Good News on Axolotl who wouldnt eat

Hi guys, Hopefully this can be useful or reassuring to anybody who has an Axolotl who doesnt seem to want to eat.
Well Neurus FINALLY ate something and this was after a stint of 13 weeks.
She is now rebuilding her appetite on a few bloodworms every now and then until she is back to normal.

So with my little success story i will go through my steps 1 by 1 and hopefully some experienced members may realise which was the turning point.

1st of all i noticed Neurus began tilting, Her tail turned red and she started to refuse food. This went from a diet of 7 waxworms every second day to nothing at all.
At this point i tried daphnia, blood worm, earthworms, lambs liver, Guppies and prawns. Nothing was accepted.
This continued for 8 weeks, No noticeable sign of weight loss occurred during this time.
Upon advice of pet store i was told to remove the hides and basically harass her until she snapped. This did work with the guppies but they were promptly spat back out.
Ox heart was tried as an offering and was not taken.

Then i bought her a boyfriend called Kiro a very greedy and extremely well behaved axolotl. They are getting along brilliantly and Neurus definitely did pick up since the introduction of the tank mate. The hides went back into the tank and Neurus spent 2 weeks just hiding.

i Offered some oxheart on the 11th week which got snapped at, chewed a lot, but then spat back out, so loaded the tank with daphnia in the hope that something would go in, But Kiro is literally a hoover and went around the tank like a basking shark and filtered them all out.

In a final last ditch attempt i invested in a lot of fake plants and a lot of real plants and the change in their behavior was only to be compared to children in a ball pit. They started literally playing in the plants, climbing and hiding and generally looked a lot happier.

During this period of time the water temperature dropped from 22 degrees to an average of 17 as well. I changed the full weekly water changes to a 50% every week and stopped showing my hands when offering food.

Today i bought a few bags of live blood worm. Got some in a net and literally rained a few hundred down over Neurus's head. Her mouth opened and a load went in, Then she looked down and started chomping down some more. It was such a releif to finally see her starting to eat again. That was of course until Kiro smelled them and came darting over to hoover up the rest.

Most excellent thats good news congratulations

Hi,

Im so glad your axie ate, I watched and read your story every day cause mine hadnt eaten for 6 weeks, so reading your news made me feel better. It made me not give up!

Mine too has started eating again. a few days ago and although very skinny still what a huge relief it was to finally see him eat something!

Our stories prove not to give up till the fat lady sings... or in our case, the skinny axolotl dies!

Once again thanks for sharing your news

This definitely sounds very good! Hope it will keep up eating!

Update! She is now eating earthworms again, i put about 15 earthworms in the tank for them to hunt, I think Kiro needs to go on a diet he is now 16" long but Neurus has started hunting the earthworms and my word the two of them look really happy. It is such a massive relief. Whoever on this site who put i an axolotl does not eat after 10 days to consider them a goner should feel really ashamed of themselves, i know reading that it made me worry sick. Well at least if anyone else worries about an axolotl apparently going for size zero they will hopefully read this instead

Statistically, if an axolotl goes more than 2 weeks without eating, chances are that it won't start eating again. Your comment is fairly inappropriate.

Inappropriate? First of all i think you have got the absolute wrong attitude here. If you have read the thread you may understand that there are a lot of threads on here about axolotls not eating and the advice is to put them in the fridge, if they dont eat for 10 days then just give up hope on them.
I however did a lot of research when my axolotl was doing this, even seeking advice from specialists in the zoo and also the advice from a pet store owner. Now this is another problem with this site as as soon as you mention pet stores its like you have just started talking about a corporate money hungry axolotl killing machine. Well the pet store i use happens to have a member of staff who owns several of these and has done for years, put me in touch with vets know about axolotls, and put me in touch with the specialists at the zoo, and recommended this website. They were even giving me free food to try with her during this period. So yes pet stores can be an incredible help with axolotls.
Now imagine some poor axolotl owner looking at this site for the first time as i was 6 weeks ago. If you look up axolotl not eating it all comes up with the same conclusion, Axolotl dead. So in conclusion would this not possibly suggest that the expert advice of put axolotl in fridge is simply not going to be the best advice? I did not put my axolotl in the fridge and hey mine is still alive! So perhaps in this incidence the pet store and zoo owners knew what they were talking about. Crazy huh?
I listed my steps with my success here so that people who are experiencing the same thing may actually try some of the steps or even the more senior members / self proclaimed experts could perhaps discuss this and find something useful to resolving this problem as apposed to "stick him in the fridge until he dies".
If you think it is inappropriate to say pople should be ashamed of themselves when they look at somebody's problems, remember this is a worrying and stressful time for axolotl owners, with a negative light offering no resolve, then what type of site is this?

Yea I have to agree with you on the anti-pet shop sentiment some of the time Neurus. The three pet shops/aquariums I have dealt with have all been friendly, helpful and accurate in what they have told me about caring for an axolotl. All of the advice given to me has matched what is on axolotl.org and here

Not all are bad so some people should keep that in mind when telling people to dismiss what the petshops have told them. Perhaps a thread of good aquariums (or bad even) might be a good idea? Sorry if someone's already done that~~

if we cause problems with an non eating axolotl we put him [or her] in a 25l tank with about 80 to 100 [SIZE=-1]freshwater shrimps ... mostly he [or her ] hasn't any chance not to get them into the belly ...
[/SIZE]

Now you're way out of line.

Everyone on this site is nothing but helpful. The standard treatment of putting it in the fridge to slow metabolism so it doesn't starve to death while we attempt to diagnose why it's not eating works just fine. NOONE has ever said "it hasn't eaten for 10 days, so just give up". EVER. If you actually read the threads, they say "keep trying" over and over and over. We give tips, suggestions, ideas, tricks, and tools all aimed to keep everyone's animals healthy and happy.

Statistically, if an axolotl hasn't eaten for more than a few weeks, it probably won't start again. But every rule has exceptions. I had one that went 2 months without eating, and went back just fine.

95% of pet shops know squat about amphibians. Occasionally you'll find one that does. Or that is at least open to suggestions. My local pet shop has asked my advice (Jason, if you're reading this, you rule!) on how to keep their caudates. But the large chain stores are nothing but money. Some small shops are nothing but money. Then, you have some small shops that know what the hell they're talking about.

I feel sad that you feel the need to slam the site and all the people that have spent countless hours trying to help you. It's fortunate for you, though, that we are a forgiving bunch, and will most certainly help you the next time you have problems.

kaysie first of all where have you got the statistic of 95% from? that sounds made up on the spot.
Also if we are playing this game which i think we unfortunately are i DID take time to read comments and threads on this site, Yes there are people who will wish people all the best with their axolotls in their recovery, but literally the advice goes as far as put them in the fridge and then test water levels, Thats literally as far as it goes, helpfulness = diddly squat when you are in a crisis situation.
Believe it or not i put this thread up so that people could look at a positive story about axolotls not eating and looking at the steps that were used in getting an Axolotl actually better.
Also what type of message are you conveying to axolotl owners if 95% of axolotls (your stats) dont survive after not eating for a short stint would your time be not better spent looking at what can be done to work out how to actually save them than telling people their axolotl is doomed?

You're right. I was being facetious in creating statistical analysis about the quality of pet shops. However, no one ever said that '95% of axolotls don't survive after not eating for a short stint'. If I'm mistaken, in the years that I've been here, we've always said that axolotls can go quite a long time without food.

I spent 4 nights reading through literally all the threads on this site looking for help during the situation and found nothing of use. I started this thread to help those who were finding themselves in the same situation. Someone came here looking for help, couldnt find it so looked elsewhere, and then came back in the hope they could help somebody else who was having the same problem. It was here to provide something that this site is missing.

Please calm down!..

Firstly Kaysie does have plenty of experience and on various occasions her advice has helped me with my axolotl's either directly or by reading previous previous posts .
Secondly Neurus I am really pleased that your little axolotl has improoved, and that you are lucky enough to have local support and help via your pet shop..thats nearly unheard of these days in retail!
Thirdly I was trying to keep my nose out of this, but I am finding this confrontation rather unpleasant and may-be a little unnecessary..I think this should be an off forum 'discussion', using the pm facilities.
Now I shall butt out of this and go continue the hide an seek game I started with the teeny terrorists.

Neurus and Kaysie, if the two of you could sit down face to face you'd probably have no trouble coming to agreement. I'm with Bella - cool down and take any remaining disagreements elsewhere.

Thank you for writing out your complete experiences, Neurus. I would never recommend adding a tankmate as a therapy for a sick axolotl. But your observations about their response to the added hides and plants are very interesting. If I can summarize, would you say that your general advice for a non-eating axolotl boils down to 'add plants, keep cool, and just keep trying with various foods'?

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Thank you for writing out your complete experiences, Neurus. I would never recommend adding a tankmate as a therapy for a sick axolotl. But your observations about their response to the added hides and plants are very interesting. If I can summarize, would you say that your general advice for a non-eating axolotl boils down to 'add plants, keep cool, and just keep trying with various foods'?[/quote]

I received advice which was that Axolotls can lose their appetite if they are not in comfortable surroundings, ie not replicating that which they would find in the wild and can get lonely. I started the thread for good reason, i will never pretend to have all the answers and i do respect the advice etc and the great knowledge of a lot of people on here.
I was hoping that it would become a thread in the positive aspect looking at what did help to save a poor sick axie. I was advised on a tank mate, and my word the two of them are so happy its a pleasure to see, She was sullen when she was on her own.

Hi Neurus,

I agree with Bella.

There are many threads detailing negative experiences with pet shops on this site simply because many people have been given poor advice. There are also Threads about positive experiences with petshops. Even petshops that have changed the way they treat thier axies after finding this site.

However collective knowledge is only valuable when it is truly collective otherwise it becomes one view point.

Your opinions and observations are valued as part of this collective knowledge so thanks for sharing your findings.

Lets not get away from the real issue which is that your axie is now eating and that is Great news.

Another recoverer

I just want to add a note to this thread - not worth starting a new thread.

We have had 2 axolotls (Inca and Maya) for about 3 years, and this year, looked after a 3rd one over the school holidays from my wife's school (Aztec). After 5 weeks of Aztec not eating, and becoming concerned, I visited this site. She was very healthy looking, and quite active, spending time at the bottom as well as frequently swimming about and visiting the surface. But not showing interest in any of the food.

We have tried a number of different foods (mainly mealworms which the existing two love), and bloodworms - somewhere on here I saw reference to heart. So I bought a cow heart and cut some thin strips off.

Well, it was not emphatic, but she ate 2 strips (ignoring them for about 4-5 minutes) and I was beside myself. Then again the next day, and again today.

I didn't know if I should be heartened or otherwise by what I read here, but I must say it did give me encouragement to keep trying.

Thanks again.

While there is hope or a flicker of life you should always keep trying and sometimes you will discover a way of bringing back life into something that hadn't been suggested or noticed before. And if you are fortunate enough to revive a sick animal by using 'different' methods then sure go post your findings. It may be a last resort for some keepers and it may work. Glad to hear your axie is eating.