Question: Why is he doing handstands?

rexx · Mar 3, 2011

This afternoon when i got home from work i seen my axoltol sitting in the tank with his head at the bottom , almost like a handstand. So i got his food and went to give it to him , he quickly moved and kept diving towards the bottom like he was head butting it .... i quickly tried to get my phone to record it , but this was all i was able to get.
And now for the past hour since i have been home ,the way he is at the end of the clip is how he has been. he hasnt moved. and it looks like he is doing a handstand inside the tube.

Why would he be doing this ? not enough oxygen? something wrong with the wateR?

WHen i fed him earlier he was obivoulsy interested int he blood worm , but he kept moving around and trying to get to the bottom of the tank so much all the little bloodworm ended up floating around the tank.
So i just tried to feed him a worm, as soon as i put the worm infront of him he grabbed it and then freaked out and reversed himself outside of the little tube , dropped the worm and kept diving for the bottom. And now he has his head down with it trying to hide under the filter. I have never had this happen before, so obviously this is not normal.

Please help on what i should do !

YouTube - Axolotl

zoezakella · Mar 3, 2011

Hi, ok from looking at the video it looks to me like he is having trouble keeping his back end down almost like he is trying to stop himself floating to the top of the tank.

What is he doing now is he still the same is he in the tube as if so again it might be to stop himself from floating to the top.

Can I ask, what temp is your tank at, have you tested the water and if so what are the parameters and when was the last time he ate & pooed if you know?

rexx · Mar 3, 2011

zoezakella said:
Hi, ok from looking at the video it looks to me like he is having trouble keeping his back end down almost like he is trying to stop himself floating to the top of the tank.

What is he doing now is he still the same is he in the tube as if so again it might be to stop himself from floating to the top.

Can I ask, what temp is your tank at, have you tested the water and if so what are the parameters and when was the last time he ate & pooed if you know?

He's moved around the tank but is still doing the same thing. still with his head at the bottom, hes leaning on a fake plant in there. he properly at yesterday. i gave him a worm today which he jumped at, but then floated out of the tube by accident im assuming and spat the worm out, so i removed it from the tank. and to be honest, i have never seen any of my axolotls poo - so i have no idea!

could he be not feeling well from the frozen bloodworm or brine shrimp (im not sure what it was as i have them all cut up and stored into those daily medication containers and grab one each day other day i dont feed a worm)

I havent had a chance to test the water as i havent got my own kit yet, i do it for free at the local shop.

and the temp i know that it is meant to be low, but seeing as they live happily in the pet shops at 24-26 i dont see there being any problem if that is what they are most happy at. currently it is about 21 in the tank though.
\

-- i have an air pump in there, should i remove that or turn it off ? if this is helping the problem to him floating and trying to keep his back end down ?

im feeling absolutely terrible that he is keeping his head to the bottom!

Bellabelloo · Mar 3, 2011

Axolotl's rear ends can float when they are about to pooh

However there are a few problems that I can see with the tank. Looking at the video there is a LOT of water current, I would say far too much. Axolotl do not cope with the water moving too much. Its possible your little axolotl is struggling with such strong current and is trying to get out of it.
I think it would be really difficult for you axolotl to eat the blood worm that is being rocketed around the tank by the current. I am also concerned that the uneaten bloodworm will be trapped under those stones as well, bloodworm breakdown very quickly and will pollute your water quite fast.
And as the lovely Zoe says, we need the water parameters for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite plus the current temperature of the water.

rexx · Mar 3, 2011

bellabelloo said:
Axolotl's rear ends can float when they are about to pooh
However there are a few problems that I can see with the tank. Looking at the video there is a LOT of water current, I would say far too much. Axolotl do not cope with the water moving too much. Its possible your little axolotl is struggling with such strong current and is trying to get out of it.
I think it would be really difficult for you axolotl to eat the blood worm that is being rocketed around the tank by the current. I am also concerned that the uneaten bloodworm will be trapped under those stones as well, bloodworm breakdown very quickly and will pollute your water quite fast.
And as the lovely Zoe says, we need the water parameters for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite plus the current temperature of the water.

So is it normal for him to be like this for hours then if he is going to poo ? i have been home since 2pm and it is now almost 7pm. mum said he was doing that before 2pm though.

When i feed them bloodworm (i usually prefer beef heart or the worms obviously because they are not as messy) i always use tongs. so i stick it striaght near their mouth and they eat it straight away so usually there is none left over to float around the tank (unlike what u can see here because he didnt eat it). i will have another water pump gravel cleaner (the one that gets rid of all the gunk out of the water) . very soon, i broke my last one by accident as when i had sand in the tank the sand got stuck in the pump.

i am thinking of removing the big pebbles just to help ease things a bit more. I have turned the air pump off too. but its funny because since i got him , he has been completely fine and no stress at all and has a very good appetite for his earth worms!

UPDATE: I have just removed the pebbles and the air pump and he is still floating up from his back end in a struggle to stay at the bottom ... poor little fella!

i feel so helpless at the moment. on the plus side , he has some what of an appetite he bit my finger ... thinking it was food obviously. but when i put a worm in front of his face, this time he just swam past it. so ive left it in there for a little bit hoping he will pick it up and eat it

iChris · Mar 3, 2011

that could be what looks like a textbook case of axie constipation.

I suggest removing those pebbles and siphoning out all of the muck underneath. it will stir up alot of gunk, so perhaps remove your axie and keep him in another container and then remove the stones first then siphon the gunk out and discard the water, or run it through a very fine flour sieve as you siphon the water out to remove the big bits of gunk, then you can return him to the tank and keep your eyes open for possible axie waste.

the filter should remove most of the finer particles, but I think the gunk probably would have broken down enough for it to pass through a sieve so you may have to discard some of the water and rely on your filter to capture the rest.

rexx · Mar 3, 2011

iChris said:
that could be what looks like a textbook case of axie constipation.

I suggest removing those pebbles and siphoning out all of the muck underneath. it will stir up alot of gunk, so perhaps remove your axie and keep him in another container and then remove the stones first then siphon the gunk out and discard the water, or run it through a very fine flour sieve as you siphon the water out to remove the big bits of gunk, then you can return him to the tank and keep your eyes open for possible axie waste.

the filter should remove most of the finer particles, but I think the gunk probably would have broken down enough for it to pass through a sieve so you may have to discard some of the water and rely on your filter to capture the rest.

Thank you ! i removed the pebbles last night and he was still doing the same thing with his rear end up in the air. This morning when i woke and looked at him , he was like a normal axolotl again - sitting there normally! I hope he can hold out until 1.30pm thats when i can do a proper clean and remove everything .... what causes them be constipated - the food im feeding them ?

rexx · Mar 4, 2011

UPDATE : 2pm - friday ... i have just used the siphon thing and removed as much of the gunk as i could - there was alot obviously, but decided not to do anymore as the water was going down quite alot and i didnt want to do a big water change.

The worm is still sitting at the bottom of the tank , so he hasn't eaten it. . once he moves away from the worm i will remove it and feed him another worm a little later when he isnt as stressed ... He looks like he is doing well at the moment (well alot better than yesterday!) his back end isn't floating up like it was... and he is just sitting at the bottom of the tank . I have uploaded a new picture of him 5 mins ago.

I was going to do a water test, but i will wait until tomorrow now - as i have just changed some of the water. So there really is no point at the moment. I have added the ph down (as this always is high whenever i do a water change) and also the dechlorinator. Hopefully things will have settled down when i get the water tested tomorrow!

rexx · Mar 4, 2011

I gave him a little beef heart he lunged at it and took a little bite ... but i removed it as it was making the tank dirty - this makes me want to stick to worms i think! i wish i attempted to give him the worm first to see if he ate it. I gave him the worm , he grabbed it and moved his head around and spat it out. And this pic was takenwhen the worm was above him ... does he look happy and normal enough ? (i know the tank still looks a little dirty as they are little sand particles behind him).

I think i am over stressing now and just need to let everything go with the flow! just dont want him getting ill !

siona · Mar 4, 2011

I'm sure in a day or 2 he'll settle down and be snapping at worms again! The same thing happened to one of mine. He spent 3 days in the fridge, did a huge poop, but wasn't back to his normal self for another 3 days after that (not eating and spitting out worms like yours)! He's fine now though - I guess he was just recovering slowly. hopefully it's the same for your little guy

iChris · Mar 4, 2011

Its just about observation, I think you did the right thing by moving the pebbles, they trap so much waste.

you will now also be able to track your animal's "habits" ie, how often it passes waste.

if you really do want a substrate, try using sand, it is recommended by many users of this forum.

Kaysie · Mar 4, 2011

Why do you use pH down? What is your pH without it? SO many people think messing with their pH is a good idea, and at best it's usually unnecessary, at worst it's downright dangerous. Wild swings in pH (or any other measurement) are just as, if not more stressful as having a water parameter that's slightly off.

rexx · Mar 4, 2011

siona said:
I'm sure in a day or 2 he'll settle down and be snapping at worms again! The same thing happened to one of mine. He spent 3 days in the fridge, did a huge poop, but wasn't back to his normal self for another 3 days after that (not eating and spitting out worms like yours)! He's fine now though - I guess he was just recovering slowly. hopefully it's the same for your little guy

He hasn;t eaten the worm again i offered him another one and he was moving around like he was interested in it .. but nope.so i will try a bit of beef heart again a little later.
Thanks! my guy looks better just waiting for his appetite to come back again (apparently he could eat up to 5 worms in a day in the pet shop...) although i only managed 2/3 ... but i dont wanna over feed him.

rexx · Mar 4, 2011

iChris said:
Its just about observation, I think you did the right thing by moving the pebbles, they trap so much waste.

you will now also be able to track your animal's "habits" ie, how often it passes waste.

if you really do want a substrate, try using sand, it is recommended by many users of this forum.

Yes , now there is nothing at the bottom of the tank except a live plant and the tube .... i found a little rock (from the plant container) that had what it looked like was waste .. it was a very dark redy/brown colour ... could this be his poo possibly ?

Im looking at getting a bigger tank set up for him , so thats when i do will do the whole sand set up i think .. also i seen like a mat that u can put on the floor of ur tank and its somewhat like a filter thing as well ? just trying to find this in perth is not easy!

rexx · Mar 4, 2011

Kaysie said:
Why do you use pH down? What is your pH without it? SO many people think messing with their pH is a good idea, and at best it's usually unnecessary, at worst it's downright dangerous. Wild swings in pH (or any other measurement) are just as, if not more stressful as having a water parameter that's slightly off.

THe reason why i use PH down is because whenever i had the water tested no matter what it was always higher than normal. So whenever i do a change, i always put a tiny bit in just so i dont risk it being high. That is always the only thing that is ever out in my tank ... i guess its better than the ammonia being out for example though right ?? :happy:

axigeek · Mar 4, 2011

I grabbed a bag of sand from Bunnings. It was just kids sand pit sand, cost about $10 for a large bag and you have to rinse it at least twice. As for the ph problems, I used a pinch of something called proper ph 7.5 and the ph level hasn't changed since. If your axi doesn't eat blood worms, try axi pellets. I've read that beef heart is very fattening for axis :uhoh:

rexx · Mar 4, 2011

gemsowner said:
I grabbed a bag of sand from Bunnings. It was just kids sand pit sand, cost about $10 for a large bag and you have to rinse it at least twice. As for the ph problems, I used a pinch of something called proper ph 7.5 and the ph level hasn't changed since. If your axi doesn't eat blood worms, try axi pellets. I've read that beef heart is very fattening for axis :uhoh:

i did have some sand that i got from the fish shop previously but then once a lady at another pet shop told me it can be bad for them i removed it and threw it out...
i must admit having nothing in there now shows how dirty it really gets! i put a beef heart in there earlier he picked at it for a while... then it was all gone ... and then 2 hours later when he moved away from where he was eating it ... it had looked like he had vomited it all back up ... or i guess it had just been sitting there for too long!

I have never heard of axie pellets before ? are they easy to find ?i might give them a go next! im not really a fan of putting bloodworms into the tank as it is soooo messy! thanks!:happy:

axigeek · Mar 5, 2011

I've found that my axi loves the sand most and I've tried pebbles as well as smaller rocks that I was told were safe, but sand is definitely easiest to clean up! I've seen my axi bury her head in the sand before, which was just funny, but never any problems with sand :happy: As for the pellets, they should be sold at your local pet store. Just so u know though, not all axis eat them, mine just happens to :happy:
Good luck

rexx · Mar 5, 2011

gemsowner;272514 As for the pellets said:
Thanks! when i get the water tested tomorrow ,ill have a look for pellets. Hopefully he eats them ... I want his appetite to go back up again!

Question: Why is he doing handstands?

New member

Member

New member

Julia

New member

New member

New member

New member

Attachments

New member

Attachments

Member

New member

Site Contributor

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member