Weight problems.

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

Mr Bigglesworth was my first axie and i must admit probably suffered for a while until i found this forum, since then many changes have been made and things are looking good. I've since got 2 more axolotls who are both happy and healthy. Mr B cannot keep any weight on. I've never been worried by it but now it's of a slight concern. Since i know the questions you will ask here's the answers:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
pH about 8
Nitrate: 20 ppm
temp 19-20
Plenty of hides, sand substrate, low filter, 2 live plants and 2 tank mates. All in a 3 ft long by 1 ft wide.

They get fed: pellets, worms, occasionally bloodworm when I am not busy and the odd prawn and freshwater fish if that's whats for dinner. They're all fed every second day and if they are active they get a couple of pellets (mainly for my enjoyment) They either eat 3 worms (red wrigglers) or a small handful of small pellets.

Could he have a parasite or something? He always looks underfed! Many thanks in advance.

wandering · Dec 20, 2012

Maybe just the after effects of exposure to ammonia and nitrite when you were learning? Could be a permanent weakness.

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Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

Possibly, I feel so bad! I purchased him for a pet shop and was told i was doing everything right! It's such a shame, most of the axolotls available here are pet shop bought. (There's not many people in Aus with a passion for them)

xxianxx · Dec 20, 2012

Have you an overhead shot of him so we can take a look ?

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

I can get one.

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

Here's a couple. I just fed him so he looks a little rounder now.

Minniechild · Dec 20, 2012

Hmmm...Possibly add in some blackworms? Just as addictive as chocolate for humans and with the health benefits of Lindt 60% (OMG SOOO GOOD!!!), and may give his body a boost in nutrients (not to mention any escapees (yeah right...I tried to get some down into my substrate the other day, came back to find three of them lazilly scraping away the sand cap and greedily scoffing the lot!) will help maintain the substrate/help process the solid wastes

Also, which brand of bloodworms are you using? Orca's good if you've got fatties, but it may be an idea (if you're not already) to swap over to Hikari, who have a much higher quality of product

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

He very rarely gets bloodworms as i find they're incredibly messy and i have extremely lazy axolotls who won't vacuum up after themselves

They're in a red cardboard box called "chocablock"

xxianxx · Dec 20, 2012

It looks a bit on the skinny side but nothing to be overly concerned about, see if he will take some more earthworms, try tong feeding them so you can monitor his food consumption. If he is in a tank with other axolotls it may be that he is being beaten to the food. Axolotls do not have a social hierarchy as such, they dont fight for an alpha position but some axolotls are a little slower to get to the food or get pushed away from it by a bigger or more aggressive axolotl. Tong feeding would eliminate this as a potential problem also try feeding him every day rather than every other day.

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

xxianxx said:
It looks a bit on the skinny side but nothing to be overly concerned about, see if he will take some more earthworms, try tong feeding them so you can monitor his food consumption. If he is in a tank with other axolotls it may be that he is being beaten to the food. Axolotls do not have a social hierarchy as such, they dont fight for an alpha position but some axolotls are a little slower to get to the food or get pushed away from it by a bigger or more aggressive axolotl. Tong feeding would eliminate this as a potential problem.

This is him on the fatter side, I hand feed every single one of my axies, to the point of counting who gets what pellets. He takes food fine aswell, he just doesnt seem to get any bigger?

xxianxx · Dec 20, 2012

Olivia97 said:
This is him on the fatter side, I hand feed every single one of my axies, to the point of counting who gets what pellets. He takes food fine aswell, he just doesnt seem to get any bigger?

Cant help you then sorry, he may just be a runt or have an undiagnosed condition. Try posting in the advanced section, you may get advise about gut loading food items or food sources which would fill him out a bit more such as wax worms.

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

Wouldn't surprise me if he was. he does have an extra toe and he is actually a she

she wont be breeding so it doesn't really concern me, hopefully someone has some info.

NeekaLovesYou · Dec 20, 2012

As Ian said, try him on some waxworms for a while if you can get hold of them. I've not met an axolotl that won't eat them and they're nice and fatty for weight gaining. I wouldn't keep him on them but it may be worth seeing if he's able to maintain weight after a period of eating them.

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

NeekaLovesYou said:
As Ian said, try him on some waxworms for a while if you can get hold of them. I've not met an axolotl that won't eat them and they're nice and fatty for weight gaining. I wouldn't keep him on them but it may be worth seeing if he's able to maintain weight after a period of eating them.

Thanks dinky, I will try with some wax worms and black worms. Do you think it would be worth a small amount of beef heart or is that more detrimental than anything?

NeekaLovesYou · Dec 20, 2012

Personally I don't touch the stuff. If you're able to get other food sources for weight purposes, like the wax worms, I would recommend those more so. Tiny pieces of beef heart won't do any harm for a short period but like I said, if there's better alternatives available, why bother?

Olivia97 · Dec 20, 2012

yea that's what i thought, I'd never considered it or wanted my axies to eat it so i think ill stick with some worms.

Olivia97 · Dec 22, 2012

So I've not been able to find any wax worms or blackworms. None online or in local aquariums. I can get some freeze dried ones, do they still have the same nutritional content?

xxianxx · Dec 22, 2012

Caudata Culture Articles - Food Items for Captive Caudates check this link out,it gives ratings for various foods.

Olivia97 · Dec 22, 2012

Yep I've scanned through that many a time. Most of which I can't get where I am. I will try to order something in.

Minniechild · Dec 22, 2012

One food that was poised a while back as a better alternative to beef heart was 'roo meat (go aussies!). Might be worth a try, and shouldn't be TOO hard to get your hands on. As to the freeze dried blackworms, not too sure how they'd go with an axie both in terms of size and the nutrition lost during the freeze drying process.

Weight problems.

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