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10 year Axolotl not eating.

K

ksm

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My ten year old Axolotl is not eating.

He has been hand fed all his life, the method being dropping food directly above the centre of his head, which he then snaps up in classic Axolotl fashion. This method has worked pretty well for 10 years. We could easily get 8 or more snaps per session.

What I am seeing now is that he snaps once, and if he misses he gives up and walks away.

At the moment I am lucky if I get 1/6 the normal feeding done. I should note that he is not wasting away yet and doesn't look thin (still quite round in the body).

I have tried a frozen axolotl food mix waving it front of his head but with no reaction.

Getting very worried.
 
Skudo09

Skudo09

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Have you tested the parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH and temperature?

How long has he not shown interest in food?

Is there anything he could have swallowed?

Is he pooing normally?
 
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HitmanSougo13

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I had an axolotl like that he was super lazy. The question is whether or not he wants food. Can you rule out the water condition first then nail whether he is sick or not? What you can try is wriggle the food then drop it. I am guessing you feed it pellets. They respond to motion = possible food. Another thing you can try is change the food. For example they love feeder fish although it is not the best thing to feed them. It is one of those things where you learn their response to it right away, I have to hold the feeder fish's tail with a pair of chopsticks though since the kind I can find in pet stores swim too fast for my guys to catch them.
 
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ksm

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Water condition was not ideal - that has been fixed. I also turned the aquarium chiller done an extra degree to 19C. Lastly I replaced the overhand filter with an external canister filler (Ecco Pro 200). This is an awesome filter.

I think it is just age, however he seems to have lost his skill of catching pellets as they fall which is how I have been feeding him for ten years. He looks up and interest when I drop them but seems to miss everytime.

However I have now noticed that after the pellets have softened on the bottom of the tank he will hunt them down and suck them up - a skill I was not aware he had.

So I think that we can limp along like this for a few more years.:happy:
 
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