Gary Coleman of axolotls

[Martin21114]

Hello,

I've been raising a batch of axolotls and 1 little guy hasn't been growing at all. He's stuck as a tiny little peanut. Here's a picture of him with one of the others from the same batch of eggs. They hatched around last Christmas. Other than being little he seems normal (reacts to stimuli, eats & swims normally).

 

[hannahll]

That's kinda cute.. I hope he's alright though!

 

[demiegab]

I have one (not that small) that seems to stop growing while his tankmates were growing, I have yet to find an answer for it but mine seems to be doing good. Good luck

 

[GlowingCool]

It also looks like it is not developing limbs, I would say that it has an endocrine issue. It is not producing hormones needed for growth and development. It will most likely stay that way forever as it would be a birth defect in either part of the brain that triggers the hormone release or in the gland that produces the hormone itself. I would suspect that it would have a shortened life span, but that does not mean that I couldn't live for years that way.

It could also be missing the genes that code for the next stage of development leaving it somewhat frozen in development. Random mutation and gene deletion are not uncommon in amphibians. Most simply do not survive, but since you provide such a good environment for it natural selection does not take place.

 

[Alkylhalide]

That is actually really interesting! You should keep us updated on this little one.

 

[FX1C]

Nawwww it's a ditty teacup lotl



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[snuggly time]

Please name him Peter Pan!

 

[wandering]

Not sure if its helpful but I got a group of 13 at just got legs stage and one didn't grow. I separated it and put its tank in a warmer spot 22 degrees v 18. Fed it with white worms and daphnia and BBS. It started to grow. Think it just needed to be warmer. It caught up with the rest of the group in a few weeks.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[gar4016]

It could also be missing the genes that code for the next stage of development leaving it somewhat frozen in development. Random mutation and gene deletion are not uncommon in amphibians. Most simply do not survive, but since you provide such a good environment for it natural selection does not take place.

To add to this, I would think in the wild there would be pretty strong selection against this type of trait in larval salamanders because of the increased likelihood of predation at this size. Even in captivity I would imagine that he'd be eaten by his siblings pretty quick as soon as soon as their mouths were big enough for it.

Either way, keep us updated in his development, or lack thereof.