Question: Axie perched high up in tank, ill? Sleeping?

LunaandArte

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Hello fellow Axie owners! :D

So I came home earlier today to find one of my two axies, Luna, extremely still, feet against the filter and nose practically touching the waters surface. At first, I wasn't very concerned as he has done something like this before, so I left him be for a bit. Two hours later, I came down to find him in the same place and started to panick. I tried poking him a fair bit to see if he would respond but he didn't at all, as if he'd died. Eventually, he moved slightly and then sank straight down to the bottom. In the following 30mins or so, he swam round the tank a bit, climbed back up the plant next to the filter to a fair hight and I later found him chilling out at the font of the tank as usual.

My question is, is this something to be concerned about? Could he be ill or stressed? The same kind of occurrence has happened before with Luna, around 3 times in total since we got them both in late August 2016 though he's never been so unresponsive or stayed there long. He showed no other signs of stress at the time that I saw and seemed okay after. From having a look on the forum already, I'm aware that Luna might have just been resting/sleeping but it seems like such a dangerous uncomfortable place for a nap. Any ideas or help would be much appreciated.

As I was more concerned about getting him down quickly, I didn't get a photo of where he was on the filter , though I did get a couple when he climbed back up the plant next to it which demonstrate the height. The red circle is where his head originally was, almost above the water line.

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I would move your tall plant to a different part of the tank away from the filter. I would guess your axolotls are just climbing the plant which happens to be by the filter.

You will probably see them climbing the plant wherever you decide to move it. In the future, I would avoid putting any tall plants near the filter to keep the axolotls from hurting themselves!
 
Hello! Thank you for your reply. The only problem with doing that is I have the plant there in order to break up the current from the filter, which bothered them a fair bit before doing so

Update: since the last time I posted, he has done this atleast 3 times
 
I had a similar problem with my axolotl a while back, and it's not really a big deal. It could be that your axie just enjoys floating at the top, (as that's pretty common), or it could be that she swallowed some air and is now floating, if that's the case, she'll sink over time. If your axie hasn't pooped in a while, she could be floating because she's constipated. If that's the case, try putting her in the fridge for a few hours, and she should be fine. Best of luck :)
 
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