Axolotls in zoo.

[Azhael]

The last weekend i went to this zoo in Madrid, had a good time, very nice displays and animals. I was quite surprised to see axolotls...surprised because i had never seen one on real life hehe. After thousand of photos on the internet i finally got to see them for real. And i´ve got to say i´ve fell for these amphibians...damn if only i could keep one hehe...
Anyway..here are a couple pics of them, they were all leucistics. I loved watching them so i guess someone will like watching them now too xD.

 

[Jake]

Beautiful axolotls, but the zoo should know better than to keep them in a tank with rocks small enough for them to swallow

 

[Lisa]

That is terrible. How can a zoo not know how to house them correctly? No excuse at all. And looks like too much gravel to be siliconed down too.

 

[Saspotato]

Many animals in zoos are kept in less than ideal conditions

 

[digger]

thanks for posting,
im glad you actually got to see some in the flesh, so to speak.

 

[wreckgar]

I saw a leucistic in a natural history museum in Lille last year - that's what made me want an axie too! They also used small gravel as a substrate!

 

[Azhael]

Not only the gravel was too small, but also the tank was placed in the tropical section...it was hot there..i don´t know how those poor axolotls made it unless there was some kind of chilling system(i so doubt it). Anyway they looked surprisingly healthy, plus the tank (except for the gravel) was neat.

 

[tashie7161]

Sometimes I wonder if it is too much to ask that they read up on animals before getting one?! and the gills don't look very healthy either, look rather short.

 

[salamandra]

it looks like there gills are a little small or is that ok? as i have an axolotl with much bigger gills?

 

[wreckgar]

look I have dug up the photo I took in Lille, it looks frighteningly similar (short gills included!) although at least the gravel is a bit smaller

 

[Kaysie]

The gills don't look excessively short to me.

 

[Jake]

I've had axolotls with much shorter gills.

 

[Reptileguy2727]

What causes the difference in gill length?

I would assume that it is like bichirs in that it has to do with water quality and/or oxygen levels in the water. If there is not enough oxygen then the gills will become smaller. A couple of my bichirs actually regrew/retained one pair of very short gills because the water quality is so high and the oxygen level was high.

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

mostly all the axolotls i've recieved as babies have small pretty long gills...the only kind of axolotls i've seen with short stubby gills even as babies are usually the leciustic ones, with an all white body black eyes with little patches of black on the face. I seem to allways see these kind of axololts with much shorter gills. all my axolotls that I've raised since babies allways have long gills and as they get older the gills seem to grow as the axolotl grows. but I think water quality plays a big role becuase a stressed axolotl allways seems to have diminishing gills but some axolotls do have smaller gills than others... basicly all the axolots i;ve had since babies have long feathery gills they're very attractive..

 

[Kaysie]

Gills are partly genetic, and partly an artifact of water quality, temperature and oxygen levels. Poor water quality will lead to a reduction in gills (as they're sensitive), and an increase in gulping or use of the lungs.

If oxygen levels are high, they don't need as much surface area to exchange waste with oxygen. So they have small gills. Colder water holds more oxygen, so axies in cooler climates will often have smaller gills. If oxygen levels are low and water quality is good, axies will usually develop longer gills.

However, while axolotl gills can shrink pretty readily, they usually don't grow back quite as well. And if an animal has naturally small gills, no amount of fiddling with the oxygen levels will make them grow shockingly large gills.