Hyper Axolotl

Hi my son got his first axolotl a few months ago. Unfortunately despite washing it out there must have been something toxic in the 2nd hand tank we bought and it died in a couple of days. Gills retracted to nubs, gulping for air etc. Both of us were devastated!

We washed out the tank with special stuff from the pet store and it's been cycling for 3.5 weeks. The pet shop said we were finally ready to try again (after testing the water) so yesterday I picked up a very plump golden female.

She ate a garden worm later that afternoon and then later did a really runny green poop and spent the night swimming around her tank bumping into the glass and filter and river rocks. Worried I've stuck her for a holiday in the fridge early this morning in fresh (not from the tank) dechlorinated water . We fed her a few hours later thinking she might be used to lots of food since she was plump and she ate again. I've only done the water (as recommend so that it just covers her) and she doesn't have to struggle to float etc but she is still moving around quite actively even in the small container and is constantly putting her head and eyes above the water and being a real nosey one.

Is something wrong again or have we got a really active friendly one? Her gills haven't shrunken so i'm thinking that is positive? Or perhaps she wants a friend? Which we plan on as long as we can keep her healthy and happy first! Appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance.

How do you know it's a girl?

What it sounds like, she's just very active. They all have different personalities, yours is just outgoing.

It's mainly the gulping and having her eyes above the water and until I put her ino the container she was frantically swimming to reach the top - plus this is the same tank the other one took a couple of days to die in! Gills still okay but still got top 1/3 of head above the water and it wasn't doing that at the pet store although it was active......

Female because it doesn't have boy bits:lol: and because that's what I ordered and since she is bigger and older it's easier for them to tell. The last one that died was a male and it was obvious.

Oh, just making sure. When you say you just bought it, I assumed you bought it as a baby.

It does seem rather alarming the way you describe it. Do you use dechlorinator? You might want to try doing a water change with bottled spring water. It might be your actual tap that might be the problem. Not the water per say, but like your plumbing adding chemicals.

Just make sure the water isn't distilled as distilled water is very harmful to aquatic animals. They need some minerals in the water and distilled has nothing in it. In turn, it does some weird reverse osmosis or something on the animal. Some bottled water is distilled and water from a filter is too, so stay away from that.

Ta for your suggestions. Yeh I do use dechlorinator and jst tap water - the pipes are only 2 years old so hopefully not leeching toxins in our water yet! I trialled the tank with goldfish so I could make sure there wasn't anything obvious (figure it's better to sacrifice feeder fish rather than another axolotl) and they survived happily in the tank for 2 weeks - so any other suggestions welcome please!

Would you be able to provide a photo of your tank set up and your axolotl too.
Is there any chance your garden worms come into contact with any fertilisers or pesticides?
I would check your water again to see what the readings are for Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite. Also what is the temperature of the tank at the moment.
If they are all ok, I would perhaps cover the tank over, so it is nice and dark and give her a chance to settle down.