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Axolotl not eaten for 8 weeks Please Help

Neurus

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Could somebody please help. My 8 month old albino axolotl is stressing me out. He hasnt eaten for literally 8 weeks now and i have seen him with his rear end floating up as if he is nearly permanently tilted. He is still very active and is able to pull his tail end down but is rejecting food altogether. Following advice from the pet shop i have tried daphnia, bloodworm, lambs liver, waxworms, earthworms even prawns and he will not touch anything. I have tried under advice as well literally spending hours making food tap against his nose and he just backs away.
I have also noticed that he will completely float up to the surface and just hover there for a while and then will come back down. I have tried belly rubs and pretty much everything it says on this site and nothing works.
when i had him in a separate bowl he did snap at food a couple of times as it whizzed past his nose but he just spat it straight out.
I dont know if this is relevant but he had a fungal infection on his gills about 10 weeks ago and had salt baths as recommended, that was the last time he ate and he vomited the food back up. He also had a spell of gulping a few weeks ago almost as if yawning or like he had continuous hiccups. Im lost and worried about him.
When he was showing normal behaviour he used to dash out of his hide at the first sign of food and start scurrying towards the surface to grab the food, now he doesnt even look up.
Can anybody help?
Oh i do a 20% water change using reptisafe water conditioner every week, the water is filtered with a fluval 1 with a spray bar to minimize water current and the floor is covered in large pebbles so as not to get swallowed.
 

sezz

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from my experience,

- Making sure the water is nice n cool, temperature below the 20ºC. any higher causes problems and uncomforabilitly for the axies. i found using frozen bottles of dechlorinated water into the tank lowers the temperature
- Water parameters are perfect
- keeping away from sunlight, or any kind of light at all
- slow water current, nothing too rough

Last time she ate, did she eat a fair bit? I noticed that when i feed coodle or foodle (god those names crack me up) theyll eat a large amount and from that i gather they wont eat for a while. Allthought 8 weeks is a long time.

First thing i would do is re-check everything.
Is she pale? Her gills curled? If she is half floating then id highly advise for you to put her into a ice cream container with the water dechlorinated only and to cover the top of her spine. this will stop her stressing out about floating. and place her in the fridge with an extra container next to her for the next water change. dont worry about the salt baths yet. i would keep her in the fridge for a few days and do constant water changes daily, just to give her the comfort. and make sure you have a dark tea towel covering her bucket to stop the fridge light from distressing her.

before you do her next water change, put some live food (blood worms works the best for me) and keep an eye on how much you put in, into the container she has been. and leave her for a couple of hours with the food and come back to see if the same amount is still there. if its hard to tell, then do her water change and put her back in the fridge to rest.
REMEMBERING TEMP no lower than 5ºC
Keep an eye on her for a few days and hopefully if she does a poop, you will then know she ate ;)

i hope my advise works, as ive been trough this too and it worked perfectly for me. now she eats like a pig
 

sezz

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the yawning issue is distressing... it could be anything. are you sure the pebbles are too large for your axie to swallow?
Anything in the tank she could have consumed?

its normal for them to yawn every now and then, but if its contant then its obvious someting is bothering her. just have to take is step by step and soon shell be fine
 

kapo

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Neurus

How often do you do waterchanges, what is your tank temperature and have you tested your tankwater for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

If no testing has been done, I'd advise you to move your axolotl to a separate container of dechlorinated water (not tankwater), lower the water. If your temperatures aren't above 18-20C, should be cooling down in UK now surely!, then leave the container with a lid on (as long as you have no animals). Change this water daily with dechlorinated water, ensuring the water is just above it's fin, so he doesn't float and his feet rest on the bottom of the container.

Get your tankwater tested at local petshop for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Ask them for the figures/no.s then make sure you DON't buy anything that the petshop advises to fix your tankwater, ie if ammonia or nitrites are over 0. The fastest and best way to sort out high ammonia/nitrites is by frequent partial waterchanges (usually 20-30% daily, no more)

How often do you clean under the pebbles, you may find waste/gunk building up beneath it which can cause a water quality problem.

You might find with daily waterchanges on his container, lowered water, so he doesn't float, so he's not stressed that he might be inclined to try something to eat. You could also try axolotl pellets, earthworms (chopped up if necessary), live and/or frozen bloodworm - just make sure to clean out any uneaten food within an hour if using oxheart, ox liver or other liver but chop the fat and tendons of, make slice it into wormlike thin strips.
 

Neurus

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Last time she ate, did she eat a fair bit? I noticed that when i feed coodle or foodle (god those names crack me up) theyll eat a large amount and from that i gather they wont eat for a while. Allthought 8 weeks is a long time.

First thing i would do is re-check everything.
Is she pale? Her gills curled?

Hello wow thankyou for the indepth response. Funny you should say that, when i bought the axolotl i was advised that with him being a baby to feed as much food as he would eat within 15 minutes and then use that as a guidline to feed every other day. Well Neurus was a greedy one and would eat anything up to 10 waxworms at a time, i checked this with the pet shop and they said this would be fine as they are gorge eaters (thinking back they are selling me the waxworms).
Oh the Axie is called Neurus btw,
About the colour Neurus is albino and has been looking the same colour as usual except for a red tail every now and then. He did have a spell where his gills went forward hence why i got the spray bar and that soon sorted that out.
When Neurus went a day or so his gills used to go pail, but when he had something to eat they would turn vivid blood red. They are now permanently blood red as if he has been eating secretly. But no axie poo. I also had a mysterious invasion of tiny snails at one point but quickly got rid of them, i think there must have been eggs in one of the bags of live feed.
his water is cold to touch, i have an aquarium kept at 24 degrees and the water in his tank is much cooler than that. Im taking a water sample to the petshop today to see what they say.
Oh i used to do full water clean outs every week until 3 weeks ago, this once again on advice of the pet shop, they apparently found that their axolotls dont like full water changes. will post the results when i return
 

Neurus

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6h5ympf.jpg

63i0tix.jpg

Sorry the second is out of focus (camera phone) the pebbles are literaltt half his size, he cant swallow them
 

sezz

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haha! cute!!

Okay the full water change was deffinetly a bad idea. Im not sure wether a tank cycles in the 3 weeks? Kapo will know, but i know that because you only did water changes once a week and full water changes... it would b a good idea to do daily 30%water changes as kapo advised. and when i was going through the same problem as you, i would do a 30% water change, and every second to third day i would go to the pet store and get my water tested.

Get a thermometer and put one in the axies tank and make sure by all means water cant be over the 20ºC. My axie flips out when its higher. so i allready know the water is warm, and i get frozen bottles and load up the water with freeeze

Take our advise and do the water changes, get the water tested, and keep the temerature below 20ºC.
 

Bellabelloo

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Sorry to hear your little axolotl is not eating, he's very pretty ( I like the little white ones like him) . It sounds like you are doing the right things, my allarm bells went off a bit when you mentioned his tail is looking red on occasion. My female was busily laying eggs this week, and as she was 'pushing ' them out her tail did redden, I'm assuming its due to pushing something out be it eggs/ pooh etc. My male will reject food more often now that he is older and now I've given up tempting him with tasty morsels! he makes it clear when he is good and ready to eat, though he his maximum was 5 days.
I am wondering if he has a blockage somewhere... I'd do what Kapo suggests, its easier to see what is happening ands if anything is passed..being somewhere cooler and maybe quieter can only help.
I hope he picks up soon .
 

Neurus

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Would you believe it?

Well i have had an eye opening day. Neurus is a girl!
I had the water checked, everything is perfect, except the thermometer is showing 21 degrees, so im sorting that out. I have just been speaking to an expert, Has connections to someone who works in a zoo looking after these things, Their tails do float every now and then and its nothing to worry about, some do, some dont thats just axolotls for you. Also i learned that female axies can become very fussy and very sulky and well bored. Apparently my hand feeding and the diet of waxworms was not the best approach at all, and perhaps she is sulking at me for feeding her something that made her sick. Apparently they have really good memories. I know it is frowned upon on this site but i was recommended to try guppies to bring out the hunting instinct of the axolotl. Would you believe it she is hiding in the tank stalking them and has already had three goes at trying to get one all by herself. Nothing has gone in as of yet but hey will keep you guys posted, at least she is trying :) it feels so weird calling her a she! mental. i can even hear her now as i type trying to catch them fingers crossed
 

Kaysie

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A diet of waxworms isn't healthy.

I don't think amphibians have 'good memories' as we see memories. I would try offering earthworms before offering guppies. Guppies can be vectors for diseases and can nip gills.
 

kclinton

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Earth worms are good mine love them time to time they wont eat but will eat those. The guppies might be ok if they are from a tank you know and has no meds. in the water. Watch them close thow for gill nipping. Take them right away if that happen. they might start to stress her bit watch for that as well.
 

Bellabelloo

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I am so pleased to hear that she/he is improoving.. I feed mine a batch of live river shrimp every now and then , usually they are all gone by the next morning. I currently ( at the last count) have 4 that have been with us 4 weeks and they are an amusing addition to the tank as they clear up a small ammount of mess like left over food and so on..it's funny watching them sneak out and grab things and then hurtle back....now i Know their lair I do a clean out every other day. The other thing I noticed at the start while my tank was cycling was that the shrimp died with in an hour or so..so may be they could be a warning for tank conditions changing.
 

kapo

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Yes their tails do float every now and then, this can usually tell you if they need to poo or not. Other times they float can mean there is a water quality problem as does gasping (which could be nitrite poisoning/lack of oxygen through warm temperatures and ammonia toxins). Floating can be stressful, if it's poo/water quality/temperature related and should tried to be rectified sooner rather than later, by the lowered water in another container if need be till the problem is sorted out, as I suggested.

Also, don't believe everything a petshop tells you.

If you do frozen water bottles, make sure to use dechlorinated water in the bottles before freezing, there have been cases where bottles of melting tapwater burst in the tank and axolotls died. You also have to be consistent with maintaining temperature so there are no fluctuations during summer, ie place a water bottle in the tank, before it completely melts replace it with another frozen bottle. Otherwise the fluctuating temperatures can be just as stressful to an axolotl.

21C is not too bad, but when it starts reaching temperatures of 24C+ will be when you have to be rigorous with tank cooling, or alternatively placing them in the fridge for a summer holiday (many axolotl owners do this and some buy a 2nd hand or bar fridge specifically for their axolotls temporary summer cooling).

And by the way, there are a lot of experts on this site that do know what they're talking about. In the same way you could feed them live earthworms and that would also bring out the hunting instinct - does in ours.

Guppies/fish should be avoided, for the reasons Kaysie mentioned. Unless you know the person (not petshop) who specifically breeds them, otherwise they should also be subject to the 30 day minimum quarantine rule to ensure they are healthy and then really breed them yourself and feed the offspring to the axolotl. Introducing fish or other companions, without quarantining, and even tankwater from petshops can put nasties into your tankwater and cause your axolotl problems.
 

Neurus

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UPDATE
Well Neurus being Neurus is still an awkward little sod, She is quite happy hunting the guppies but she spits them out again. I have had earthworms in the tank for the past 4 weeks and she wont touch them. However she did snap at a bunch of bloodworm that was dropped on her nose and has started looking up again. I had the water tested, everything is perfect. Oh i am breeding the feeder guppies myself from a tank that has weekly water checks and quarantine facilities and kept clean with shrimp.
I bought her a new toy, a small bubble stone that she loves. She climbs on top of it every 5 minutes to get a jacuzzi effect on her belly.
Could it be that she is bored and lonely? she shows no sign of ill health. Is very active.

When the guppies are close im sure she is doing little gulps, is this getting ready to pounce? Im not sure
You guys are being a great help i would like to thank everybody
 

kclinton

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I'am glad to hear that she is doing better. Have you by chance tryed beef heart? I don't know what you would call them, but she might like some grost/cleaner shrimp. Has she had an axie with her in the in the past. If so how lon ago?
 

Neurus

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Update

Neurus ate something today for the first time in 9 weeks! she had some daphnia (water fleas) She was introduced to her new boyfriend today (they are getting along great, they have been swimming around in circles and nuzzling up to each other) It was also just after his arrival she started eating again. He is a lively greedy one, He has already gobbled up the ox heart that was in there for her and is hunting the earthworms under the pebbles.
However, the point is Neurus ate! 9 weeks, tried everything even guppies. The guppies did get snapped into her mouth but she never ate them, They are now retired from the live bait career and are now living happily ever after in my aquarium ( i thought it was only fair considering i had them kept with a predator for an entire week)
Oh the tilting has definitely phased out, i slowed down on the water changes and upon advice received introduced a lot of blood worm to create a bit of an eco system, all seems well.
Thankyou to everyone for your advice
 
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