salamanders in pet shops?
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Bluetongue1
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Try reading this from the article quoted earlier. It might put to bed some of the misinformation that has been floated. The same person, Oceanblue, has another post there worth a squiz. I will simply add that spontaneous metamorphosis does sometimes occur but it is very rare. Secondly, there is no evidence of hybridisation in natural populations. From:Is it hard to morph axolotls? - Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum....
I wish people would actually read each of the posted links - because there is still a lot of misinformation floating around. A axolotyl metamorphosing as a last ditch effort to escape really bad living conditions. Sorry, but the only thing that will cause them to change into is a corpse.
Many axolotls have been subjected over the years to attempts to morph them and many of these attempts have been cruel. However a lot has been learned from properly conducted published works.
If appropriate doses of thyroid hormone are given in an appropriate way to a young axolotl about the size a tiger salmander would normally morph they morph into a creature which is robust and usually lives as long as a tiger salamander.
They do not often morph in bad water conditions and attempts to morph them by warming, lowering the water or using iodine are cruel and ineffective.
Hormone treatment applied too early results in tiny salamanders which do not feed well and treatment of sexually mature axolotls results in morphs which seem to drop dead very quickly, so there is some truth in the story it shortens their life.
With regard to the ethics of creating a morphed salamander I see it as less evil than taking a wild bred tiger salamander from a breeding population and shipping it halfway round the world (I believe all the tigers available to me in the UK are of such a type).
The hormones used to produce morphing are not readily available without prescription in most countries. There is someone who appears to be suppying well artificially morphed axolotls into the Australian market.
I have artificially morphed one of my axolotls. It is a healthy creature, now three years old and interesting and different in a big way from my other axies. Early in the morphing proces it ate like mad, then ate nothing for eight weeks before settling down into an easy to care for healthy salamander. It burrows in soil but still also likes to sit below the surface in a shallow bowl of water.
Done right morphing is not cruel, they should not die in the process and they should live years. Despite that my advice is unless you know what you are doing- don't. If your axolotl is already adult I believe that attempting to morph it is cruel and justifies reporting as such to the animal welfare organisations such as (in the UK) the RSPCA.
I wish people would actually read each of the posted links - because there is still a lot of misinformation floating around. A axolotyl metamorphosing as a last ditch effort to escape really bad living conditions. Sorry, but the only thing that will cause them to change into is a corpse.
Many axolotls have been subjected over the years to attempts to morph them and many of these attempts have been cruel. However a lot has been learned from properly conducted published works.
If appropriate doses of thyroid hormone are given in an appropriate way to a young axolotl about the size a tiger salmander would normally morph they morph into a creature which is robust and usually lives as long as a tiger salamander.
They do not often morph in bad water conditions and attempts to morph them by warming, lowering the water or using iodine are cruel and ineffective.
Hormone treatment applied too early results in tiny salamanders which do not feed well and treatment of sexually mature axolotls results in morphs which seem to drop dead very quickly, so there is some truth in the story it shortens their life.
With regard to the ethics of creating a morphed salamander I see it as less evil than taking a wild bred tiger salamander from a breeding population and shipping it halfway round the world (I believe all the tigers available to me in the UK are of such a type).
The hormones used to produce morphing are not readily available without prescription in most countries. There is someone who appears to be suppying well artificially morphed axolotls into the Australian market.
I have artificially morphed one of my axolotls. It is a healthy creature, now three years old and interesting and different in a big way from my other axies. Early in the morphing proces it ate like mad, then ate nothing for eight weeks before settling down into an easy to care for healthy salamander. It burrows in soil but still also likes to sit below the surface in a shallow bowl of water.
Done right morphing is not cruel, they should not die in the process and they should live years. Despite that my advice is unless you know what you are doing- don't. If your axolotl is already adult I believe that attempting to morph it is cruel and justifies reporting as such to the animal welfare organisations such as (in the UK) the RSPCA.
SteveNT
Very Well-Known Member
Yea funny hey? They are FROM the tropics. Mexican Walking Fish (Axolotol) from Mexico!
GeckoJosh
Almost Legendary
The lake they are native to (Lake Xochimilco) rarely exceeds 20 degrees celcius
The hybridisation is in captive populations not wild populations. Read it, its an interesting paper. They are only found in one lake now anyway far from where tiger salamanders occur so would be a bit difficult.
Steve they are from cold water, regardless of where that water is located
Steve they are from cold water, regardless of where that water is located
@Waterrat as I may not have any references for you for it being "extremely life threatening" it is my own opinion. I beleive it to be extremely life threatening because it takes years off their lives and the stress they undergo which is forced upon them is cruel and uncalled for, more cases then so its with dodgy attempts and the axies dont make it (do you really think people will be posting about their failed attempt of morphing on the internet) If they did live long lives their would be many people boasting about their morphed axolotls on forums, I was also reading a while back about someone that had an axie morph on its own which survived just past 10 years instead of just a couple. An axie in captivity will live for 10-15 years on average.
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