not eating..

ive just bought 4 new lecuistic axies.

they seem to be doing fine, but the problem is that theyre not eating.
only one seems to be eating at the moment.
ive tried feeding them bloodworms, cichlid sticks and sinking catfish pellets, but failed.

the other 3 dont really seem interested at all.

the water temprature is around 23 degrees (too warm?- thats the temp in my room)

any help?

thanks alot

How long have you had them? If you can get the temp down that would be good.

ive had them for about 5 days now.
and how would i lower the temprature?
the fish tanks upstairs so i guess thats why the temps higher.
i cant really move them into another room, as i do not have any space.

...try them on some live food mate (earth worms - chopped up if they're small Axolotls). Also; what's your set up like? water conditions etc.

Are they showing any signs of stress?

Hi there
The first thing you need to do is get the tank temps down 23 degrees is too warm for them. Have you access to a fan that can blow over the water surface? , this would help to bring the temperature down. If the room gets a lot of day light it may help to keep the curtains shut during the day this would also help. If the axolotl are kept at too high a temp ( maximum is about 20 degrees) they get stressed and will be prone to illness.
With regards to food they will be fine for a period of time, do you know what they were being fed befor you had them? would you be able to try some small earth worms...make sure they are chemical free though ( i.e if they come from your garden check no -one has been spraying chemicals there). My axolotl go through fazes of rejecting worms, so I can usually tempt mine with slivers of raw prawn , make sure its rinced well in dechlorinated water first to remove any salt glaze. Do make sure that you remove any rejected food items an hour or so later as this will quickly foul the water, this also applies to other waste products the axolotl produce! A turkey baster does wonders for this job.
There are also a number of other issues that also need to be checked too. Is the tank large enough for 4 and what sort of size are they ? Was the water in the tank de-chlorinated and ideally cycled first , you'll need test kits for checking ammonia / nitrate/ nitrite and ph ..these will imform you on whats going on with the tank water, alternatevly take a water sample to the pet shop and get them to check ( write the numbers down so you can refer to them) What else do you have in the tank?
If you can let us know we'll be able help, there are lots of lovely people who will respond..and quite quickly too!!

Just as a matter of interest to the UK members - I got cheap Turkey Baster (well my mum did) from Sainsburys ...only 99p

thank you so much for all of your help

the tank was cycling for about 4 months before they enterd the tank
(it was going to be used as a hospital tank for my fish but it never came around!)
and i always use dechloinator in the water with my axies and my fish!

its 2 and a half foot long, but after doing some reseach ive figured theres too many axies there





thats mysetup, (sorry about poor quality, used camera phone)
it has rocks and plants as decoration.

i was told they were being fed JMC catfish pellets, but i cant find them

ill try feeding them some worms,
and if i leave the tank uncoverd without a hood, and leave a window open, will this help?

thanks so much

If your axolotl are still small it'll be fine for a while,I think I could just about spot an axy or two there!! but otherwise it may be a tad too small. It looks lovely though, is that sand or gravel on the bottom ?( gravel is very bad for axolotl tummies). I think I came across the jmc catfish pellets while looking for some alternatives for my gang but I think the pellet contents wasn't right ( I may be wrong). Have found something called amphibian pellets at Pollywog, but I wasn't prepared to pay £5 or so for it not being a big enough order..
Try with the hood off and open window it might be enough as the air temps are now dropping. Try to tempt them with earthworms/ slivers of very lean raw meat/ raw tiger prawn etc. And lastly get the water quality checks done to eliminate any thing there.

hello,
thank you very much for the promt reply!
it is gravel that i have used, is it better to use sand?

and whe will i have to remove some axies?
theyre about 7cm each now
thanks again

Yep, the gravel should go. The axolotl tend to pick up gravel while feeding or general snuffling around, unfortunatly it can get compacted in their stomachs/ gut and can cause problems. It might be worth taking them out and put them in a container with dechlorinated Water( keep a constant back-up of dechlorinated water in a bottle )and place both in the fridge . Make sure the fridge temp is no lower than 5 degrees, and that their container has a lid and maybe a tea towel over it to keep out the fridge light. This may possibly encourage them to pass any gravel from iether end. In the mean time you'll be able to remove the gravel..maybe place the tank some where cooler too. At 7 cm they are still little guys so for a while they will be fine..but as they get bigger you'll need to decide what to do next. Live blood worms at that size might be fine for them then.
Sorry to be the barer of bad news/ more work etc. but hopefully it'll all work out ok

no not at all!
youve helped alot
thanks alot!
and i would like to thank everyone else who has helped!

i will try to update and tell you what happens in the next few days!

thanks again,

coco

Do check back as there are many others who have far more experience than me and may have more good advice. Do let us know how it all goes .