Axolotls are carnivores, meaning they eat other animals. Their diet mostly consists of invertebrates such as worms and insects, as well as small fish. They hunt using their sense of smell and suck prey into their mouths like a vacuum.
Axolotls are freshwater creatures who live in a small area in Mexico, in a system of canals that was once a lake. The water is relatively cold, rarely exceeding 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Axolotls are able to regenerate entirely lost limbs in a few months, and can even regenerate some parts of their central nervous system, tail, eye and heart.
Axolotls typically experience Neoteny, meaning they retain the characteristics of the juvenile even as they grow into adults. Most amphibians begin life in the water with gills, only to undergo metamorphosis to develop lungs and a body more suitable for land-dwelling.
Axolotls, however, usually retain their gills and remain water-dwelling their entire lives. This is due to a lack of hormone usually produced by the thyroid. If this hormone is artificially administered, an axolotl will undergo metamorphosis and more closely resemble other related adult salamanders, though this can be dangerous to the animal.
