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Hello Im in need of some advice/Help

laurajai

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Hello

I have an axolotl named tiger in the office and have had him for about 4 months now, his sick and i know this because his not active, his very skinny, cant swallow food no matter how small it is he tries to eat it but ends up spitting it out, his constantly got his mouth open and his head looks like its a balloon, i have read many forums and read about putting him in the fridge to relax as this may help pass stones but no such luck but he is alot more active in there. The tank he is in has sufficient hidey holes and is at 20 degrees and i have been feeding him frozen which he tries to eat and did eat for the first couple of weeks.

Please help i feel aweful not being able to fix his sickness.

Thanks

Laura
 

smily sam

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Welcome to the forum Laura:D
Seems tiger is a bit under wait. What substrate do you have in the tank? If its craval he may be impacted. How long did you have him in the fridge for? What type of frozen food do you feed your axie? How big is your axie? If he is big enough feed him live earthworms or if hes just a little bit small or the worms are to big chop them in half if he's even smaller feed him blood worms and if hes a baby which I doubt at 4 months minimum old feed live daphnia. Tiger dosn't sound to well aspecaly with all the yawning, how often is he yowning?
Sam
 

smily sam

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P.S Is it very bright where you work? axies don't like bright light.
Can you make the axie tank tempureture less e.g. 18degress your axie may be stressed.
Also how big is your axies tank if it is even kept in a tank.
Sam
 

laurajai

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Hi Sam

Thank you for you quick reply i am very worried about him.
His tank is rather large 40x40x60cm
i have a filer going and the current isnt strong at all
the rocks are small but his that skinny i would see if he had a rock in him :(
i feed him frozen beef heart and he gets a quarter at a time.
He has a rock he can hide under.
I was a bit worried it might be the temp was going to the pet shop today to see if they have something i can use to chill that water(but hopefully as its coming to winter the temp will stay low now)
and i have been putting him in the fridge everyday and his loving it.

P.s his only small 12cm il try and post a pic so you can get an idea
Thanks
Laura
 

smily sam

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best thing to feed him is iver frozen blood worms or if you can get them (ive heard you can get them from bungings-not shure if spelt right) earth worms are the best food for axies by far. Temp isnt that bad just make sure it dosn't go over 21degresse. you should really try and get rid of the graval as soon as posible you can iver have no substrate and have bear bottum or sand is a good one because it dosn'ty trap as much dirt as slabs of slate or large pebles biger than your axies head.
if your going to fridge him just keephim in the fridge for about a month(that should give you time to sort out your substrate)
Sam
 

laurajai

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i worry im going to freeze because i only work from 9-5 so i take him out. whats the best way to keep him in the fridge? will change the pebbles asap. yes i have seen tubs of worms at bunnings before! now i know what they are used for (bit weird seeing a bucket of live worms on the shelf). im not sure how to load photos to this link il try and add them to my profile

Thanks again
 

Kaysie

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If his head/chin are swollen, it's definitely something beyond simple impaction.

With swelling in the head, I'd be seriously concerned about bloat, which needs to be treated by a veterinarian.
 

smily sam

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to add photos click on manage atachments then browse e.g. my photos if the photos of your axie are there or to my computer then removable storage divice e.g. camera phone.
Hope I've helped. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Sam

P.S Kasie whats bloat exactly?
 

Kaysie

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Bloat is usually either a systemic infection (rapid-onset bloat), or caused by organ failure (slow-onset bloat). I'm sure there are also other causes of bloat, but it's best to have that assessed by a veterinarian.

Your axolotl will be fine in the fridge. They can easily handle temperatures down to 5c without any problems. By constantly taking him in and out of the fridge, you're actually causing more stress, rather than alleviating it. Axolotls can stay in the fridge for weeks as long as they have the appropriate water changes.
 
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laurajai

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hey thanks for the advice here are some pictures of him
can you let me know what you think?
after visiting the petshop on the weekend and seeing the others there i realised he was very small when i got him

tiger1.jpg
tiger2.jpg
tiger3.jpg
 

Jossie

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You can get worms and childrens play sand from Bunnings, just make sure that you get the right types of worms, as not all worms are super axie friendly.
You should be able to get frozen bloodworms from petshops- I'm sure they'll have them, just ask.
 

Sonic

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You need to change your substrate as it's too large, I've read around a bit now and kaysie has given me wonderful tips, my axie ended up like this and was skinny, change his substrate, do water checks/changes, and try keep his tank cool, keep some water filled bottles in the freezer and swap them regulary to keep his tank at a constant temperature, and fridge-ing your axolotl daily may very well be slowly killing him, due to stress from irregular temperature changes.
Let me know how you go.
 

Sonic

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Also, I just noticed on your pictures, is that a bump near his back leg? Maybe investigate your axie may not be as healthy as you think.
 

laurajai

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Yay my axie has put on weight!

so i brought him home as it was alot eaiser to care for him!
i have taken him out of the fridge as his already skinny enough and i dont want to supress his apetite anymore. i have started hand feeding him blood worms and its good because im seeing him and making sure his eating his food.

so his now in a tank with no rocks and a log to hide in i cover him with a towel during the day so his relaxed.

i will keep you posted and post more pics so you can see his progress. hopefully his better soon

--smily sam - in reference to the bump near his leg, thats where his leg joins to his body his that skinny its sticking out.

thanks so much for the help its been great even though ive done the research it always helps to have someone else telling you things you cant find on the net.
 

smily sam

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Good to hear Tiger has put wait on. Hows his head, is it still bloated? how big are the rocks in the axie tank if there smaller than tigers head then take them out.
What do you meen you put him in a towl? do you put it in the tank?or do you take him out of the water and hold him?or is he in a terestrial setup?
Sam:happy:
 

Star

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If it helps, when I got one of my leucistics he was extremely underweight, been trying to fatten him up for ages to no avail but I recently tried him on live wax worms. He gobbles them up super fast and had put on weight in about a week and is now a normal, healthy weight for an axie! Could be worth trying them until he hits his goal weight :)
 

laurajai

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hi star

thanks for the idea with the wax worms i will try and hunt some down on the weekend.

sam - i have him in a tank at home with no rocks and i cover the tank with a towel so its dark and he stays relaxed. i dont handle him at all plus his way too fragile.
 
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