help! my axie hasnt eaten for days!

Hey all - newbie to the site here.

My axie seems to have an appetite (he 'begs' for food), but cant keep anything down. he coughs everything back up. he hasnt eaten properly for a few days now, and i'm getting really worried. does anyone know what's wrong with him and what i can do?

he has just recovered from bloating. could that have anything to do with it?

thanx
haylz

I am only pretty new to this but I have learnt a lot from having a very sick Axi. and reading the info on this site. Water temp is very important. Your tank should be about 19deg. I have a chiller but still have to float ice some days. I have had him in the fridge in an iceream tub while I have been doing stuff to his tank.
Also your tank has to be clean, no uneaten food or poos in the water. PH level is another thing to check. My axi stopped eating and became so emancipated he was almost clear. Keep reading all the stuff on this site, it will help you to work things out. Good luck

thankyou for your help!

what have you been feeding him and what substrate do you have in your tank? sand, gravel?

i had large pebbles (more than 2cm diameter) in the bottom of the tank, but took them out for cleaning. since he got sick, i havent put them back in, so at the moment, there's nothing at the bottom of the tank. i feed him mostly beef mince. sometimes i feed him beef heart or axi pellets, but he prefers the mince and sometimes completely refuses anything else.

Haylz - you should only feed meat as "treats" or occasionally, rather than as a staple alongside pellets. When you do feed the beef heart you should cut all fat and tendons of and cut in thin wormlike strips so it's easier for them to grab. You should avoid feeding mince as it is generally quite fatty (not good for your axolotl)

A better primary food is earthworms if you can get them.

A few questions so we can work out what may be wrong.

1. How long was your axolotl bloated and did he eat during this period?
2. Did he eat immediately after recovering from bloat?
3. If so, how much did he eat and what was it?
4. How often do you feed your axolotl (when healthy)?
5. How large is your axolotl and, if known, how old is he?

Usually if they're regurgitating the food may be too chunky or big or another cause could be if he's overfed. Many axolotls are opportunistic creatures and will continue to eat given the chance (and offered the food). Not all will stop when full - they'll continue to eat until their stomach is full and then some; then will regurgitate the food within a 24hour period.

the beef heart i'm giving him comes in frozen squares and i usually break it up quite small. i dont think he can feel overfed at the moment - he hasn't kept anything down for almost two weeks.
i am having trouble keeping the water temp down - it wont go below 19. but i'm floating frozen water bottles in the tank to maintain it.

1. he was bloated for about a week. he wouldn't eat anything at the time.
2. he started regurgitating right after he recovered from the bloating - he hasnt properly eaten anything since.
4. i usually feed him every 2nd day - either 5 pellets or a small ball of mince.
5. he's not very big - about 50cm. and i'm not sure how old he is, but when i bought him about a month ago, he was too young to tell his gender. at this point i'm assuming he's male from what i've read (size of head etc)

thankyou so much for your help.

Do you mean 5cm or 15cm, rather than 50cm?

You should still never feed him mince.

Oops sorry - yeah 15cm.
I've stopped feeding him mince - only pellets now. But he still keeps spitting them back up.