Urgent!!!

A

amanda

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I just bought a friend an axolotl for a x-mas present that she has wanted for years.

But just tonight she has started floating. So I read some other posts and you said to rub her tummy so I did that and she burped. And seemed fine.

But just now (fifteen minutes later) she is squirming around like she is in pain. And looks like she is trying to vomit or burp.

I think I should put her in the fridge for a little while because we live in Australia and this might be because of the heat here that might be giving her this reaction but my boyfriend thinks that this will just stress her out even more. At the moment there are no pebbles in the tank and there was none in the tank at the pet shop so i don't think she has swallowed any pebbles. Also I have noticed she hasn't eaten in three days...

I am just new to axolotls and I really hope she gets better before i give her to my friend.
Can anyone give me some advice
Very much appreciated
 
When they're new, they'll do weird things to get adjusted to their environment. It probably won't eat for a few days, and that's okay. What are you trying to feed?

Have you cycled the tank? If not, it would be highly advisable to do so, unless you have a very large tank for a very small axolotl. Read http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml for a better idea on cycling.

Unless it's really hot, I would let the axolotl adjust to the tank before putting it in the fridge. But if it's really hot, then most definately the best place for it is in the fridge.

Axolotls will come up for air, and will yawn, and will burp, and will do lots of strange things. Have you read www.axolotl.org yet? This is a good place for beginners to start. It gives you lots of good information to start from.

Good luck!!
 
hi,
thanks for the reply.
Well, I finally convinced my boyfriend to let me put her in the fridge. And yeah it has been 40 degrees here almost every day in Australia.

Yeah we have cycled her tank about once a day because the water gets very murky.

We are feeding her some pellets that the pet store gave us called "Axolotl Food". But we are thinking of some different food for her.

Yeah I have already read that sight and it did give me some starters.

She seems to be better now that she is in the fridge she has become more active and has actually pooed for the second time in 3 days.

The thing that scared me was that it looked like she was having a fit when she was trying (to what it looked like to me) to burp.
She was flicking around.

Is this normal?
 
cycled her tank once a day? cycling takes around a month, if not longer to complete and stays that way unless you clean out your tank completely or take away lots of bacteria. have a through read of that link joan gave ya.
earthworms are a great staple (make sure they come from a chemical free source), bloodworms (rather messy), special frozen axie food, mealworms (cut their heads off), blackworms etc etc.
im not sure what you mean by 'flicking around'. was she flicking her gills? because thats a normal thing they do to get more oxygen
 
I can't comment on the burping, but some of the other points you mentioned there I can reply to.

Cycling the tank is not just turning on the filter for a while, its the process of letting the tank settle and "grow" its natural balance. Usually requires a couple of weeks to a month (depending on the tank) If the tank is murky it soudn like you might not have cleaned the tank ornaments well enough or cleaned up after the axie?
And don't trust those "axolotl food" pellets in the purple plastic jar, because axies aren't that good at just picking up something from the bottom of the tank unless its moving around. (Mine only eats them when i drop them on his head.) I'd get some earth worms or black worms (you can get these in a plastic package that you just pour some out of, and because they're alive in the water inside they move and the axie munches them)
Even though some people will warn you off chicken/beef heart/liver, if the axie isn't taking the pellets, it should gobble down some slivers of this as they smell the blood.

How long has the tank been set up? and what sort of axie have you got? Where in aussie are you?
 
Hi,

I am sorry I thought cycling was getting rid of some of the water and replacing it. My boyfriend has been doing that almost once a day.

Sharn, no its not the flicking of the gills I have seen that and I know that is normal. When she was flicking it looked like she was trying to get her nose to touch her back legs. Do you understand? She has stopped now that we have put her in the fridge.

Charles, I only got the axolotl on Saturday so it has only been set up for around 4 days. I have a black axie. And I live in far north Queensland.

Thanks for the replys I hope you understand me
dizzy.gif
 
The flicking sounds a little concerning.

Have a close look behind your axies gills, there may be fungus or small white fluffy looking things there.

I had a small problem with one of my juvaniles recently, he started flicking about a bit like you have described because he had the start of a fungal growth behind his gills. This is easily treated with salt baths though.

I could be wrong (hopefully) but it would be worth having a good close look.

On a brighter note, welcome to the forum.
 
Hi,
Just me again. Well, after putting her in the fridge for a little while and letting me give her belly rubs she seems to have burped a fair bit and is no longer floating.

She seems to be a lot happier.

We went and bought some worms today and she seemed to have a little nibble at them so I think she will be okay.

Thanks guys for the advice.
I will let you know if I have any more problems.
 
That's good to hear. Give it a few days and it should start eating happily.
 
hi amanda
what type of worms did you buy and were did you buy them from.
 
So you can give them a bit of a rub and a gentle squeeze and it dislodges or help things pass through?
 
But rubbing wouldn't be too good too often,the skin wouldn't like it and could bruise or rip creating skin problems,and the acid on our skin burns.Although they look funny bobbing at the top they do eventually let it out on their own,my advice would be to let the axie cruise in its tank and adjust.My Diablo took 3 days to act normal.(Lol,normal,I mean act like Boris)I guess what I wanted to say is don't touch your axie unless you have to.Good luck with the heat problem too,we in NZ don't have it so bad.
 
Hi denise,
I bought earth worms from a big pet store in townsville called Pet HQ. They have some really good stuff there.
But I am not sure about cairns.
 
Hi I'm Manda's friend who she bought the axie for xmas. My little axie is so cute. I've called her Charlie. I won't be able to set her and her tank up untill this afternoon so she's in water in a container. However sometimes she comes up to the surface and makes chirping sounds, Is she having trouble breathing? Or just talking?
 
welcome jomi!
chirping? holy cow!!! they dont make ANY noises that we can hear... sometimes they make a wierd noise when they gulp but thats just air and water splashing around. they do come up for air though, that is normal
have you cycled your tank? here is a link to all about it http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml
 
hi thanks Sharn. When she comes up for air she chirps or makes a little high pitched gulping sound. I haven't put her in her tank yet until this arvie. What are axie's like with car travel?
 
not too bad actually. i had mine on a three hour drive once, i just put it in a poly box and filled the gaps from where the bag didnt get to up with newspaper to stop it rolling around.
wow i have never heard a axie chirp! maybe your just explaining the gulping noise- im not too good with explaining noises lol
 
lol i hope you're right with the sound! I'm travelling to my parents for christmas today. Bout a 4 hour drive. I was thinking of just leaving her in her little container that i have her in but placing that in side the tank so it doesn't get knocked around. I'm going out shopping for her tank today. Do you have any recommendations for decorations or play things?
 
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