Deformed possible chimera hatchling

[Amadison143]

So we had an accidental clutch of eggs and instead of my wife culling them she left them in the tank for the adults to eat. They ended up having no interest and now she's been catching the hatchling and putting them all in a 30 gallon tank separated from the parents but we have one that seems to be deformed and possibly a chimera. She keeps that one separated and feeds it frequently, surprisingly it seems to be eating so far, but was just looking on general thoughts about this one.

 

[axolotl nerd]

So we had an accidental clutch of eggs and instead of my wife culling them she left them in the tank for the adults to eat. They ended up having no interest and now she's been catching the hatchling and putting them all in a 30 gallon tank separated from the parents but we have one that seems to be deformed and possibly a chimera. She keeps that one separated and feeds it frequently, surprisingly it seems to be eating so far, but was just looking on general thoughts about this one.

definitely deformed, wouldn't be surprised if it were mosaic/chimera.
i'm not sure about course of action for this one.
one one hand, if it's eating/moving/defecating normally, and doesn't seem to be in pain, i'd say to keep caring for it.
on the other, it is almost guaranteed to have a shorter life expectancy. it will likely need special care and monitoring, and not everyone can do that. similarly, it must be kept as pet only and can never breed. because it is so young, it is very difficult to determine quality of life or if it is in pain.
does it move much? can it swim?
summoning @wolfen for advice

 

[Amadison143]

definitely deformed, wouldn't be surprised if it were mosaic/chimera.
i'm not sure about course of action for this one.
one one hand, if it's eating/moving/defecating normally, and doesn't seem to be in pain, i'd say to keep caring for it.
on the other, it is almost guaranteed to have a shorter life expectancy. it will likely need special care and monitoring, and not everyone can do that. similarly, it must be kept as pet only and can never breed. because it is so young, it is very difficult to determine quality of life or if it is in pain.
does it move much? can it swim?
summoning @wolfen for advice

It does move it swims a little, I'm not sure if it's eating but we are trying to feed it plenty of bb brine shrimp, we put it in a small container and add plenty of brine shrimp each feeding so it has better chances of catching some. I did attach a video of it during feeding

 

[Amadison143]

That was during feeding time

 

[wolfen]

I'm always one for nature over nurture and would question whether he/she will survive without human intervention, although he/she is a curiosity with his/her colouration but due to the spinal issue there is little chance of having a healthy life and may be better euthanized before developing further as it would be cruel and unfair to inflict further suffering just to satisfy human inquisitiveness.

 

[michael]

That's interesting looking. It is going to die soon.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

I hope it's not dying because it does look cool. If you haven't already, separate the mating pair. As if it has happened once with a deformity, it will happen again, and you want as few deformities as possible in the gene pool.

Decision to euthanize is always on the owner.

 

[Amadison143]

Just an update this little guy is still going strong, most of our hatchlings have died were down to 17 not including this one and we started with over 100.

 

[axolotl nerd]

Just an update this little guy is still going strong, most of our hatchlings have died were down to 17 not including this one and we started with over 100.

if it's outlived that many of its seemingly healthy siblings, then i advocate for keeping it rather than culling - at least for the time being.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

I'm with @axolotl nerd

There are certain deformities that can be lived with that don't severely impact the animal's life but may need more care than if it didn't have the deformity. I still advocate for retiring the breeding pair but if the animal is eating and is living past its fellow, then it may be that the deformity is not as severe an impact on its livelihood as previously thought.

 

[wolfen]

because of the large amount of eggs that axolotls lay there is always a chance of deformities, normally these would die early on with the healthy more hardy animals surviving.
the hatch rate and development can be affected by environmental conditions as much as genetics can.
due to this fact I would not advocate the retirement of the adult pair.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

because of the large amount of eggs that axolotls lay there is always a chance of deformities, normally these would die early on with the healthy more hardy animals surviving.
the hatch rate and development can be affected by environmental conditions as much as genetics can.
due to this fact I would not advocate the retirement of the adult pair.

also a fair point

 

[axolotl nerd]

because of the large amount of eggs that axolotls lay there is always a chance of deformities, normally these would die early on with the healthy more hardy animals surviving.
the hatch rate and development can be affected by environmental conditions as much as genetics can.
due to this fact I would not advocate the retirement of the adult pair.

wonderful points here, but i think that the clutch was accidental, so i don't foresee any future breeding. still a valid argument though

 

[Amadison143]

He finally passed yesterday and were down to 6 babies......