Question: Is my axolotl bloated?

[Lashy337]

I have a wild type, female axolotl, who has always been bigger than my other babies. I used to just drop the food in there and let them go at it, but this axolotl would eat all of the food herself, and as such got very fat. I have since started hand feeding them so they all get the same amount of food, but she's still much bigger than my other axolotls. I don't know if this is still her being fat from that early overfeeding, if it's just because she's female and my others are male, or if this is bloat. She isn't acting sick in any way, she has always been my healthiest and easiest to care for, which is why I'm asking in the first place. How do I tell if my lotl is just fat, or if she's got a bloat?

I don't have any good pictures that display the fat belly, so I'll try and get some tomorrow.

 

[Donna001]

Is she floating?
You say that she isn't acting sick, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was just a big girl, but I'm relatively new to this, and I've only had my gang for 6 months, so it would be better to get the advice of the more experienced keepers.
Photos will be very useful. :happy:

 

[LoriML]

How old are they? Still growing length wise? Without seeing pics, I would say she's probably just bigger genetically or perhaps maturing and developing eggs? Has she ever laid eggs before?

Pics please

 

[GalLuvsAxolotls]

Pictures would really help!

IME, some axolotls are just bigger than others. However with young ones, some are better at getting food than others and grow faster as a result. It depends on if yours are adults or still juveniles.

With some of the very small ones I have raised, I swear the only way some of them would eat was when baby brine shrimp accidentally swam in their mouth...