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Illness/Sickness: My axolotl wont eat anything!?

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CLotls

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Hi, My newest axolotl, Randall Draco, wont eat anything! I've fed him about 5 or 6 times in the month i've had him, and even then it wasnt much (about 1/4 of a beef heart block or three mealworms). He's a very pale axolotl - he's scrawny as well, you can see his bones in his legs - but no matter what I do, he just wont eat!!!! :(
The other two in the tank ( a black female and a yellowish male) eat fine, well, actually, eat a lot, for they usually eat the little ones food when he doesnt.
My friend feeds hers on chicken bits (which only the other two have eaten when I tried it) but mine just wont eat! Help?
 
xxianxx

xxianxx

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The fact that your axolotl wont eat may be a symptom rather than the cause of him being ill, the first thing i would look at is impaction(stones in his gut), when you got him was he kept on gravel? because it may be he accidentally ate some.
 
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CLotls

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He was kept on gravel when I got him - and still is, but if they do accidentally eat some, they spit it right out...
The female's bitten of a bit of his tail though (I dont blame her - she's actually quite gentle - but I went away on holidays for a week and my dad didnt feed them often enough) could that be part of it?
 
iChris

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it seems that you too have been misinformed about axolotl keeping.

first up, gravel is a no-no. you must remove it. the only substrate suitable for axies is sand or not to have one at all. gravel will be swallowed and even if you see them spit it out, it can almost be guaranteed that there is some present in it's gut. this will cause impaction and probably the symptoms you are seeing.

as for diet, the recommended staple diet for axies is live earthworms, anything else should just be a treat. mealworms have a hard exoskeleton that is hard for the animal to digest. chicken, beef heart and any foods like that are high in fat and are not a complete diet.

also, how big is your tank and what's your water chemistry like?
 
xxianxx

xxianxx

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iChris said:
it seems that you too have been misinformed about axolotl keeping.

first up, gravel is a no-no. you must remove it. the only substrate suitable for axies is sand or not to have one at all. gravel will be swallowed and even if you see them spit it out, it can almost be guaranteed that there is some present in it's gut. this will cause impaction and probably the symptoms you are seeing.

as for diet, the recommended staple diet for axies is live earthworms, anything else should just be a treat. mealworms have a hard exoskeleton that is hard for the animal to digest. chicken, beef heart and any foods like that are high in fat and are not a complete diet.

also, how big is your tank and what's your water chemistry like?
Click to expand...

As Chris says, i was going to touch on diet but a possible impaction was the more immediate issue, if you check the procedure for the fridging of your axolotl you should be able to sort your little guy out, i would also recommend you check out threads for suitable substrates for your axolotl tank and axolotl diet, good luck.
 
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Okay, I'll get to removing that immediately!!

My tank is a 3 foot, 136Litre tank, the guy at the pet store said it was plenty big enough for them. I have no idea what my water chem. is like though.

I did fridge my little one for a while - but it didnt seem to make a difference.
 
xxianxx

xxianxx

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You may need to fridge it for a couple of weeks, check out the correct procedure in an appropriate thread.
 
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