Question: What type is my axolotl? please help!

[CrazyCatLady]

SOOO, i bought an axolotl from a breeder online, i got him at 5 months old. My axolotl is now 6 months old, I've had him for a month. I was told he was a copper, he was very copper colored with slightly reddish tone in his gills. This last month he has just been getting darker, which makes me question is he really a copper? I think he may be a wildtype, but this is my first axolotl. I would like someone with knowledge of these animals to let me know what you think please!

thank you, cassie.

 

[Hayleyy]

Wow in the second photo it almost looks like a mosaic, the underside leucy and the top copper or wildtype. It could just be the lighting though!
Take a close look at the eyes, with a light shining. Both coppers and wilds have a reflective ring but coppers also have a red tinge to the eye (according to the link I have attached. My copper does have this).
Coppers usually will have the red gills and wilds black/purple gills. In the pictures it does look like the skin has some black tinge to it which coppers don't really have, as they are a type of albino.
It is normal for axolotl to slightly change colour as they age, my wildtype looks almost melanoid in the body now.
Do you have any photos of when you first got him? Do you know what his parents looked like? Try some different lighting to see if you can get a clearer photo of the skin.
Take a look at this link, it describes the types pretty well https://axolotlcity.com/different-types-of-axolotls/

 

[CrazyCatLady]

so the first picture is the day i got him, and the other photo is 2 weeks later, and the ones i posted on the thread were yesterday. let me know what you think, also i don't know what the parents were, the lady bought eggs online and hatched them to sell. she told me it was a copper but now i'm just not so sure.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

see his gills used to have a reddish tone, and now he looks almost wildtype.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

when he is big enough to have a friend i want either a lucy or a silver dalmatian (i think that's what they're called). do you know what age i should wait until i get him a buddy?

ps. also i just did the flashlight thing it looks like he has dark eyes with a little gold circle around the eye. but doesnt really shine much.

 

[Hayleyy]

I can't make the pictures bigger for some reason, but I am still thinking you could have a mosaic on your hands!
I would love a silver dalmation, but I don't think I can get them here in Aus, they're super pretty. If you had that and a mosaic you would be one lucky person! Leucys are also lovely, if I add another to my tank I will probably look for a speckled leucy.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I thought mosaics have like marks that are random and blotchy looking but mine is pretty much even everywhere the same pattern. But his under belly is very light.

 

[Hayleyy]

I think there can be a lot of variations, and from the pictures it does look like the underside is pretty bare of splotches. I could be completely wrong though, haha.
Or maybe it just has a loss of pigment, which can sometimes look like vitiligo. I've seen quite a few posts about this. Take a look at this thread https://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66100
Would love to see what other's think about your one!

 

[Bellabelloo]

From the first pictures I would say its a wild type. You'll find that on different substrates the colour will alter slightly. Maybe post a few more photo's after a few weeks when it has settled down in its new home