Help :[

Hey guys! So I'm Megan, and fairly new to this forum.

I just got my first axolotl, Apollo, last Monday. He's about 3 inches, so still young.

Anyways today, which is the day after my first major water change day, I noticed he was floating at the top, then he'd try to swim down to the bottom and grab a rock with his one remaining paw to stay down.

I took him out and put him into a shallow square container, where he had no issues touching the bottom and he seemed fine. I fed him half a square of thawed out myesis shrimps (which the pet store recommended?) then put him back in his tank. His tank is at 65F.

So now he isn't floating anymore but his tail is curled up like a hook which is bad?

I'm so confused and I'm scared he's sick or something and don't know what to check or do?! Everywhere I research about it I seem to get conflicting answers so I decided to ask you guys what you think is up

Thanks for any input!!

mwahh!

well, sometimes babies get gas, I used to have one that ALWAYS had a nasty case of float, every time she ate shed be bobbing at the top for hours. But as she matured it passed. a curly tail tip is a sign of stress, having a nasty case of boyancy could be considered fairly stressful, Keep up with water changes, make sure there aren't any rocks that could be swallowed, and ensure high quality food. The rest it up to fate and genetics. Not all axolotls are destined to thrive. And not all that thrive have a smooth upbringing.

about the stress curly tail thing, my axie is a bit calmer now that i wrapped her tank to darken it, but some of the time she is awake still shes about 1/2 active and curls her tail and the other 1/2 is resting or calm.

I dont have anything in my tank except a large hide and a filter, should I be giving her some plants to play in? She doesnt KEEP her tail curled usually, she wanders around and then curls and uncurls it pretty quickly, putting me in mind of an annoyed cat kinda (its adorable). Do you think she is wanting more stuff to hide in/swim around/play in?

* oh and shes 3.5-4 inches and 9 months old.

Plants would be a great addition. Personally, I like silk plants over live or plastic. They look better than plastic, and stay alive longer than live. lol.

At 3-4 inches old, it's probably not older than 4 or 5 months. If it's 9 months old and only 4 inches long, that's not normal.

But at that size, it should easily take chopped earthworms. They're much more nutritious than any frozen food, especially mysis.

mine eats chopped earthworms, tiny dubia nymphs and pellets like a champ