Axolotls gills have hardly any feathers and are small?

[Little lotl]

Hi everyone my melanoid axolotl has really small gills and I have no ideas why. My problem is that my lecustic axie has really big gills and they are really fluffy she is also healthy and in almost perfect weight I'm still working on fattening her up. He has really small gills and they have virtually no feathers on them , they are also laid back but he eats well, although I'm struggling to put weight on him. I do regular water changes and my parameters are perfect. I have absolutely no idea what's going on with him.

 

[CheyenneAutumn]

What are you feeding them? Perhaps not nutritious enough.

Small gills are typically a general symptom of stress. Anything else unusual? Discolourations? Any patches of fungus or bacteria on her body?

Do you have enough space for both to take comfort under hides?


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[Little lotl]

I feed him bloodworms and axolotl pellets and he doesn't seem to have any fungus on him and there is 2 hides in the tank and he is the one who hides the most he still comes out during the day though (sometimes)

 

[CheyenneAutumn]

Blood worms aren't considered to be an ideal diet; they're usually just given as treats
Dunno about your pellets. I fed night crawlers (worms) and live guppies (tiny fish). That provides a lot of organ meat which is very nutrient dense
How's your melanoid today?


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[Little lotl]

He is doing fine and his gills seem to have grown however he is still really thin. I have dendroabena earthworms but I only had them delivered a few days ago and I'm letting them breed at the moment yesterday I fed him chopped up pieces of eartworms and he gobbled it down but he seemed to have a problem getting them into his mouth as he has to shake his head to actually eat them does this matter though??

 

[CheyenneAutumn]

Oh, that seems to be a hunting behaviour. My Axies do that too; they thrash their heads and shake the worm. It's like they're trying to stun it or kill it haha

Or, maybe the worm piece is too big? I notice when I feed large pieces my Axies thrash it around more.

Feed him as much as he'll take over a half hour sitting!


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