Juvenile still not eating

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Seizan

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I've had the little guy since Sunday, and he actually ate then, but hasn't eaten since. He ignores the food I leave in with him and I've tried enticing him by holding it in front of his face with some tongs. He is roughly around 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) and has all four of his legs. How often should they eat? Is he still adjusting to his surroundings, is he on a hunger strike, or is he being picky? He's eaten pieces of earthworms and tubifex, perhaps I should try something else? I am planning on ordering the pellets as soon as I can, but until then, any other suggestions?
 
Hi Seizan,

What are your water parameters and temperature? Poor water chemistry and unsuitable temperatures (too warm or way too cold) can make the axie inappetant.

Cheers
 
The axie has been fridged until today, but placed in my tank because I had grown concerned from his lack of consumption. It is in the process of being cycled, and I plan on getting the water tested on Saturday, so I plan on replacing 20% of the water each day while he is in there. The temperature seems fine at 66.7 F (19.7 C) While being fridged, I have offered him smaller pieces of earthworms and tubifex with no luck. About an hour ago, I tried a small piece of shrimp (I washed carefully first) and he actually attacked it, but immediately spat it out and swam away like he has done everytime I offered food. Any ideas?
 
Hi Seizan,

Great job so far. The axie attempting to feed is a positive sign. That shows that it still has an appetite. When fridged, axies tend to become inappetant due to the reduced temperature. This is actually to be expected. Anything lower than 10 degrees celsius can result in inappetance or regurgitation of food, partly because food digestion is slowed.

To facilitate feeding and digestion, i recommend you persist with offering food cut up in very tiny pieces. The increased surface area of the food particles will faciliate digestive enzymatic activity.
Axies can go without food for weeks when fridged.

Cheers.
 
Thanks for the help, I've been stressing over this the whole week. So I should continue trying to feed him earthworms? Every time I've tried offering food, he swims away, almost like he is too afraid of me to try eating. My solution to this was to drop a piece of food in front of him and hope he would notice it, but that hasn't happened yet. Is there any particular way to trick him into trying to eat?
 
So I've noticed today he had that position with his hind quarters slightly raised, which I thought I read on here was the "constipated position" Would this cause him to not want to eat as much? I've seen him poop a few times, and the last thing he ate was some pieces of earth worm. Were they too big for him to properly digest and stunt his appetite? I also discovered an injury on his tail in the middle but near the end of his tail. It almost looks like a puncture wound as it appears to have skin going outward on one side and inward on the other. The other bad news is that this has caused the end of his tail to go "floppy" I am concerned that it might fall off if it doesn't heal right. I began fridging him again, hoping to cure his constipation if he has it, and to help relax him and hopefully his tail will heal. Any ideas at all? I'm completely new at this and have been stressing constantly over this little punk
 
Hi Seizan,

I am not too worried about constipation being an issue as you have seen the axie poop several times recently. Earthworms are easily digested compared to food types like mealworms or fatty meat.

Are you able to provide some photos of the puncture mark? What do you mean by 'floppy tail'? Is the tail dangling (can't be moved)?

Cheers
 
It's hard to get a good picture of it, but I will try tomorrow during the daylight. It looks like it would be around where the bone is, and the puncture looks small. The rest of the tail looks fine, but when he moves from the puncture to the end of the tail doesn't seem as controlled as the rest of it. Will cold water be the best for it, or shall I keep him in the tank? Through the week he hasn't eaten, but he still doesn't seem to be getting thinner either. So perhaps he hasn't finished digesting his stomach contents? Thanks again, are there any particular signs I should look for when he is finally hungry?
 
So I attempted to get a picture, but I think the resolution is too poor on my camera to really tell. The picture is in my "fridging" album. You can barely see the broken blood vessels, and right around there is the wound. It doesn't appear to be bleeding, which it did a little when I first noticed. Will keeping him fridged help him recover with that?
 
So as an update, he still hasn't eaten and I think I found a small spot of fungus right on the injury site. Looks like I'll need to give him a salt bath, I'll try to get a picture up while I am doing it although it's very hard to see it.
 
He seems skinnier since I have gotten him, but he still refuses to eat or acknowledge food. What can I possibly do other than just keep trying? I change out his water every day, offer a small piece of earth worm, and still nothing. Am I the first person to have an antisocial and suicidal axolotl?
 
Hi Seizan

Maybe it is the water quality that is causing him stress. You should get that checked as soon as possible. Is his gills facing forward, if so, you know he is definetaly stressed. Also when he is in the tank, do you have sand, gravel or bare bottom. He could have swallowed some gravel if this is the case which causes impaction. Maybe you should try cutting your earth worm into a very small piece, it might go down easier. I have seen a few axolotls in shops, that havent been looked after very well, maybe this is the case. I'm sure you'll bring him up to good health soon enough. I'm sorry i'm not the best help. Good luck
 
His gills have never faced forward while I have had him, and I've been keeping him fridged for a few weeks. Change with treated water everyday, my tank and the one I bought him in was bare bottom. I cut up earthworms into small pieces just under an inch, roughly the width of his head, which he promptly ignores. He only ate on the day I got him, and has refused since. He sadly died today and the whole experience really bummed me out. I'm probably going to wait a while before I try axies again, and I'll see about getting them from here next time. Thanks for the help, but boy, does this do a number on my self confidence.
 
Hi Seizan,

Thats sad news. Its small consolation but you have done everything that you could. It is likely that your axolotl was in poor health when you purchased it.

Don't take it to heart, you are onto it, get your next one from one of the US breeders that have good testimonials.
 
I'm so sorry to hear about that Seizan.

I wouldn't blame yourself, it appears you may have had a poorly axolotl from the beginning, you did everything you could to encourage the little one to eat. The fact that axolotls can live for months at a time without food shows there must've been something else going on with this one.

What were the conditions like in the place that you got him? Would it be worthwhile letting them know that he died in a matter of days? Perhaps they need to be aware in case there's any transferrable (sp?) disease. Or perhaps just a nudge that their conditions for keeping axolotls aren't up to scratch if that's the case.

Sorry again for your loss
 
When I had picked him up, he had been kept in one of those very small square containers that are usually advertised for bugs and very small creatures. Even though there wasn't any gravel and he had been kept by himself, I suspect that they didn't know the best care for it. They told me to just feed it tubifex or feeder fish, but bought some tubifex because they didn't have any earthworms or bloodworms. I immediately picked up some earthworms, but anyway, yeah probably won't go there again, despite it being the only pet store I've seen them in my area. Thanks for caring, it's kinda silly how much this bothered me, since it felt like there was nothing I could really do. He had been shy the whole time I've had him, so maybe I'll have to get one that is more energetic and responsive.
 
So sorry to hear that. He'll be happy now though. You should'nt feel bad, because you tried everything you could to help him. I've seen many stores that keep their animals in such bad health. It's terrible. Hopefully the next time you get one, things will go a lot better :)
 
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