Good morning, I'm reaching out to you guys because I'm worried that my 1.5 yr old axolotl is either sick or metamorphosing.
Several days ago I noticed that ONE of my axolotls' eyes was swollen/had a film on it, and would "move" when he took a breath. I performed a water change and monitored his health closely, resolving to post here/and possibly fridge him after 48 hours -- unfortunately, it looks like he might be metamorphosing. His gills appears to have shrunk in size, his head is bigger/rounder than I recall, and both eyes appears to have a slight bulge (picture attached).
Looking at the picture, does this look like a normal part of an axolotl growing up, or is it something else?
I've changed two things in the tank recently: I introduced three nerite snails, though I did quarantine them for 72 hours performing two water changes each day in their isolation tank. Additionally, I switched the brand of blood worms I feed them (from "omega one" to "fish gum drops").
As an additional question, can I buy salmon pellets somewhere online? I alternate feeding frozen brine shrimp and blood worms, as I can't consistently find earth worms for sale here.
Thanks for your help!
Several days ago I noticed that ONE of my axolotls' eyes was swollen/had a film on it, and would "move" when he took a breath. I performed a water change and monitored his health closely, resolving to post here/and possibly fridge him after 48 hours -- unfortunately, it looks like he might be metamorphosing. His gills appears to have shrunk in size, his head is bigger/rounder than I recall, and both eyes appears to have a slight bulge (picture attached).
Looking at the picture, does this look like a normal part of an axolotl growing up, or is it something else?
I've changed two things in the tank recently: I introduced three nerite snails, though I did quarantine them for 72 hours performing two water changes each day in their isolation tank. Additionally, I switched the brand of blood worms I feed them (from "omega one" to "fish gum drops").
As an additional question, can I buy salmon pellets somewhere online? I alternate feeding frozen brine shrimp and blood worms, as I can't consistently find earth worms for sale here.
Thanks for your help!
Alternatively, Petsmart sells them labled as nightcrawlers. Just ask someone in the fish department for a box of them! Definitely do not continue to collect them from outside. This is a bad idea as they could be carrying diseases and parasites which they can then pass on to your axolotl.
