Hi

i have been keeping and breeding axolotls for 37 years, i have only every seen meramorphs as a result of thyroxin injections carried out over a period of 2-4 weeks, complete metamorphs occurs on these time scales. I may also be worth mentioning the hybrid origins of the strain(gold) you have in the USA, there is a second strain from Russia in the late 1960,s( let me know if you would like any more info on these)The metamorphs that i have attempted to breed with have done so after a drying & cooling period of 2/4 months,simalar to the tiger salamanders captive breeding stratergy. One very intresting point to note regarding the tadpoles from these spawnings are firstly a low hatch rate approx 20%, the surviving tadpoles do something quite odd,with the exception of a small number metamorph at approx 6-8 months of age,these animal seem to live very much as a terrestral animal,they are currently at 2nd generation, i should point out that the life span record for my animals is currently 10 years, i will be worth noting other examples.As to just adding thyroxin to the water i have tried this only to the detrement of the axolotls involved, injection seems the only reliable route. It is often reported that axolotls can metamorph naturaly, i have keept many thousands and have never seen this, however i do know of several people who have. If i can help you any further please let me know and i would be happy to.



Ian

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