Funny

I’d been here years ago and thought it would be a good idea to pop into the pet shop again. I still remember that pet shop from back when they used to have bears and ferrets. When they stopped selling those, they had a talking parrot, which I don’t see there anymore. This time there were lots of aquariums; one whole wall was full of smelly tanks, whilst another wall was full of clean and better-looking aquariums. I was a bit surprised that it was still so busy, unlike years ago. I suppose it doesn’t matter what the animals are like if you’re the only shop in the area.

There weren’t many aquatic plants, just a few terrariums with a snake, a tarantula and, I think, a gecko; that was about it.

Tucked away a bit amongst the other terrariums was a 25-litre aquarium containing these adorable little creatures. No, not the one in the first photo – an axolotl – but the ones in the photos below. There were three of them in there.

Oh, how cute. As funny as they look, this is a rather expensive creature that can live to a ripe old age in captivity. This is in contrast to the wild. The axolotl is virtually extinct. There are probably no more than 1,000 left.

What are we actually looking at?
This is a salamander. One that has remained in its baby stage and does not develop beyond this stage, at least in theory, as there are cases where they do turn into salamanders.
As for their behaviour, they put anything in their mouths that’s bigger than their heads, and of course that’s far from healthy. The question is therefore whether they die from stupidity or from pollution. Presumably both.

What surprises me is that the axolotls in this shop are still alive. The water temperature is 25.5 degrees Celsius, which, according to the information provided, is too high. High enough to make them ill. This also applies to the coloured stones on the bottom. Life-threatening! Furthermore, the tank is far too small. Around 100 litres per animal is desirable, preferably even more. In a shop like this, of course, you don’t need to worry about that. They assume these animals will be sold as quickly as possible. I hope that anyone deciding to buy such an animal does not do so in this shop. The animal will probably not live long.

What I see is an axolotl. They are capable of reproducing. These are their own baby salamanders and are therefore cold-water animals. They are widely studied, particularly because they also have the ability to regrow limbs. Perhaps something that could be useful in healthcare.
Btw, it seems this animal is famous, mainly because of the drawings you can find online.

_{23-4-2026
For the source of this contest + the first photo see here; the other photos are mine}