stressed axie?

Hi! I'm new to caring for axolotls and i think i need some help.

It seems my axolotl's skin has started to flake off/turn whitish (he's black). Is this a sign of stress?

Also, I am having trouble keeping the water temp down. I'm currently floating frozen water bottles in the tank, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Right now the temp's at 22C - I know this is bad. What can I do?

Some axolotls lose their skin but it can be a sign of stress if your axie's skin is flaking or getting patches of white. What are the white patches like? Slimy or cottony? As you have temperature problems it could be from the stress of this. If you can't keep your temperatures down, is it possible for you to house your axolotl in the fridge until the temperature is ok?

Also what are your other tank parameters? Ammonia/nitrate/nitrite/ph?

Haylz, I too have temperature problems over summer and my axie has been in the fridge twice, once for 9 days and the second time for 3 weeks over this summer. Prior to my putting him in the fridge the first time, I was quite reluctant, but he had similar issues with flaking skin and had lost quite a bit of weight though was still eating. I am now a big fridge fan!! Quite apart from being a nice cold holiday for your axie, I was a lot less worried with him in there, and wasn't constantly checking the tank. Something else that may help though, is putting polystyrene foam on three sides of your tank and using ice bottles in conjunction. The water stays a little cooler for longer and you can go a bit longer between bottle changes and therefore have fewer bottles and therefore have room for food in your freezer. . A fan pointing at the water surface takes about another degree off too, as long as the rooms humidity isn't very high. Mine seems to need to eat more than twice a week (he's 20cm long) over summer too to maintain weight as my standard tank temperature seems to be 19-22c. I'm probably feeding him 5 days out of 7 at the moment and obviously you need to clean up more food/poo accordingley.
My plan (now destined to happen this week, yippee) is to put him in a much larger tank (4 foot) and use an external canister filter so that it has no heating effect on the water. Larger tanks take longer to heat up in a hot spell. Good luck.

Well said Lisa. Yeah the fridge is definately great. If you have the money as well maybe down the track try looking at investing in a chiller but the fridge works wonders all the same.

Lisa, did your axie eat much when he was in the fridge and did you keep changing the water - did you have holes in the container for oxygen?

Kasper, I've just bought my axolotl out of the fridge after two weeks and in that time he didn't eat at all. I tried a few times as he has eaten in the past in the fridge. At 10C he will eat but not anything lower really it seems.

If you fridge your axolotl you need to change the water 100% each day, keep the temperature 5C or higher and I keep a lid on my container but open a little bit. I am not sure that is required though, as the water is cold it tends to be very oxygenated. You need to cover the container as well to block out light.

I'm not Lisa but I hope that helps

As Sarah said, I change the water 100% daily for dechlorinated water I keep next to him in a bottle so it's the same temperature as his lunch box. Mine has only eaten once in the fridge, and he regurgitated that and didn't eat at all in his three week stint in the fridge. He's at about 7 degrees when he's there. Hoping to get to the end of the hot weather now without needing to put him back. And he has the lid on his lunchbox and no holes in it and I wrap it in a dark-coloured tea towel so the light going on and off doesn't scare him.

Thanks guys.
I shall try putting him in the fridge. Do i need to somehow drop the water temp gradually before i do? And is an ice-cream container okay to house him in?

No you can put your axolotl straight in if your fridge temperature is fine. When you take your axolotl out *then* you will need to do that bit gradually to let it warm up to tank temperature.

Yea an ice cream container will do

Saspotato said:

No you can put your axolotl straight in if your fridge temperature is fine. When you take your axolotl out *then* you will need to do that bit gradually to let it warm up to tank temperature.

Yea an ice cream container will do

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Axle seems to be looking much better now and has eaten 6 meal worms throughout the day! I cut the heads off which wasn't much fun as I hadn't been doing that before - thanks for that advice.I haven't put him in the fridge yet as I have to go away for a few days which i am very worried about- leaving axle in his state!He is not as lopsided as he was and into his food again.He stills swims to the top,pokes his mouth out of the water and gulps air, does anyone know why he does that?I am quite new @ this and took the advice of pet shop owners and bought gravel which I have now read is bad news and he should be on sand - he may have swallowed some gravel?

Sand or a bare tank floor. You should remove the gravel, and the tank floor can stay bare while you decide if you want sand and until you get back. Take him out of the tank first and put him in a bucket of tank water and allow the water to clear a bit after you've removed the gravel before you put him back in. He may well have swallowed some, which can causes blockages, but as long as you're finding poo and he's eating, there's not a lot else you can do, other than stop him swallowing any more. You've gotta love those well-informed pet shops huh? Warm water has less oxygen in it than cold water, so he may be gulping for that reason. If his gills are small/damaged he won't get enough oxygen exchange through them and will gulp to compensate.

Kasper,

I recently posted a comment regarding axolotls gulping air at the surface, perhaps it might be of assistance to you:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?p=135701#post135701

Keep in mind that it may not necessarily mean that there is anything wrong with your tank and it's just your axolotl stretching its legs.

Jay.