Axies not eating! Help!

Okay so ive had my new axolotl for a week/week and a half. and up until a few days ago she had been eating fine.
i have been giving her earthworms and she was eating them fine and i would sometimes cut them up if they were too big but she didnt seem to be having any troubles and was eating 3 worms every secod day.
now i put the worms in cut up small enough for her to eat fine and she takes one bite of them and spits them out straight away and goes into her hide. everytime i do feed her she seems hungry and comes up and seems like she wants to take the worm but she doesnt.
her water temperature might be a little bit high and there isnt anything that i can physically see that is wrong with her.
im getting a bit worried at this stage, what could it be?

How big is she? And how big are the worms? What's the temperature of your tank?

What is the temperature of tank water? It's only been a week & your new axies hasn't had time to show signs of stress due to water quality/conditions.

Was the tank you put the axie in cycled? How long has the tank been running? Have you tested the water chemistry like Ph/ Ammonia/ NitrItes / NitrAtes? These are very important!

Please test the water (if you don't have a test kit, you can take the water to your local aquarium shop to test it)

please take some pictures of your axie & a picture of the tank too - post them on here & hopefully the people here can help work out if there are any problems.



<3 >o_o< <3

I'm out to get a water testing kit today but I'm not sure what to get and last time I was at the pet shop they were very rude to me because I asked about axolotl stuff and the guy helping me was like "We don't keep the stuff and axolotls during the summer months because they need to be cool."
Which I do know.
Her water is going up and down sometimes as high as 23 degrees but I've been putting ice and keeping the air con on and getting her water as cool as 17 degrees.
I didn't have the tank cycled because I didn't even know what it meant but now I do and I'm worried because I should have done it earlier and could it effect her?
I have been changing 45% of the water every few days and a few days after getting her I changed the water completely.
I got a new pump when I got her but it doesnt seem to be working and makes her scared whenever I turn it on.
I brought her downstairs yesterday due to being less hot than my room and the air conditioning is on almost all the time, I am putting in ice blocks.
I have no idea how big my tank is but it is 35-45 cm in length i would say.
She isnt that big at the moment and I am planning to get a much bigger tank for her when I have the money.

Don't panic

I recommend the Freshwater master test kit available from aquarium shops or even local pet shop like petbarn etc.
API KIT

Getting the test kit ASAP would be a great start... Once you know what the water is like you'll be better able to control it. If the pump you have is a filter what kind is it? It may have a flow control & you can turn that down to lower setting, then angle the flow back into the tank so it flows against the side of the glass or put a plant/rock in the flow to break up the flow. Are you planning on keeping the tank bare bottom? If you are it's harder to get the good bacteria to build up - you can get "Playsand" from bunnings cheaply & once washed very very very well works well for the tank / axie / plants / bacteria.

You've come to the right place to get good advice & the experts here (not me! I'm learning too!) can help guide you through easily.

Post a pic of the whole tank so we can see the filter & hides etc



<3 >o_o< <3

Hi Dottles.
You could keep your axie in its current tank without a filter, and use your pump to start cycling a permanent tank to be ready in six weeks time. its possible pick up a cheap one second hand (alternatively it is Christmas next week). You don't really want to cycle your tank with your axie in it - have a look at the cycling information on this site.

The routine for keeping a temporary uncycled tank is based on keeping it clear of uneaten food and poop and performing frequent water changes, depending on the size of the animal and the volume of water. This means it needs to have a bare base - save the sand for the forever tank. Some floating Java moss will give a bit of cover and allows your axie to rest on top too. Have a look at my posts to see how I'm keeping mine.

I read somewhere that you need to keep your water at a constant temperature (a fan blowing across the top of the water is supposed to be effective - but don't let it fall in) I don't have this problem - it was -6 here in the UK last week

I wonder if you are overfeeding a little. Someone else would be able to judge better than me. I am new to axies myself but have kept fish for a long time.

Happy axolotling


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Okay so I just got back from the pet shop an hour ago and tested all of Dotti's water with the new test things I bought and the pet shop lady said these were the best ones.(As pictured)
And I cleaned her tank and corrected her water and took a few more tests





Her tank set up is a bit basic but she has two hides and a fake plant (which i dont know if that is suitable)
Her pump is the smallest I could find at the pet shop and is on the slowest it can go.
And if you can't see she has ice blocks in so the water gets cooler because her tank temperature is a 26 degrees at the moment.
I'm getting a bit worried about the temperature, it is getting so hot at the moment and my dad has said he was going to make me a pump to filter cold water through the tank.
And I bought bloodworms and beefheart for her at the pet shop, are these suitable?

Ph & Ammonia are good but you should also be testing for NitrItes & Nitrates as they are an indication of where you are in the cycling of the tank. That's why I suggested the master kit - buying them individually just makes it more expensive.

The temperature is of great concern & I would probably recommend putting your axolotl in the fridge until you can sort out a way to keep the tank consistently cooler - adding frozen bottles has to be done carefully (changed before they defrost completely)as the frequent fluctuations in temperature cause stress. I keep a fan constantly blowing over my tank & it's in an air conditioned room but it's still creeping up to 22degC

Blood worms are good but earthworms are the best all around nutrition.. I'd avoid the beef heart as from what I've read it's harder to digest & doesn't offer their diet anything that beneficial.

Get your axie somewhere cool & safe (fridge) until you can work out what you can do to keep the tank cooler



<3 >o_o< <3

Pop her in the fridge Hun, and while your dad's at it, ask him to whip up a chiller pump for me too lol...they're so damn expensive!!