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Question: New home, curled gills

georgiarh10

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First-time tank owner here. I got my new son delivered to me from his previous owner in a critter keeper-type box, which I floated in the tank for a while to even out temperature. I poured some of the new tank water in, slowly, until the critter keeper was full, then I took most of that water out and filled again, increasing the ratio of new to old water. Then I submerged the critter keeper really slowly and 'poured' the axolotl into the tank. He stayed still for the longest time on the sand, then found a really interesting way to get into his hide and stayed there for ages. He's now very slowly exploring, mostly by circling the log hide and then hiding for a few minutes, then coming out and circling again, hiding again.

He was flapping his gills quite a lot when he was inside the critter keeper (understandably as he'd just been for a ride in the car!) but that seems to have slowed down a bit and he's not doing it so excessively now. His gills are curled a bit though and that is what worries me... his tail isn't curled though which i take to be good. I did realise the other day that the filter I am using might be a size too large for my setup, but I have a fair amount of silk plants in there and they aren't moving so it doesn't look like the water is flowing too hard.

Does this sound good so far? I've never owned an aquatic creature before so am clueless and prone to panic. When should I expect his gills to settle down? He was fed before being dropped off to me, how long should I wait to feed him again?

I am keeping him in a room with the curtains closed and a towel over the tank for now until he settles in.
 

georgiarh10

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I am using a canister filter, with the spray bar attachment pointed towards the glass and the plants forming a barrier in front of it so he can't get too close.

What are the best foods for adult axolotls? There are a couple of frozen pre-made axie foods I can buy from my LFS but they have differing ingredients - what should I be looking for?
 

Cloppy

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I have always thought the best food for axies is live earthworms, bloodworms, blackworms. You can feed them frozen bloodworms though, but I think if I had to choose, I would feed live earthworms/nightcrawlers as a staple diet.
 
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