He points to a tank full of roughly footlong salamanders, and they're only teenagers. MONTE MCGREGOR: These are juveniles. They're about 14 months old. They like to swim with their tail.

These aquatic salamanders hail from Mexico and are larger than many other salamander species. In some cases, they even grow up to 18 inches long. Experts recommend a 20-gallon tank for axolotls ...