Question: Dwarf Axolotl - Looks Different?? (Pictures)

FX1C

FX1C

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I recently adopted 3 (now 4) of Minniechild's baby axolotls :)
(Couldn't help myself :eek: )

When they first got home I may have slightly over fed them or more like they scoffed up every live blackworm in their tank :D

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1368493037.113465.jpg

Growth rates seemed similar with no differences showing for the first couple of weeks.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1368493188.198144.jpg

Then one of the wild types started growing much larger and at the same time its body seemed very stumpy...
It's name is Trog & I think it's quite special..
(I've seen a couple of pics of other axolotls on these forums that people suggested could be a dwarf axolotl.
Interested to hear what your thoughts are on this one.)

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1368493397.078221.jpg
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This is comparison of the normal
wildtype sibling to Trog the chunky one.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1368493514.983173.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1368493618.217269.jpg
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I'm interested in what others think &
wanted to share this little one with you.
It eats like it is starving and will not decline food even when obviously full!
I nearly named it Dyson because the tank has never been so clean ;) lol

Trog is now 16cm long & the siblings are only wildtype 12cm leucistic 10cm
So its growth is much quicker.
It's like Trog is a giant dwarf o_O







<3 >o_o< <3
 
heehe he's a bit squished up! I suppose you probably won't be able to tell until they all stop growing :)
 
He looks like an american football player! heehee Maybe he is the jock of your group? ; )
 
Lol thats so darn cute!!

(seem to be typing that alot on here)
 
He looks really stubby. Gee I wish one of his siblings over here would hoover up the worms like him. Maybe he has an axolotl version of that disorder that people have when they can eat endlessly without feeling satisfied.
 
He looks so PLEASED with himself in that last photo. He's a real cutie!

I don't have any clue about the genetics though, sorry.

Nikki, I wanted to ask you, about tanks without substrate - do you find it stresses them out at all/that they skid? (Well, I doubt you'd have them on it if it did!) Do they get flustered by it initially and get used to it, or is it a 'Lotl-by-'Lotl thing? (I value your opinion and insight!)
 
pondweed said:
He looks so PLEASED with himself in that last photo. He's a real cutie!

I don't have any clue about the genetics though, sorry.

Nikki, I wanted to ask you, about tanks without substrate - do you find it stresses them out at all/that they skid? (Well, I doubt you'd have them on it if it did!) Do they get flustered by it initially and get used to it, or is it a 'Lotl-by-'Lotl thing? (I value your opinion and insight!)
Click to expand...

All these guys have been brought up in bare bottomed glass tanks. (Splat / Squishy / Sunbeam did have sand in a tank months ago - but I was worried about the amount of sand Splat was ingesting.) they seem to cope with walking around on the glass, they slip a little bit but seem to be ok. I'd prefer them to have sand so I could see the little footprints & the poo would at least stay still & not get dissolved so easily.

They don't seem at all stressed by being on glass - I personally hate the bare bottomed tanks as I am an OCD clean freak & find keeping them looking clean impossible! I was just about to put sand back in when KerryM's lotls suffered prolapse possibly from sand ingestion.

I am looking at large river rocks as an option but worry about the mess hiding.
The other option is to silicone down some slate so the bottom doesn't reflect & has some traction. But that will have to wait until they're all big enough to go into the 6'ft tank while I upgrade the 4'ft.

I have to say that substrates are an absolute nightmare!!! :eek:



<3 >o_o< <3
 
So cute and very well fed :) hehe
 
Substrate does sound like so many swings and roundabouts! But thank you for sharing your experiences.
 
This little one is very different to the others... Just weirdly shaped.

Here's a couple more pics

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1369652545.563649.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1369652582.347292.jpg
You can compare to a normal lotl,
the tail fin starts so far forward - in front of the gills.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1369652679.764474.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1369652698.500634.jpg

A strange profile - with & without flash.

It has the most voracious appetite & will move hides around like a bulldozer trying to get any escaped worms..
I'm concerned it may explode :eek:



<3 >o_o< <3
 
Another couple of shots...

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1369654837.695451.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1369655208.627819.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1369655226.081339.jpg ImageUploadedByTapatalk1369655241.244455.jpg

Fear not it was a torch not flash -
Just doing my nightly tuck in :D




<3 >o_o< <3
 
He's still a smug little bulldozer cutie, then. : D

I like your... planting jar? By the way!

I've been doing my plant research this weekend. I think I'm going to stick to the staples like java fern and moss, but I'm going to get some floating fern (caaan't remember the Latin name off the top of my head) and I saw some at the garden centre today and it's goshdarncute. Might consider some planters for a future tank.
 
pondweed said:
He's still a smug little bulldozer cutie, then. : D

I like your... planting jar? By the way!

I've been doing my plant research this weekend. I think I'm going to stick to the staples like java fern and moss, but I'm going to get some floating fern (caaan't remember the Latin name off the top of my head) and I saw some at the garden centre today and it's goshdarncute. Might consider some planters for a future tank.
Click to expand...

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1369693577.440982.jpg

I have various ways of getting plants into the tank - so far the planted jars / pots are great - at least I can push a fertiliser tab into the jar & the axies can't get to the gravel - I covered it in a layer if pool filter sand :)



<3 >o_o< <3
 
Did I say Trog was a perfect name? I should have said Trog was a perfect name.

I really do like the set-up! And you can get the plants their fertiliser that way, huh!

I've got my tank in the garage now. Two foot by one foot, and hopefully that'll do my juvies for the first year when I get them. (They'll be upgraded when I move back home properly. <3) It needs a good scrub down with vinegar and bicarb and salt, then Mum and I are going to leave it with water in to see if it leaks.

She's almost more excited about this than I am. :D Kept pestering yesterday about when we were going to clean it out (I have to Read Boring Books for my degree, Mum! Not today!) This all bodes well.
 
Lol that short little fella looks like he has run headfirst into the side of the tank a few to many times... Compacted him :D
 
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What do you mean, I-shouldn't-be-drawing-axolotls-because-I-have-an-essay-to-write? What nonsense is that!

( I sketched Trog to warm myself up. He's got so much character. What a charming chubby buddy! Nikki, Trog officially has fanart of him now!

I really shouldn't complain about the essay because it's on Shaun Tan, and I love him. But the theorists I'm looking at are talking Academic language jargon and it's making me balk. I'dmuchratherbedrawing. )
 

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:D squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

OMG OMG OMG that is the coolest!

I just showed it to Trog & now he wants a mirror because he didn't know he was so chubby :eek: I told him he's a total chunker but I wuv him anyway :)

You're very talented :)
I can't draw to save my life lol ;)



<3 >o_o< <3
 
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