Dwarf Axolotl Special Care?

[Jonjey]

I have good reason to believe that one of my three axolotls may be a dwarf. The person I got him from said that he was always smaller than the rest of the axolotls that were born at the same time. I have a gold axolotl who is a similar age but is twice his size. He's just tiny, he's just over 2" long and eats less than my other axolotls, and where my other axolotls have grown a lot since I got them he's barely grown at all. I give him special attention because he only really eats if I dangle bloodworms in front of his face, he doesn't notice bloodworms if they're just in his feeding dish. He's also not the best hunter, we got some blackworms for him and put them in front of him and it took him a good 5 or 6 tries to actually catch one, and he doesn't seem to even notice the shrimp that are in the tank with him.
So with all that said, are there any health risks involved with possible dwarf axolotls? He's on sand right now, was thinking maybe since he's so small I should get him off of it.. The shrimp in his tank are too big for him to eat and they don't go near him. Is there anything I need to watch out for as far as growth patterns or possible deformities? Also would a full grown dwarf be okay to house with a full grown regular axolotl? I'm not sure how big a dwarf actually gets.

 

[auntiejude]

I think you might be confusing a genetic dwarf with just a small axie or a runt.

Dwarf axies look like someone has chopped out their middle section and stuck their head and tail together - they are a normal width, look relatively normal from the front, they are just short in the body. They don't tend to live long, although we have a member here who has raised a dwarf for over a year (and he's gorgeous), and they sometimes have internal organ problem due to the small size of their thoracic cavity.

Some axies just don't grow very big or are malnourished when very young and end up stunted. I currently have 2 babies from my January eggs who are only 2" while their siblings are 5". These runts may catch up if propery cared for, but may stay smaller than others. If you have to hand feed your mini-lotl until he catches up, thats what you have to do!

Either way, if your baby is under 5" it shouldn't be on sand yet - it could casue impaction. Axies living together should be about the same size, but you can house an 8" with a 10" quite happily - adults are more tolerant of size differences. Small ones should be within 1/2" in size to prevent bullying & nipping.