If you shine a UV light on your Axolotl and their head looks like it has GFP but it's body does not, that is what we call a cranial glow. The only Axolotls that display this is the one true Albino we call a "Golden" Albino, any Axanthic blend, and any Hypomelanistic blend. Golden Albinos when blended with any other phenotype besides Axanthic or Hypomelanistic do not display it. Yet on their own they do.

     Typically we have been identifying Hypomelanistic babies at a young age by certain characteristics. I actually did this with my "Cashew" and "French Vanilla" clutch that I have had recently and determined the whole clutch was some sort of Hypomelanistic blend which proved my "French Vanilla" to be Hypomelanistic as well. As they grew I began to question myself because this clutch was darkening up.

     I have learned that Hypomelanistic Axolotls come in many different shades as do all the other phenotypes. I then remembered that when shining a UV light on them they will display a cranial glow. Every single baby I had shows the cranial glow from that clutch. This then further vindicated my original identification of these babies.

     Remember, Hypomelanistic is just like the other 5 recessive phenotypes we already know about. It is not just something we will find only one or a few in one whole clutch. It varies in shades as well. Not every light Axolotl is Hypomelanistic. It has to be passed down from both parents. This study has already happened and been proven over and over again with many different pairings by several different breeders. But, it has been hidden so long that we are now beginning to be able to find it as a hidden het in some of our Axolotls when bred to a homozygous Hypomelanistic or heterozygous Hypomelanistic.

     If there is a chance your clutch would have Hypomelanistics in it, and you're questioning yourself like I did, you can do this little trick and see if ones that shouldn't have a cranial glow display it. Shine a UV light on your Albino or any Axanthic blend, or any Hypomelanistic blend.Axolotl and if their head looks like it has GFP but it's body does not, that is what we call a cranial glow!