Axie Heat Stress

hi gang,
we're in victoria, and have been experiencing hella heat this summer. i've been cooling the tank with house fan and ice bottles, but unfortunately, one of my axies [buttercup] suffered too much stress [we were away for 4 days with someone looking after them] and died on friday. very sad...

anyway, my other axie, mojo meataxe is now showing similar signs of stress as buttercup did, floating in odd positions, loss of appetite, occasional stressful swimming and change of colour. his water is tip top - ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-40ppm, ph-6.8-7.0, water temp no higher than 23deg celcius. temperatures have varied a fair bit though, at the moment i have gotten it down to 16.7deg, because of a cold night here. the next few days are going to be 30-35deg though, so i am wondering if i too should fridge him.

My concern is that they may have contracted some sort of bacteria from feeder fish [no longer in tank] but hey show no visible signs of illness, no cottony stuff, no visible fungus. The only thing that i really notice out of the ordinary is when he goes to eat, it looks like he has a sore thoat[?] - does that make any sense? he takes the food, then spits it out and gulps for about a minute afterwards. very concerned about him and couldn't handle it if he went as well!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

And if someone could write out a basic 'fridging' checklist for me, that would be great!!

Sorry to hear about Buttercup The summer in Australia is tough on axies unfortunately.

With your other axie, I am not sure if he is sick from feeder fish or heat but both could be problems. With the feeder fish, if you don't quarantine them for 30 days they can bring disease into your tank so it is good you got rid of them. If you get them again, do the quarantine first and that should help prevent against diseases.

Seeing as your axie is a bit under the weather, I would probably put him in the fridge for a bit even if you can keep the tank temperature down. What do you mean by a change in colour? I am not great with axie diseases so don't know from your description if it is... someone else can help I am sure.

If you do put your axie in the fridge here is what I would do:
-keep temperature above 5C
-put in a tub of dechlorinated water, which should be changed 100% every 24 hours.
-wrap the container in a tea towel or similar to block out the fridge light
-try to be gentle when closing and opening the fridge door
-generally axolotls won't eat at cold temperatures and may regurgitate food so I would watch for that in the first day to make sure to remove the waste. A few weeks in the fridge with no food is fine but you can try offering some. At 8C my axie ate a small amount of blood worms and didn't regurgitate them.

I also heard from another member here that when temperature increases from 7C to 17C, ammonia levels triple so when it is time to remove your axolotl from the fridge, do a water change first. Then leave the container to heat up to room temperature, then float the container on the tank until the tank is the same temperature then release your axie back home!

Anyway hope that helps and also that your axie is ok!

fridging the axie

hey thanks heaps for that - very helpful!!!
one more thing [onya columbo] - when changing 100% of water when fridging them, how do you do that? i would have thought that removing them from the water would stress them out heaps, so how do you do it? any help'd be much appreciated!!!

Well I am not sure how other people do it... but what I do is I collect him in a net and place him on the lid. Then I quickly dump out the water and pour in the replacement bottle of water. It takes only about 10 seconds at most so he doesn't have to stay out of water long. I think they can probably survive for far longer than that but I don't really want to test the limits of that theory... I imagine it is probably a little stressful for my axie to be out of water but he hasn't become sick by it or anything. I then refill and and add conditioner to the water bottle and stick it back in the fridge with my axie container...

Another way you could do it that would be less stressful is to have two containers and just fill one and swap your axie to that when it is full. That way he is out of the water for less time.

fridging the axie

hey thanks heaps sarah!!

you've been a great help. i'm putting him in the fridge as soon as the temp is steady 5deg celcius.

Do you know anything about salt baths and how to do them? or where i can find an article on the subject?

Evilaxies = I've moved this to a separate thread, so if you have any problems they can be dealt with here rather than you having to trawl another thread to get replies to your specific posts.
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Unless your axolotl actually has a visible infection/wound or fungus do not do salt baths at all, as you will cause more unwanted stress than anything else.

Also, do not use any fish medicines - if as you think it may have a bacterial infection - you would have to find a vet specialised in exotic pets/salamanders in your area.

Following are Salt baths remedy:
2-3 teaspoons of salt per litre/2 pints of dechlorinated water (use tonic/aquarium salt or uniodised table salt or sea salt mixed) . Mix together and ensure salt has dissolved. If using the chunky salt (tonic/aquarium) crush it so it dissolves easier.

Bathe for 10-15minutes maximum 2-3 times per day until at least a week after fungus has dropped off.

If saltbathing while fridging.

Prepare the saltbath in a separate container with lid. Leave it in the fridge so it's the same temperature as the axie fridge container (avoids temperature fluctuation).

Remove your axie from fridge container - place in saltbath (you can quickly scoop him using a net or your hands, or by tipping him into a colander or tipping water into a bowl and then sliding him into the fridge saltbath.

Put the saltbath back into the fridge then set a timer for 10-15mins max.

Once saltbath has finished return him to original container (you can use fresh chilled dechlorinated water if it's time for the waterchange). Place lid on, wrap with dishcloth and return to fridge.

Saltbath container needs to be emptied after each use. Clean with bicarbonate soda/baking soda and water, then make up another saltbath and return it to the fridge so it can chill for the next saltbath.

Alternatively if you don't have the room in the fridge just keep extra bottles of dechlorinated water in the fridge and make up the saltbath as and when you needed but as long as the temperature is similar to the fridge container.


Also regarding returning your axie to the tank you can do the waterchange as suggested by Sarah and leave the container in the same room as the tank to warm up so it's the same room temperature as the tank. Unless you're also cooling your tank you can just tip your axolotl directly back into the tankwater without worrying about floating the container.

The fridge is a wonderful tool I've found. I definately recommend it over trying to maintain tank temp below 20 degrees during a heat wave. Mine was definately off colour a few days after his tank being over 22, but under 24 degrees. I think that 24 degrees limit is warning of imminent disaster; probably 20-21 would be better to aim at in Australia in summer.

very good point lisa..there would be a certain amount of natural selection with axies being bred here in australia, so it would make more sense that they can handle a wee bit warmer than some other countries....

most pet shops i have seen who have axies dont cool their tanks at all, and the axies are healthy living through the heat waves with their tanks at around 20-25 deg. i know cause i walk in with a thememoeter and check them..... im allowed to put my hands into the tanks to inspect the axies even though im not buying....lots of people know me now!!!