A. andersoni - some truths please?!

[auntiejude]

I should be picking up a couple of A. andersoni tomorrow, but I am getting conflicting information from varying sources about their care and requirements.

Can someone give me some advice and 'real' information please?

Some places say A. andersoni grow slower and do not get as big as A. mexicanum, some say they get up to 18" - is any of this true?

Some places say you can keep them with A. mexicanum, some say you can't - which is it? (assuming here that they are old enough to be sexed to prevent unwanted hybrid babies)

I've also read that they require a more varied diet than A. mexicanum - is this true? What do you feed your A. andersoni?

Is there anything else I should know about their care that I might have missed? Most of the info I can find says 'keep as A. mexicanum' - are there any significant differences in their care and requirements (other than the temperature preference)?

 

[michael]

They can be kept much like axolotls. They are a little more fussy about water quality. They are more prone to metamorphose than axolotls. They get a little bigger than axolotls. They breed a little later in the year.

 

[oceanblue]

It's only an impression but the few andersoni I've seen have been from european stock have been smaller than the largest axolotls and the type description describes rather similar sized beasts. My lone male eats worms like axolotls.

 

[xxianxx]

European A.andersoni do seem smaller than the US ones. Michael has bred many Andersoni and is very reliable source of info as is Ed Moyer who reported than they grow larger than A.mexicanum. However the four in my possession range from 7"-8.5", they are German / Swiss bloodlines and come from the same original German import of A.andersoni( as does oceanblues), which is considerably smaller than I would expect from A.mexicanum of a similar age. I keep my A.andersoni exactly as I keep my breeding axolotls ie properly lol, I am paranoid about water quality, feed mainly worms, allow inverts such as hog lice and snails to colanise the tank, plenty of plants, subdued lighting, fresh trout occasionally which they really like and is considered by a number of breeders as a key to conditioning them for breeding, I was also advised that they don't tolerate higher temps as axolotls do, they never get above 20c, usual temp is below 18c, they do fine at 5c and are still active when axolotls go torpid. Be advised that 50% of the A.andersoni ( who's progress I have followed over the last few years) imported from Germany have morphed. The ones you are looking to buy are UK bred, it will be interesting to see if they have a lower morphing rate, Chester zoo has a captive breeding programming for this species and though they don't advertise it I know that they have had some morph but I don't know what the rate is.
Hopefully Michael can answer an additional question, have you ever kept A.andersoni in a stream set up ? I have noticed that when I fill their tank up with a hose they seem to enjoy swimming against the flow, in fact they go mental lol, can't get enough of it !

 

[slowfoot]

When I worked in a lab that had wild caught andersoni, they were larger than the axolotls.

 

[xxianxx]

Would the same be true of WC A.mexicanum Erin ?

 

[auntiejude]

Thanks for the input guys. I have 2 juvies now, happily investigating their new homes.

 

[slowfoot]

Would the same be true of WC A.mexicanum Erin ?

They had both wc and cb mexicanum. I believe they were approximately the same size, though their genomes were different

 

[MarioR]

I've seen adult andersoni reaching from 18 to about 27cm in Germany and Axolotls from 17 to 36cm. But from generation to generation andersoni seem to be smaller as adults. A reason might be the conservative way of feeding the young to prevent metamorphosis.

 

[michael]

I've never kept them with strong current. At one time I had hundreds of them. Now I can't find any available in the U.S.