My axolotl never moves!

[tianh]

Hey guys,

Just got my axolotl from electronfusion(Great guy to deal with btw!) However my axolotl never swims or anything. It just stays there for hours on end. Sometimes it walks a little bit, but thats it! It doesn't even eat when I try to feed it! However it did just eat a guppy of mines while I was sleeping.

My water is at 19-20 C.


Is this normal? Maybe it takes a week or two for the axolotl to "adjust" to the tank before he starts swimming alot?(It's been about two days)

[Neo]

Give it time, your axolotl needs to adjust to his new surroundings. Do you have other fish in your tank apart from guppies? I certainly hope not as they can nibble at the axies gills and can be eaten as you already know.

Your temperature is at it's max, please try and cool it down by freezing some water in a bottle and floating it in your tank (do not put the ice directly in the tank)

As for eating, it has only been two days... I wouldn't worry about him not eating just yet. Try not to disturb him too much, as he may get stressed.

What are you feeding him?

[tianh]

Originally Posted by sek

Give it time, your axolotl needs to adjust to his new surroundings. Do you have other fish in your tank apart from guppies? I certainly hope not as they can nibble at the axies gills and can be eaten as you already know.

Your temperature is at it's max, please try and cool it down by freezing some water in a bottle and floating it in your tank (do not put the ice directly in the tank)

As for eating, it has only been two days... I wouldn't worry about him not eating just yet. Try not to disturb him too much, as he may get stressed.

What are you feeding him?

Thanks for the prompt response Sek.


At current, I only have guppies in there. I had three, now there is only 2. I am trying to feed him Salmon pellets at the moment!

I will try cooling it down a bit. I sure hope its just a matter of getting used to his surroundings. He/she is so boring! :P

[Daz]

What Sek says is right, although after a little survey a few months ago you'll find that most of us have our Axies at 19-20 (sometimes more) and they are all very healthy and so I don't think temperature is an issue here (although some do seem to like it cooler).

Salmon pellets arnt great food, they're not very natural. Earthworms and Bloodworms would give your axie a little more life, especially live as he'd get a bit of movement to stimulate him.

Also try adding sunken ping pong balls, driftwood, moss balls etc to give him something to climb on and play with. Move the tank around to add some entertainment for him when seeking out his surroundings or maybe ever use floating toys etc.

The more you can do to make your tank not just a big glass prison the better.

[Ed]

What everyone else said! Also some axies just dont move for days at a time but then again some axies dont stop moving for days at a time they are all very individual like that! If he caught a guppy he might just be on the move at night in the dark and just sleep or stay still all day. Do you have lighting in the tank if the lights on its common for axies to just hide away untill the light goes out!

[Dolores]

I had about the same question about a month ago. My male axie didn't move at all and was still hiding at the same spot al day. The only time I saw him moving was when I turned on the light in the middle of the night.
Now he became so much more.... confident. He is walking around, he follows me everywhere I go, he also followes my finger and tries to nibble it (in the beginning he was a bit "scared" of my finger and everytime he saw it he backed away from it...)

So yeah, they need to get used to their new home and if they did they're such a great pet! (Well... actually, they always are)