If you’re new to axolotls, you’ve probably experienced that initial moment of anxiety when you first catch sight of one in your tank. It’s just a little clear blob with some wispy gills, barely bigger than your thumbnail, and you immediately begin wondering if it will ever reach adult size. Because there are mixed opinions on the internet regarding how quickly these water-dwelling salamanders mature, its easy to become unnecessarily panicked. Fortunately, what happens isn’t as complicated as most would assume.
During the early stages of development, axolotls grows quite quickly. However, once they reaches adulthood, they drastically reduce their growth rate. This makes perfect sense and learning this pattern will help you feed your axolotl without fear of starvation or obesity.
How Fast Do Axolotls Grow?
Early weeks are crucial Axolotls is fueled by their yolk sac for a few days from the moment they hatch before they start hunting. That period of development is frenetic. Their body are establishing the foundations for adulthood. Most of their physical growth happen in the first six months. During those months, you must feed them daily. Regular feeding is not an option but a necessity; it establishes the bone structure and muscle mass that carry them through many years. Missing a meal doesn’t train self-control, it results in weak-bodied and underdeveloped animals.
Beyond the juvenile phase, it all changes dynamically again. They’ll start to fill out instead of growing as fast then in length. You’ll see their legs thicken up and their head get wider. At this stage, morph colors will start showing through. Wild-types will turn the typical pale sand-colored body with darker spots; leucistics will even out into their white/pink coloration. Because the early stages can be somewhat washed-out, it’s not until about 3 months that pigmentation starts to stabilize. And as they grow older, the rate slows down (from two centimeters/month to only millimeters). Here’s a growth chart illustrating how slow they go:
The main lever is your control here: temperature. Room temperature is comfortable for most folks. It’s not for axolotls. People often keep their tanks too warm because it feels comfortabley to them, but water above twenty degrees Celsius increase an axolotl’s metabolism, burning off energy stores and decreasing their lifespan. If you slow it down by keeping the tank cooler (think sixteen or seventeen degrees), they’ll live longer. Why? It leads to a stronger immune system and healthier tissue growth.
It’s a balance between longevity vs. It is about speed. Longevity wins every time. And if the animal lives long, there isn’t much difference in their final size, but there is a huge difference in their quality of life.
A special trait is that these aquatic salamanders can regenerates, but it takes a lot of metabolism to do so. They can grow back body parts, limbs, and even part of their brain. This process uses a lot of energy. If you feed them poorly or keep them in dirty water, their regeneration slows down dramatically. Ammonia is deadly to their gill health. You must have zero ammonia in your water. Dirty water will burn their gills, causing damaged gills, poor oxygen uptake, slower growth and poor recovery.
You don’t need fancy tools to track their progress. Just take a picture each month with a ruler in the shot and you’ll have all the information you need. The goal isn’t big leaps but gradual increases over time. When they stop growing, you check the water parameters, then the temp, and lastly the diet. I find that a combination of pellets and earthworms (the latter being the gold standard due to both its bioavailabilty and high protein content) out-performs just feeding pellets, as pellets lack sufficient nutrition on their own.
Following these cues and making changes as needed transforms guesswork into confidence. Instead of wondering if they’re OK, you have certainty, and that peace of mind is priceless regardless of how much they grow.
You should of watched them closely.
