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Gender and Sexual Maturity in Axolotls

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Axolotls can reach sexual maturity anywhere between 5 months and a few years of age, depending on feeding frequency, food quality, and water temperature and conditions. Generally, somewhere between one and one and a half years old is a good time to judge the sex of your axolotl.

Signs of Approaching Maturity

The first sign your axolotl is nearing sexual maturity is a change in the colouration of its fingertips — lighter-coloured axolotls will develop darker fingertips, while darker-coloured axolotls will develop lighter ones.

Females

Around the age of full sexual maturity, females become noticeably larger (fatter) than males, since they’re gravid — carrying eggs. Their cloaca (the opening behind the back legs) stays relatively small.

Axolotl gender comparison photo

Males

Males are generally slimmer than females, with a noticeably larger cloaca.

Axolotl gender comparison photo

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