Axolotl's gills

I have looked all over faqs and the boards and can't find what I'm looking for.

How often should an axolotls gills move in that kind of breathing motion? I thought it was frequently? Maybe every 15-20 seconds? At least i'm sure it has been ever since he arrived. But today his gills aren't moving very much. In fact I've been sat here staring at him for about 20 minutes now. Does that mean he's not breathing? He keeps walking over to me and looking and he's swimming a bit too. He's acting like he usually does.

I'm really worried though that he can't breathe.

Edit: on closer inspection the gills are moving but just not in the same kind of motion that they used to. It's much more subtle. Does this mean they've shrunk? They aren't curled forward.

Ok he just gulped air so I guess its a lack of oxegen thing? I just did a water change today....

don't worry
they move their gills to pass water through it, water with oxygen
they don't move it so often, you will learn by observing that when they get nervous they flap their gills faster (at least that's what my golden does)
also swimming up for air, they don't do it at any regular period of time... it's the same
it's normal that they don't move them so often, if he's flapping them a lot and very fast there could be something bothering him, maybe he was scared or just lazy to swim and it's easier to make water pass through their gills by flapping them

Gill-flicking is a way to move fresh water past the gills. If the animal is moving around the tank, it doesn't need to flick its gills, since it's moving its entire body to an area of fresh water.

Gill-flicking is absolutely dependant on how much oxygen is in the water, the animal's demand for oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange, and how the water is moving. Oxygen exchange through the gills is also fairly passive; that is, the animal doesn't DO anything. The blood just flows through, oxygen comes in, CO2 goes out. When they gulp air at the surface, that's active breathing, but it's not a sign that there's something wrong, unless they're gulping at the surface excessively.

I think you're freaking out over nothing.

Oh thank you so much guys. You just read about caring for these guys and I'd hate to think that I'm causing him any distress so got a bit worked up. He's wandered off into his cave and left me now. And i'm awfully in the cats badbooks for spending so much time at his tank tonight!

Thank you again. You're all really great!

I can't help but chuckle at this thread. I hate to anthropomorphosize your axolotl, but he's got to be thinking "Dag nabbit woman, give me a worm and leave me be!"

Hahaha, I'm pretty sure thats exactly what he's been thinking!! Thanks again!