My First Axolotl

emz

emz

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Hi i got my axolotl Billy last weekend and im not sure about a few things so would like to know what people think. Firstly he isnt very interested in food he has only eaten about 5 pellets in a week and often just spits them out or ignores me and moves away. The pet shop said he likes to be hand fed but he has only taken food that is dropped by his face. I will try some earthworms when i get some. Can they just take time to adjust to a new home? I have also noticed a lot of fluff has started gathering in places on the bottom of the tank do other people get this? I only cleaned the tank out yesterday and tested it and all was as it should be and water temp at 19c in the day. And finally i have no idea how old he is he is roughly 18cms or whether he is a he or a she. Please excuse my poor quality photos. Thanks x
 

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Looks like a 'He' to me, but I don't think you can tell until they're a year old, and since you don't know how old he is, I guess you'll just have to wait a bit longer. Maybe you could make the water a bit colder though? 70+ degrees is a too hot for an axolotl, and 18C is getting a bit too close to that.
You should probably let someone more experienced talk to you before you do anything, I'm just going from all the things I've read around here. Good luck, though!
 
emz said:
Hi i got my axolotl Billy last weekend and im not sure about a few things so would like to know what people think. Firstly he isnt very interested in food he has only eaten about 5 pellets in a week and often just spits them out or ignores me and moves away. The pet shop said he likes to be hand fed but he has only taken food that is dropped by his face. I will try some earthworms when i get some. Can they just take time to adjust to a new home? I have also noticed a lot of fluff has started gathering in places on the bottom of the tank do other people get this? I only cleaned the tank out yesterday and tested it and all was as it should be and water temp at 19c in the day. And finally i have no idea how old he is he is roughly 18cms or whether he is a he or a she. Please excuse my poor quality photos. Thanks x
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Congrats on your new axie :) Ok like any animal etc it takes time to adjust to new surroundings so dont stress quite yet :) From the looks of your tank from what i can see all is ok, sand, hide, plants etc!

Were the pet shop feeding him pellets when you got him as the best food by far is a good old earthworm!! go digging in your garden or anywhere that does not use pesticides and see your axie swing into action lol! an axie will eat a worm in 2 seconds flat and will certainly thank you for it!! given the choice if you were an axie, boring non moving pellet v squiggly juicy worm - no contest lol :D Dont get me wrong I vary my axies diet with worms, blood worms and pellets but mainly worms :)

As for water you are fine so dont worry!!! Axie are quite happy in 18 - 21 water!!! so your 19 is all good!!!

Sandywolf said:
Looks like a 'He' to me, but I don't think you can tell until they're a year old, and since you don't know how old he is, I guess you'll just have to wait a bit longer. Maybe you could make the water a bit colder though? 70+ degrees is a too hot for an axolotl, and 18C is getting a bit too close to that.
You should probably let someone more experienced talk to you before you do anything, I'm just going from all the things I've read around here. Good luck, though!
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18 - 21 is more than fine for an axie :happy:
 
Thank you so much i do worry about my pets. He was on gravel at the shop too. He was fed whitebait fish at the shop which i wasnt to keen on feeding him but i did try some cut up but he didnt like that either. I will try an earthworm later if i find one i am going to order some next week off a website that was suggested to me. He hasnt been to the loo yet either i dont think and this morning he has a piece of white stuck to one gill hope it isnt what i think it is. I may be having a few problems with him but its worth the worry as he is lovely.
 
He's lurrrrvley, Emz! Congratulations :)

+1 for what Zoe said! 19 is fine, keep an eye on it during the summer. This summer will be my first with axies, hoping the temperature stays fairly cool!

Earthworms, yeah! My axies couldn't have cared less if i was around or not until I became The Bringer of Earthworms, now they get soooo excited when i go near them!
 
emz said:
Thank you so much i do worry about my pets. He was on gravel at the shop too. He was fed whitebait fish at the shop which i wasnt to keen on feeding him but i did try some cut up but he didnt like that either. I will try an earthworm later if i find one i am going to order some next week off a website that was suggested to me. He hasnt been to the loo yet either i dont think and this morning he has a piece of white stuck to one gill hope it isnt what i think it is. I may be having a few problems with him but its worth the worry as he is lovely.
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Dont we all :happy: Your axie is lucky to have you!

Poor thing if he is not pooing or eating I do wonder if he may have swallowed some of that gravel from the shop!

Can you find an earthworm for him and see if he is tempted with that and let me know.

Does he looks lumpy at all in places??

Keep an eye on that gill aswell, do you have any piccies of it! Sounds like you are pretty clued up already on axies and what to look for well done :cool:
 
Thanks he doesnt look to have any bulges or anything that i can see. I will keep checking incase he passes gravel. I have taken a picture of the fluff on his gill which seems to be worse now than yesterday it also seems to be on the bottom and gathering in the corners of the tank! Do i need to take him out and put him in the critter keeper box and clean the tank and everything in it? I dont know what to do it wasnt there yesterday morning. Is it possible to use protozin medication if it is fungus or is it only for fish?
 

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It's a bit blurry for me to make out :( but if it looks like cotton wool it is more than likely fungus. Don't use fish meds for axies, they can contain harmful substances, best bet is salt baths and fridge time I think :) That's what I did with my little fellas. There's tutorials for both fridging and salt bathing in the sick axolotl section that should help you :D
 
Star said:
It's a bit blurry for me to make out :( but if it looks like cotton wool it is more than likely fungus. Don't use fish meds for axies, they can contain harmful substances, best bet is salt baths and fridge time I think :) That's what I did with my little fellas. There's tutorials for both fridging and salt bathing in the sick axolotl section that should help you :D
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As Star says :) Also make sure you leave him in for no longer than 15 mins if you do salt baths. good luck!

Zoe
 
Thanks again i know the pic is a bit blurry my camera isnt to good cant believe im running into so many problems already only had him a week :eek: I havent got any dechlorinated water ready at the moment iv only just put it in my bucket so should i leave him in the tank overnight until the water has rested or is it more important to get him out now? Sorry for all the questions. Hopefully my next post will be a completely happy one.
 
Hi, are you not using a water conditioner for your water such as nutrafin etc as this is vital as ammonia is very harmful to axolotls??
 
Yes i am using nutrafin tap water conditioner but i thought you had to let it rest a while too?
 
PHEW no you dont, as long as that has been added you are good to go :) Just make sure water temp is roughly the same :D
 
Oh i thought you had to do both. I have been reading everything on this site for many months before joining and getting him because i like to be sure on everything but i must have read something about water condition and something about leaving it overnight and ended up thinking i had to do both lol silly me.
 
Your not silly at all, its great you have done so much honework so big thumbs up on that!!
 
Hi everything seems to be going well with billy so far so fingers crossed he will be fine. I gave him an earthworm out of the garden today and it was gone in a flash! no poop as yet but the way he ate the worm im sure he will have to soon and i moved him into a container yesterday and have cleaned out the tank ready for him to go back in soon i had to remove the sand though. I havent salt bathed him yet though as the fungus fell off earlier yay! so i just moved him into more clean water to see if it comes back if so then i will salt bath him. Just wanted to THANK YOU all again for the help. Even though i had read many posts about these problems sometimes you cant beat a personal opinion.
 
i just noticed yesterday that my axie has the same problem. i have 2 in a 3 ft tank, only one has the fungus. should i salt bath and fridge them both? i read thru the salt bath tutorial but it did NOT say how long to keep them in the fridge??? any ideas??
 
Your axi will probably respond better to worms better than pellets... mine does
 
emz said:
Hi everything seems to be going well with billy so far so fingers crossed he will be fine. I gave him an earthworm out of the garden today and it was gone in a flash! no poop as yet but the way he ate the worm im sure he will have to soon and i moved him into a container yesterday and have cleaned out the tank ready for him to go back in soon i had to remove the sand though. I havent salt bathed him yet though as the fungus fell off earlier yay! so i just moved him into more clean water to see if it comes back if so then i will salt bath him. Just wanted to THANK YOU all again for the help. Even though i had read many posts about these problems sometimes you cant beat a personal opinion.
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Thats great news betting Billy is loving you for the squiggly worm and will surely show you his gratitude with a nice big axie poo :rofl:

Great news about the fungus aswell!!

Fingers crossed no more problems you have had your fair share in a week and deserve some quality time enjoying Billy now!!! :D

Aimzs Lotties said:
i just noticed yesterday that my axie has the same problem. i have 2 in a 3 ft tank, only one has the fungus. should i salt bath and fridge them both? i read thru the salt bath tutorial but it did NOT say how long to keep them in the fridge??? any ideas??
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Ok dont bath your healthy axie only salt bath your fungus one and only for 15 mins at a time (dont forget to time). Depending on how severe the fungus is you may need to do 2 baths a day.

After the salt baths pop back into some clean dechlorinated water in the fridge. As for how long you should fridge for that will depend on how long it takes for the fungus to dissapear but keep your axie in there until it has basically with the daily salt baths and when it has gone make sure you take him out of the fridge and allow 4 - 6 hours for him to come back to normal temperature before you pop him back in his tank :) Good luck!
 
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