Axie hasn't eaten for about a month--do I force-feed?

Not sure what to do, really hoping for some advice!

After I got back from Thanksgiving break, my leucistic, Charm, was completely off her food. I had checked the water parameters before leaving, and they were perfect--0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, 10 ppm nitrates. Since it is winter in Colorado, the water temp never gets above 65F/18C. I had my mother check on her and feed her pellets while I was away and she texted me a video of her eating them, so it was only after I got back that the problem started.

Fast forward to the end of December. Over the entire month, I got her to eat part of a frozen bloodworm cube (she usually eats the whole thing in one bite!) and a bite of an earthworm, but that's it. It looked like she might eat the whole worm but she spit the rest out. I thought she might be constipated, so I put her into the fridge. (Her cloaca region had swelled up considerably and she was holding her back legs strangely.)

She pooped right away, so after three days I put her back in her tank, but she still wouldn't eat. I put her back in the fridge after Christmas, and left her for about a week and a half, doing the daily water changes. She passed some greenish goo and the skin on the bottom of her feet began to peel, but no poops or anything. She's in a bare-bottomed tank and the pet store had their axolotls on sand so there's no way she's swallowed gravel or anything like that. Unfortunately the coldest I could get her tub in the fridge was about 52F/11C. My fridge has been having issues with being really warm. I was putting ice water bottles next to her tub in the crisper drawer in an attempt to get her temp down a little more.

After doing some research I realized that I had definitely been over-feeding her with the pellets. I was doing about one bloodworm cube a week and too many pellets... I went out and got earthworms right away but she only ever took the one bite of one. But idk if she was impacted or anything b/c she was in the fridge for a week with no changes...

While she was in the fridge I stocked her tank with ten ghost shrimp, hoping that she might like to hunt, and re-balanced the water. I saw her snap at a shrimp once but she hasn't eaten any and still refuses earthworms and pellets.

Now, her cloaca might be swollen because she's simply a he.... Charm is about nine months old now I think. Not sure what to do about the not eating thing!!

Summary:
- Charm hasn't eaten more than two bites of food in six weeks.
- Charm spent a week in the fridge and pooped a regular poop once, but otherwise no change in condition.
- Charm has a bare-bottomed 20 gal tank with several hiding spots and a sponge filter. She shares it with some ghost shrimp and a marimo moss ball.
- Water temperature right now is 62F/16.7C
- Water parameters are:
--- PH: 8.0 - 8.2
--- Ammonia: 0 - 0.2 ppm
--- Nitrite: 0 ppm
--- Nitrate: 5 ppm


My biggest question is, should I try force-feeding? Keep offering worms, pellets, and bits of fish until she bites? Axies are supposed to live to be 10+ years old... I don't want to lose one to anorexia before she even turns 1!

Axolotls are unlikely to eat whilst in the fridge due to slowed metabolism. Are you changing the water in the tub daily? Could you post some photos, particularly of the cloacal region?

Sorry for not being clearer in the OP--Charm has been out of the fridge and back in her tank for about 4 days now. I knew that she wouldn't eat anything in the fridge, and when her condition didn't seem to be changing, I decided to put her back in her tank and keep offering food. When she was in the fridge, I changed the water daily using de-chlorinated water in a pitcher in the fridge also.

I just grabbed her (with clean hands!) out of the tank to take these pictures so she's royally pissed at me now...! Do you think the swelling is simply evidence that Charm is male? It happened over the course of about three days--tiny bump to BIG bump. I'm not entirely sure how axolotl sexual maturation works...

Good news is, he doesn't look starved. I don't think he looks bloated either, which would be bad. However, other people have better trained eyes when it comes to diagnosing bloat.

Their appetite drops off when they hit that age. Colder temperatures also make their appetite drop. But the greenish goo concerns me. I googled and can't find any good info now, but I thought I had read that greenish poop was a symptom of something like a parasite infection. And 1 month is a long time to be not eating.

When I had a similar situation (with 4 axolotls not eating but without the green poop), it turned out to be a cillia (protoxoan) infection. Apparently, cilia infections aren't common in axies, though. If at all possible, you should bring a stool sample to a vet. Of course, if he isn't eating, a stool sample is hard to get. And vet visits to qualified amphibian vets are expensive.

If you can't afford a vet visit or don't have access to a qualified one, see Axolotls - Health & Diseases for axolotl safe medications. (Note since you have high pH - Furan-2 is less effective.) The vet prescribed Flagyl for the cillia infection my axies had.

If you medicate, see the force-feeding tutorial. I recommend sitting on the floor so if/when the axie escapes your grip, he won't get hurt in the fall.

I second the vote for a vet, but I also have to ask whether you're certain he's not tried to eat some moss ball? Particularly if you've accidentally bought a fake one... I've seen some strangely put together pseudo moss balls over time. Could the green poo be algae?

Yes I have also read somewhere about green goo and protozoan infections. Definitely worth seeking vet treatment for this one. The cloacal region doesn't appear abnormal. Just looks like he is a male. His limbs don't look bloated but he is quite plump around the torso. Has he always been plump like that?

LSuzuki said:

If at all possible, you should bring a stool sample to a vet. Of course, if he isn't eating, a stool sample is hard to get. And vet visits to qualified amphibian vets are expensive.

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right... I don't think any poo is gonna happen...

it was a very small amount of clear green goo--like, a few tiny gobs per water change. I'd been googling it and couldn't find anything. Do you have any links with more info on protozoan infections? I have no idea where to even start trying to find an exotic vet in my area...

jclee said:

I second the vote for a vet, but I also have to ask whether you're certain he's not tried to eat some moss ball? Particularly if you've accidentally bought a fake one... I've seen some strangely put together pseudo moss balls over time. Could the green poo be algae?

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Totally sure. I didn't get the moss ball until after he was in the fridge and already passing the goo. And I wouldn't really call it poo. It was really weird... I wish I'd've taken a picture of it when I had the chance...

Skudo09 said:

Yes I have also read somewhere about green goo and protozoan infections. Definitely worth seeking vet treatment for this one. The cloacal region doesn't appear abnormal. Just looks like he is a male. His limbs don't look bloated but he is quite plump around the torso. Has he always been plump like that?

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He's always been kind of round and plump which is why I kept calling him "she" for so long...!

Also, one more quick question... assuming that Charm DOES have some kind of parasitic infection--how the heck did he get it?? From my tap water? If I end up successfully treating it somehow, what can I do to prevent a reoccurrance??

All his symptoms started before I got the moss ball or the ghost shrimp so I can't blame either of those things for causing it.

My vet thought the infection might have come from earthworms. If so, that is an unusual occurrence, according to many knowledgeable axolotl keepers.

Update on this situation:

I ordered the flagyl and some 1 ml syringes off the internet a while ago, but while I was waiting for them to arrive (2 day shipping) I managed to get Charm to eat a small piece of canned salmon, and then later to nibble on a cube of bloodworms. Charm used to eat the whole cube in one bite, but at least now every time I offer bloodworms, he'll nibble on it, which is good. I also looked over at the tank at some point right before the medicine arrived and saw Charm with his mouth wide open--I think he was eating one of the glass shrimp. I didn't actually see him catch it, but I saw him chewing. I started with 10 glass shrimp in there, and pulled out one dead body, but I only ever count 5 or 6 anymore. I know those suckers are good at hiding but I think Charm must have eaten at least two or three of them.

I've kept offering earthworms, but Charm spits them out. I think he doesn't like the taste? He is, however, accepting pellets again.

New questions:

- How much should I be feeding him, in order to prevent both starvation and overfeeding? I'm thinking of letting him nibble a few bites of bloodworms once a week, and offering just a couple pellets or small pieces of plain fish every day. I'm also thinking about trying some new foods, like frozen brine shrimp, and re-stocking the glass shrimp population of the tank and trying to see if I can catch him eating them.

- Is there a way I can entice him to eat the earthworms? He'll snap them up if they wiggle in front of him, but then spit them out. I've tried offering a frozen one but he just turns up his nose at it. I'm going to try blanching them next and cutting them into smaller pieces.

- Is there another food besides pellets and earthworms that will give him all the nutrition that he needs as a staple? The pellets have an ingredient in them that I am highly allergic to (wheat) so I'd like to stop using them if I can.

Especially if they're red wigglers, blanching can help a lot. At this point, I blanch my European nightcrawlers too since it just makes everything easier. Then they can't escape under a rock or into the sponge or something (that happened. Big worm. Into the sponge. Never saw it again).

Don't use red wigglers, use bait shop worms.

Adult diet should consist mainly of worms and beef heart.

Axolotls are picky eaters and may choose to fast rather than compromise.

Your axolotl is a male.

Stop taking him out of the water and flipping him over to take dirty pictures of him.

Green poop is probably from you stressing him out.

Stop worrying so much.

Let him live.

Chill.