be wrong. So for you all to see, Here are some images:
http://www.tylonproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/critterimages.jpg
Nobody I know really knows anything about lizards or salamanders or axolotls, so I was really hoping that this forum could help me better understand. Sorry for the quality of photos too, they were the best ones I could get/ kind of are blurry and bubbly. Any help/ information on what to do would be great! I just got it today (I don't know why I refer to it a a him lol). I noticed that he surfaces often and kind of puffs his face out, i know I fed him and he seemed ok with it from my hand, but not floating food. I have all kinds of foods, from the flakes to the freeze dried blood worms, to the pellets big, small, medium you name it. He seemed to really like the small "baby" pellets as they are called, the ones with vitamin enhancements that are recommended for salamanders/ newts/ aquatic life. He doesn't really hide even though there's lots of spots in his tank, he'd rather look and watch what people do and follow them. He swims kind of weird, he keeps his two hands tucked on his side. He rarely ever uses them when he swims, he uses them when hes trying to cling to something/ sitting atthe bottom of the tank, which is rare cause after observing him, he doesn't seem to sit still .
I just want to make sure that I am doing/ do the right thing(s) and be a good owner. Like I said before, I am new at this (owning one, that is), so I will probably be around this forum more asking questions.
Thank you very much for reading!
I appreciate all responses/ comments/ feedback. Or even personal experiences, anything will really help.
So I have been WANTING an Axolotl for years. For my birthday last year, we ordered one but it never came in. So I went down the other day and asked, and the owner said that he only gets the wild types, not the color I wanted. So wanting one for ever, I said I didn't care what color. Alls i cared about really and truly is if it were healthy. This owner has incredible pets and animals, I have bought from him in the past and his critters are very hardy and have great personalities. I got my African clawed frog from him 16 years ago, and that frog is still with us. So I trust that his animals are healthy and see that they are taken care of.
I picked it up today, an active little thing. I couldn't believe how social it was/ how it basically ate food right from my hand over the food in the tank that was floating. After really looking at it, I noticed it really didn't look like the Axolotl's I have seen on the internet. This one has golden brown eyes; it is a greenish-yellow color, it has really small gills that are black along with iridescent spots on its back. It is very active/ not shy/ afraid of really anything, it swims a lot and seems to be very healthy, so I mean that is my biggest concern when it comes to a pet. However I need to know for sure what exactly it is. It has a whitish/ florescent belly, kind of metallic looking. In some lights it looks dark green, others it looks greenish yellow.
In all my searches on Axolotls, I never came across the idea that it could be a Tiger Salamander Larvae until I actually noticed this little guy was rather odd looking and googled wondering why his gills were so small. Even when researching, never once did I hear of the similarities until I asked if its small gills were normal, which kind of boosted the question and concerned me if he was alright. So I followed it; I started reading up online. Now I feel like I am almost positive it is a Tiger Salamander Larvae.
The pet shop owner kept saying it was going to "metamorphis". I told him Axolotls don't do that, and if they do it is extremely rare (from my findings, not trying to put anyone down, i'm sure he has much more experience in exotic animals than me). I was extremely confused when he said that, I had no idea what he meant. But he said it was an Axolotl, I figured that he was saying it was a possibility. Not once did he mention anything else. So I went home, and noticed that this little guy didn't look like the ones I have seen photos of. Expecially the gills, his are so small theres nothing to really flap or bother him as I have seen some people say Axolotls have done, the "gill flick".
I am afraid that if it IS a tiger salamander, I need to know the necessary things when it chooses to metamorphosis. I would need to know what exactly to do to allow it to remain healthy and the kind of environment it needs. I have not too much experience with salamanders, however we have frogs who are about 16 years old. I always wanted an axolotl, I had the tank/ set up and everything. However I also know it is hard to distinguish the differences, but I am sure that professionals and people who have been in this industry and hobby for awhile know much better than I do.
All's I know about this critter is he is from Malaysia, and I paid about eight dollars USD for him. Its not that that bothers me, I feel guilty if I were to return him, yet I also don't really have a set up for a tiger salamander nor do I really know much about the differences once they morph. I feel torn. It was sold to me as an Axolotl as I understood. A wild type, as it was called. It is highly social, not afraid of anything, takes food right from your hands and looks very healthy, and that currently is all that I care about, its health over what it is, but in order for me to keep it healthy, I need to know... what it is. I also need to know if it would be a problem if it is a tiger salamander, and does morph.
I'm no professional. I tried to get some photos of it, because I figured maybe people would be able to help based off of the images. But alls I know is by what I have been looking up, I do not know first hand really and truly, and don't want to guess and be wrong. So for you all to see, Here are some images:
http://www.tylonproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/critterimages.jpg
Nobody I know really knows anything about lizards or salamanders or axolotls, so I was really hoping that this forum could help me better understand. Sorry for the quality of photos too, they were the best ones I could get/ kind of are blurry and bubbly. Any help/ information on what to do would be great! I just got it today (I don't know why I refer to it a a him lol). I noticed that he surfaces often and kind of puffs his face out, i know I fed him and he seemed ok with it from my hand, but not floating food. I have all kinds of foods, from the flakes to the freeze dried blood worms, to the pellets big, small, medium you name it. He seemed to really like the small "baby" pellets as they are called, the ones with vitamin enhancements that are recommended for salamanders/ newts/ aquatic life. He doesn't really hide even though there's lots of spots in his tank, he'd rather look and watch what people do and follow them. He swims kind of weird, he keeps his two hands tucked on his side. He rarely ever uses them when he swims, he uses them when hes trying to cling to something/ sitting atthe bottom of the tank, which is rare cause after observing him, he doesn't seem to sit still .
I just want to make sure that I am doing/ do the right thing(s) and be a good owner. Like I said before, I am new at this (owning one, that is), so I will probably be around this forum more asking questions.
Thank you very much for reading!