Please help identify!

[natalie]

Please tell me if you know what this species is:

I live in Australia and have had him for about 6 years and i still don't know what species he is! (Ignore the brown stuff he is meant to be pink)

 

[ralf]

Looks like an axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) after induced metamorphosis.

 

[dane]

looks skinny, (s)he needs to be fattened up

 

[joao]

Maybe an albino Pachyhynobius shangchengensis ??

 

[kaysie]

She's in Australia. There are (legally) no other salamanders but axolotls there.

 

[ravenous]

It does look like a morphed lotl. That could also explain the look of general ill health.

 

[andy]

Hello.
I think also, that it is a morphed Axolotl.
Not verry beautiful

 

[cameron]

Poor thing. It looks as if it is dead. Where did you find it/get it.

 

[jennifer]

Metamorphosed leucistic axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum). If she's had it for 6 years, it can't be too terribly sickly. I agree though, it looks a little on the thin side. What are you feeding it?

 

[natalie]

I always thought the head shape wasn't broad enough to be a morphed axolotyl which generaly don't live that long after metamorphosis and I am aware of some very underhanded animal dealing going on in Australia, although i heard a rumor there was one legal species of salamander besides Axolotyls. I saw one just like mine at a petshop once and asked about it and the guy said he bred them but was very tight lipped about it and wouldn't say anything else, the petshop has changed hands about 6 times since then.

My little pink friend was from an aquarium shop and he basically looks the same as when I got him (minus the brown fuzz) he has always had a crooked spine, stubby black fingers and been really skinny. I worried about that when i first got him, but he has been alive this long! I feed him mealworms and the occasional cricket but its hard to feed him because he hides during the day(and has a very bad aim). recently he came out and looked too thin and brown (some mealworms escaped and fell into his tank and fouled the water)so I put him in a clean quaranteen tank so i could change the water and feed him alot but he was too stressed and kept shedding every 2 days! So I cleaned his tank and put him back and he seems ok. I'd like to finaly identify him so I know exactly what conditions he needs, I'm planning to get him a new tank.
And thats my life story!

 

[joseph]

I'd take some good head shot and side shots so we can see him/her better. But I think morphed lotl is a safe guess.

 

[jennifer]

Even if there were another species of salamander available in Australia, I've never seen a "natural" salamander that is white with black eyes (watch, someone is going to find a photo of one....). I believe it's a color mutant, and that can mean only one thing: axolotl.

Some morphed axies do live for many years. Putting them through metamorphosis is risky, and some don't live long, but some do OK. This would not be the first to live for many years.

Regarding your comment "the guy said he bred them but was very tight lipped about it and wouldn't say anything else". Of course he didn't want to admit how he produces them - by treatment with hormones or iodine.

I'd recommend expanding his diet. Can you get earthworms? Dusted crickets are also good. Occasional raw fish or shrimp. If you teach him to feed from your fingers, or tongs, that might make his life easier - and prevent mealworms dieing in his water dish.

These might help with housing ideas:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups3.shtml

 

[natalie]

Hmmm... well if he is a morphed axy then i can get him a friend for his new tank after i have fattened him up(I would love to get a brown one that doesn't look like a foetus), but heres the dilemma i have, he might be happy to have a friend after 6 years of being alone! or he could fight with the newcomer/catch a disease/generaly be annoyed and die.
-opinions guys?

 

[jennifer]

He could conceivably catch a disease from the newcomer, but it's not too likely. If they have a sufficiently large tank, they are unlikely to fight.

I don't want to be a spoil-sport, but please also consider that if you buy another, you are paying your money to support the people who "do this" to axolotls. They perform this sort of medical alteration for profit, sometimes at the cost of the animals' health. There is no guarantee that a new one would live as long as this one has.

 

[daniel]

This salamander kind of looks like a Eurycea spelaeus (Grotto Salamander), but im no exspert.. examine the similarites yourself...
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Eurycea/E_spelaeus.shtml

 

[ryan]

True but the image Natalie posted seems to have a flattened tail, a grotto salamander does not.