My axolotl hasn't eaten for 2 weeks.

[Munchausen]

My axolotl hasn't eaten in 2 weeks, even when I offer him food. If he does bite food, he'll spit it out. Back in Thanksgiving he got sick from eating minnows, which I rarely feed him. I put TankBuddies' fungus remover in and he got better from the fungus and started eating like normal. Then, I had to be away for a while, so I turned the heat off in the apartment and the temperature went down to the 50s degrees Farenheit for a while. Around Christmas time I returned and he wouldn't eat, but I thought nothing of it, because his metabolism must have gone way down. Now I'm getting really worried. I had the water tested, and all the measures of water quality seem fine, except maybe for the hardness, the water is a little soft. The temperature is about 62 degrees farenheit now. I can't sit by the aquarium all day with a worm hoping he'll eat it. He's eaten fishing worms for 3 years and loves them. What can I do to help him? He's looking really thin and I'm worried!

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[Eric]

Were the minnows quarantined before you fed them to him? If not, this could be the source of his illness. Im not sure when he could pick up from them, but perhaps someone on the forums will.

[Munchausen]

The minnows were not quarantined individually, but they did live in a seperate container for a few months before they were offered to my axolotl. The minnows were rosie red/fathead minnows, and they did not display any fungus or anything.

This may not be good, but in my desperation to get him to eat something, I found the smallest minnows I could, just to get some calories in him. Could it be possible that he now doesn't have the energy to eat because its been so long? I put some TankBuddies fungus clear to kill the fungus before it gets to him. These things are tiny and move around alot, I'm hoping he'll snap them up so I can feed him worms later.

[Eric]

Axies can go a while without eating. Try live bloodworms? They are small, wiggly, and may get him to eat. I also am not sure what TankBuddies is, so I have no idea if pouring that in with him was a good idea or could be harmful.

[Munchausen]

This is TankBuddies. I looked up its active ingredients on this site or Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center. I've used it for years and its safe for treatment of fungus on axolotls.

[Rayson]

Check that your water parameters are all fine, especially ammonia and nitrites. Check that there are no hidden accumulations of detritus and that the temperature is cool.

If your axie has fungus, salt baths are the safest and most effective treatment method. As fungal infections occur secondarily to an underlying condition, there must be something not ideal in the tank environment.

Try live black or bloodworms if possible and perhaps chop the earthworms into smaller segments. You can also try novel treats like shrimp. Schedule the feeding sessions at dawn or dusk as these times are when axies are most actively feeding.

Tankbuddies are not recommended for use in axies. Their active constituents are nitrofurazone, furazolidone and potassium dichromate. Although they are not 'immediately fatally toxic' like malachite green, they can accumulate in the tissues and liver and chronic long term usage can still result in toxicity and organ damage.

Furthermore with use of medication, no medication should be put directly into the main tank water. Any treatments should be carried out in a separate basin/tub and the axie returned into the main tank environment after a bath treatment. Axies are fully aquatic and cannot 'escape' from water dosed with medication. The medication can also alter or kill off beneficial bacteria essential for the cycling process.

[Munchausen]

Good news, my axolotl is back to normal and eating earth worms. I treated the minnows I bought from the store in tank buddies, then I put them in his tub of water and he eventually ate them. After he got his strength back, he got a worm down and was good as new.

I'll use salt baths from now on instead, even if they are more work.