Question: My Axolotl won't eat?

Sorry if I'm re-asking something someone else posted, I've tried looking around but nothing I've found has helped me. So anyway here's the story;

On January 10th (2012) I got my axolotl (Lancelot) a friend (Camelot). When I got Camelot they told me in the store that he probably won't want to eat for like 2 days after I got him, but it took me as long as 2 weeks to get him to eat something at all. After that I've only managed to get him to eat twice, which means I successfully fed him 3 times in 2 months.

Since I know an axolotl is supposed to eat around every 2nd/3rd day, I find this weird and worrying. ): My other axolotl eats everything he sees and well, he is rather fat to be honest and has never refused food as long as I've had him. I've tried feeding Camelot small pieces of raw fish, axolotl pellets and bloodworms. He doesn't want anything. In the beginning he would look at it but not snap, now he just turns away like food was the most disgusting thing he's ever seen.

Just some notes that might help;
*The water temp in the aquarium has been around 15° celsius.
*They have rather big pebbles that are bigger than their heads, and wouldn't fit in their mouths, so I don't think he swallowed one.
*They have a lamp, but with a sort of "cover" so it won't get too light for them.
*They have an aquarium pump that helps cleaning the water and stuff.
* ^ I do still change the water every now and then.


So yeah. I would really appreciate any suggestions you may have. ): It would mean a lot to me, and to Camelot.

Thanks!

Firstly try and rasie the water temp a couple of oC and see if that helps. Do a paramter check and do a water change just to be sure, some axies freak out with the tneeny tiny trace of amonia while other could live though the highest spike you have seen. You can get a torch and shine it on his tummy and see if you can see anything in his tummy or gently have a feel of him(this should be a last resort, touching them could cause more problems)

Hi there... I understand what you are experiencing... my 5 yr old axie "Lottie" went off her food, and didn't eat for just over a month!!! Never got to the bottom of it either....!!?

Have you tried earthworms... that is appetising for them ! Try cutting one in half, and use a long pair of tweezers, or your fingers, and dangle it in front of Camelot !!

Is he/she young?, and how big are they in comparison to each other. ??

It seems a bit strange to me that a pet shop would tell you that the axolotl probably wouldn't want to eat for a few days. A healthy axolotl will often eat as soon as you get it home from the pet shop. Maybe it had been a problem feeder to start with. Is it really skinny after eating so little. Try a wider variety of different foods as possible and hopefully one of them will trigger it off to start feeding better.


Regards Neil

I've done a water change, and raised the temperature to around 20°C, though I'm gonna try and keep it at around 18°-19°C. It's just that my house is really cold right now so the water cools down really quickly. S:

I've tried to shine on Camelot's belly with a torch, but didn't see anything suspicious... I'm also gonna try and get some earthworms as soon as I figure out where to get them.

I don't know how old they are at all, I only have the size to help me guess. On the attached picture (sorry for the bad quality) you can see and compare Camelot and Lancelot. I'm guessing you can tell by yourselves which one's Camelot. :/

I just wanted to say that I finally got Camelot to eat today! Thank you all very very much for the help! Hopefully he'll keep on eating and maybe even lay on some weight. [:

hooray! I'm glad he ate for you, i hope he continues to eat! Maybe it was just the low temperatures? Whatever the cause, grats on him feeding!

Also, my little one wouldnt eat for 2 days after I brought her/him home from my herp meeting, although its possible it just didnt feel like eating pellets again