New to axo

[heather]

I have been a professional aquarist for seven years but am new to axolotls I have two likley male white axolotls One "the Emperor of Japan" is larger and has much more developed gills, while "Corn-bread Earl" has some newly developed dark coloration on his head and unnervingly small gills. is "the Emperor of Japan " dominant and nipping "Corn-bread's" gills, or is "Corn-bread" merely more submissive? both have reached aprox 7" both eat well an have never visably quarelled. i have owned them for six months and they have probably doubled in size. Damn. I wish that Asexual thing was true I was hoping to breed.

 

[clarence]

the dark spots are natural for whites. As for the gill size, how small is "unnervingly?" I was concerned when the gills on one side of my largest adult quit growing any bigger. Some pretty wide variation is natural.

 

[katy]

axolotls vary in size quite a lot, depending on many factors - maybe your emperor eats more? do you hand feed them or just drop the food in? hand feeding can ensure everyone gets the same amount of food. but sometimes some animals are just smaller. same with gill size - my male axolotl has enormous long gills for no apparent reason, an axolotl with very small gills can be just as healthy. it usually means the gills have shrunk at some point in their life due to water quality or somesuch, but it shouldn't pose a threat to their health.