Question: Sick or dwarf/mini?

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Lunathelotl

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Hello. I’m new to Caudata and in search of some opinions.

My axolotl Rupert is over a year old and only 4.5 - 5 inches long. His gills are also quite short compared to my other axolotl. He has always been a good eater and will take chopped up wrigglers every day/every other day. He moves around his tank a decent amount (he’s in a 40 gallon breeder) and recognizes when I sit in front of the tank. I’m concearned I’ve done something to stunt his growth but I was also told that he could just be a mini/dwarf. I followed all of the instructions that the breeder gave me and when I got him he was maybe 2 inches long.

Any opinions/help is greatly appreciated!
 

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Hayleyy

Hayleyy

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It's probably a genetic thing, the gills and the size. If this one is significantly smaller than your other you may want to keep them separate if you haven't already :D
 
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  • MuggleMiChu:
    Help! I got my first axolotl two days ago and they have stopped eating. They ate a few frozen blood worms the first day and haven’t eaten or been interested in food since. I feed them frozen blood worms and the tank is around 64 degrees. I do have a filter that moves sometimes and I noticed them swimming up to it, I have a new filter and a fan coming today or tomorrow. I leave the worms in the tank or a little bit before taking them out so I don’t know if they ate when I wasn’t looking. I know it takes a while for them to digest. Does anyone have any tips or knowledge they can share? The pet store I bought them from didn’t have gravel or sand in the tank so I’m not sure if theres an issue or if I’m just impatient. Thank you!
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  • HalfDrunkToast:
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  • MuggleMiChu:
    They are about 2-3 inches long and I have them in a bare bottom tank
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  • HalfDrunkToast:
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  • MuggleMiChu:
    Thank you so much for the information and advice! They are eating again, they ate a lot today. I think it might have been stress from the move or digesting old food, I also noticed they ate some of the food left in the tank (I removed the rest). I’m going to keep the tank bare bottom.
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    @MuggleMiChu,your so welcome im glad to be of help! and I'm glad that they are eating as well!
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    Calgarycoppers: She would be a GFP Leucistic and depending on the degree of "blue" may be a dark gill
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