Upside down axo???

I've got an axo juvie who spends a lot of time upside down...? It eats just fine, appears totally healthy, and is the biggest of a batch of juvies I've got, it just spends a whole lot of time upside down. It doesn't really seem to like it, but doesn't seem to be able to stay upright all the time. This has been going on for over a month now... Any ideas or thoughts please?!?

Put him in the fridge with just enough water to cover his back, so his feet can rest on the bottom. Make sure you keep a spare bottle of dechlorinated water so you can do 100% water changes every day while in the fridge. Make sure temp is above 5 degrees if possible. Check this by putting a thermometer in cup of water and leaving in fridge for half hour or so. Hope this helps.

one of our adult axies was like that as a youngster- it was awful to watch- she could't seem to stay upright and could never sink and be a "normal" axie- i thought she was dying sometimes. Interestingly when i started feeding her solid lumps of meat and not bloodworms she started sinking- i think she was full of air.

Mary -
You used the beef heart or what? I've used bloodworms and trout pellets. I've even tried soaking the pellets in olive oil (suggested in a really old post) trying to get the fat content up in its diet, and nothing's working.. I can't figure out why putting in the fridge would help, so I've not tried that yet. How big was yours when it finally stopped floating?

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Nicole Dunn on Sunday 18 February 2007 - 22:39 (#POST122005):</font>

I can't figure out why putting in the fridge would help<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Putting him in the fridge, with water lowered so his feet rest on the container bottom and he doesn't float, slows an axolotls metabolism down in order for it to heal. This also calms an axolotl down if it gets stressed through floating, trying to right itself if it's on its side or upside down. There is also more oxygen in cold water than there is in warm tank water.

I suggest you fridge him if he still flips upside down.

Are you able to get earthworms from a baitshop, walmart or some other place. Earthworms are excellent sources of food for axolotls.

Meat is okay to use occasionally but should really not be used as a staple as it has the wrong nutrients for their die. I use beefheart and liver strips when it gets too cold to go and dig round my wormfarm for worms!

Do you rinse the bloodworm cube before adding it to the tank or just throw it in?

Why would you need fat content in a axolotls diet, you usually if feeding meat try and get rid of fatty bits and tendons; too much fat is not a good thing for an axie.

Being upside down is not good for an axie, they're usually at their worst when they start to flip upside down or just too tired to right itself and can cause their immune systems to lower and get sicker.

If you're really not into the fridge thing, Mary didn't like the idea too from memory , separate your juvie place him in a shallower container where water is just above his fin and see if he improves through keeping the water low.

By the way how big is he?

http://www.caudata.org/forum/cgi-bin/show.cgi?tpc=793&post=92943#POST92943 is where I'm getting the fat idea. It seemed to make sense, but didn't make a difference.

I use frozen bloodworms, it's in one big chunk, so I break pieces off, let 'em thaw, and use forcepts to feed 'em.

He's 3.5" .. uh, 9cm long. I'm gonna try the water method first, cause he really doesn't look happy..

I'm sure the lowered water will help alot.

Wow, just looked at the thread and that seems a lifetime ago, both Mary and I are on it!

Been looking after my sister's babies, 1-2 inch in size, while she's working down in South Island and two of them were bum floating (fronts down and tails floating towards top) so they're also in shallow water but in the fridge, cos our temperature are between 20-26 degrees, till they poo or get rid of any gas, they're little gluttons.

hi there- hows the wee floating axie? In reply to your q Nicole- our wee girl axie was only a littley when she was a floater- prob month or 2 old. I started giving her mince to start with ( tho' i know its fatty) and the beef heart and worms. As Kapo said lowered the water level and also put rocks in the water level to reduce the stress. Did your axie used to sink- is this just a new thing?

Thank you guys soo much for your help! Still floating, but at least it's right-side-up now And it seems a lot less distressed. Oh, I even saw it a little under the water yesterday! It's been floating ever since it was about 1.5cm long, as soon as I noticed that I isolated 'em just in case it was contagious. So I'm keeping the water lower, feeding 'em well, and hoping it'll start sinking soon. If it goes back upside down I'll stick 'em in the fridge.. I'm also gonna get earthworms soon and hope that helps.. I'll let ya know if anything changes

Oh, tangent, but is it normal for golden albino's to have splotchy spots, lighter, because of the pigments?? It's a couple spots on the tail and I really think it's just pigment?? But am paranoid because I lost half my eggs to fungus and don't want to see anything happen to these guys!

Oops, sorry, please disregard that last question. I found pics of Karen's golden, and the spots look just like the ones on hers, just fewer and smaller (I think the pigments are just starting to get adult intensity..).