Squishy is sick?

Hello all! I have not been on in quite a while as my axi has been doing great. I have her in a fifty gallon tank with a whisper filter (got it from Petsmart it is quiet and doesn't move the water much) the filter is only for a 20 gallon tank, which I know is a bad idea, but I try to keep up with water changes to keep the water clean. Her tank is decorated with large glass pieces and a large vase for her to hide around and in. Her substrate is black sand.

She eats very well averaging a full earth worm (night crawler) every 3-4 days.

I have her tank in my room and normally keep the blinds closed so she doesn't get too much sun.

Normally I don't pay much attention to her other than stopping by the tank to see if she looks hungry (which she always does haha!) and to do a quick water change. But today I was home and happened to notice her sitting listlessly in the corner. Now, she isn't normally singing or dancing around her tank but her gills weren't very pink. I figured she was hungry so I grabbed a worm and threw it in the tank.

The worm floated to the bottom of the tank and bonked her on the head. She freaked out and swam all over the tank before settling on a spot of sand. I thought this was strange so I waited to see if she was going to eat the worm or if I should fish it out. She sat on the sand and started gagging (which I have NEVER seen her do before) she gagged and her whole body spasmed and she puked up just about every bit of worm she had in her. I hadn't fed her in 2 or 3 days so I was very surprised so much came out.

I panicked and grabbed a bucket to start doing a water change to get all the vomit out of the tank. I changed the water for about an hour with no luck in getting all the pieces out (am now trying to locate a net to get the rest) and she continued to dry heave for about 5-7 minutes before swimming to a corner and that is where she is now.

I was just wondering if this is normal or is she sick? Did I scare her (I know she does throw up if she gets stressed out) or is there something wrong?

All replies are greatly appreciated!!

hi
you probably woke her up.... their colour does change depending on what they are doing.......im not sure about the vominting but from what i understand they do that everynow and then.....if your water parameters/temp are ok then i would just sit and watch.........
lea

I don't have a thermometer in her tank or anything but I do keep it pretty cold. I am hoping she was just asleep because she was just sitting there staring off into space and her little gills had gone white. I had her water tested about 6 months ago and they said it was fine so I am guessing it still is.

I hate to worry but I recently moved and it was a huge ordeal (50 gal tanks are insanely heavy!) and she was stressed and spent a couple days in the fridge so I get freaky now that something is wrong haha.

thanks

they do like to worry us humans.......the water paramaters can change very quickly so you should be checking them on a regular basis.....i check mine every couple of days...im a bit paranoid........
lea

I used to worry about her constantly and then I left her at my Dads over thanksgiving while I was back at the dorm in college (I didn't want to continually move her) when I returned for Christmas vaca he hadn't cleaned her tank once. There was mold growing in her filter and the tank was so gross. When I asked him what happened he was like "you told me all I had to do was feed her!" I figured she survived three months living in water that looked like iced tea she must be pretty tough.

She does really well and seems pretty hearty. I worry about her when she does goofy irregular things but for the most part I think that since they naturally live in underground lakes they should be fine in a clean tank.

Get the water tested again, just because it was good 6 mos. ago doesn't mean anything...how do you keep it cold?

you should also get a turkey baster...a very easy way to get debris out of the tank, don't have the use the net that you mentioned.

I have to echo Eric's comment... juts because you tested the water half a year ago does not mean the water parameters are still favorable. A lot can change in just a few days.

You can easily test the water parameters yourself. Most pet stores sell freshwater test kits that test the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, etc levels of your tank water.

I will have to look into getting a water tester and the turkey baster sounds like a fantastic idea! I can't be sure how cold the water is but it is cold enough that if i keep my arm in the tank for too long it feels like its freezing, I would guess it is about 50-65 degrees fahrenheit but don't quote me on the that.

She seems to be doing better although she never ate the worm I put in there, possibly because it died, I am going to try giving her another one.

Hi there
Please do get a water testing kit.
Turkey baster are great to use for getting up the poop and bits of left over food. I also use mine to put the bloodworms in a jar as Mo Mo eats bloodworms out of jar.

50-65 is a huge range lol, buy a $2 thermometer to stick to the front of the tank. Although you may be lacking a few essentials for axie care, it does seem you are enthusiastic about your Axolotl's well-being and are keen on getting her back in shape.

Remove worms quickly if they do not eat them within 10 or so minutes, a dead worm can foul quickly and mess up your water conditions quickly.

Keep up the water changes, and if she doesn't take any earthworms, try some live bloodworms just to get her eating. I don't think I've ever seen an Axie refuse a nice clump of wriggly bloodworms.