Axolotl will not eat

Hi, about a month ago I bought 2 axolotls from a pet store. One white one black. The white one is in perfect condition but the black one hasnt eaten for almost 5 days! I'm really worried. Every now and then i see him floating, but then later on hes on the ground again. I've been back to the pet store and they said to give him a salt bath, he said 2 table spoons of Epsom salts in water for 10 minutes, I've done it twice now and it hasn't done anything, no poop or anything. He hasn't pooped for days so I can't tell if it is a liver infection or not. It can't be the water or food because otherwise my other one would be sick. As for the tank floor I have pebbles but they are at least 1 centimeter in diameter so he can't have swallowed one. I feed them half a beef heart cube each night, as told by the pet store. I do at least 25% water changes every week. Please help! I've seen some axolotls that haven't eaten and they look so sick please help me prevent this!

Hi there, try feeding them some earthworms. I own a very fussy axolotl when it comes ti eating but earthworms work a treat.

Thanks! Ill give it a go

If you can't find any in your garden and if you live neat a bunnings warehouse they sell them in their garden section. Even frozen bloodworms are better than the beef heart cubes.

5 days isn't that long to go without food. Discontinue the beef, and get earthworms. They're much more nutritious.

Salt baths are not recommended for anything other than fungal infections. They'll definitely not help your axolotl eat. They'll probably stress it out more, making it want to eat less.

Get rid of the gravel now. 1cm is the worst size gravel. Axolotls can swallow rocks as large as their head.

Okay thankyou!
What do I do if he swallowed a pebble? I see no large lumps to suggest he did but in case he did ill try to change the rocks, I'm only 17 with a casual time job and don't get a lot of income so if I need to go to a vet this will be very hard :/ also the rocks I got cost me $40 so cover the entire tank, but what would you suggest I change it to? Wouldn't sand make the tank murky ?

It's perfectly fine to have a substrate-free tank. If your axie is on the small side, it might actually be a better option for you.

Sand will be fine for your tank as long as you put it in properly; Drain the water, place the sand, and slowly reintroduce the water. It'll be a little cloudy for a few hours but it'll clear up. If you do buy sand, though, be sure it's specific for freshwater, be sure you rinse it thoroughly before hand, and try to remove any larger pieces if you can.

Hi, I'm not sure if I'm in any position to give advice as I've only had my axolotls for a few months, but they seem to be thriving thanks to the info on this forum.
Money shouldn't be too much of an issue in regards to changing substrate - Bunnings has 20kg bags of playsand for under $7. More than enough for my own 4 foot tank as you don't need a thick layer. I did spend a bit of time washing it, but it actually didn't cloud the water much at all. I just left it overnight to settle and it was good to go.

Thanks for the advice everyone but does anyone know what to do if he did happen to swallow a pebble? Is he a goner?

If he has swallowed a pebble you can try fridging him, there is a great guide on the sick axolotl page, you will find he probably won't eat while in the fridge though but I have heard of axolotls passing stones pebbles easier this way. I guess the other option is take him to the Vet, they can xray for stones/pebbles but that would be costly.

JasmineH said:

Thanks for the advice everyone but does anyone know what to do if he did happen to swallow a pebble? Is he a goner?

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No not a goner just plugged up

Try earthworms - again the bunnings saves the day - they sell a huge box of 500 worms for $25 - you'll make your axies day!! Don't feed the beef at all - sadly pet shops NEED to sell you stuff not just give good advice - so forget most of what they've told you & read up on here

Hopefully the earthworms will help him pass a pebble IF he's ingested one - if you remove all the pebbles from the tank (sell them on eBay /gumtree ) & you can leave the tank bottom with nothing on it (substrate free) so it's just a glass bottom. Then if a pebble is passed you'll see it easily (& get rid of it!) I don't think fridging is needed as it would slow his eating more...

Do you have a thermometer in your tank so you can accurately check temp? With this heat wave we're having its really important to keep them as cool as possible. Also accurately testing the water is essential! An API freshwater master kit is the shizz! Just because your other axie seems fine now does not mean it's perfect - it's not a game of guesswork it is a chemical science & once you know your tank is balanced then you know you're doing the very best by your axie if the pet shop that sold you them does water testing or a good local fish shop (what state & rough area are you in? - I'm in Sydney) to test the water.

It's never easy on a tight budget - but just remember we can live on 2minute noodles - our pets can't & should always be first priority otherwise it's not fair on them



<3 >o_o< <3

Thankyou! Very helpful advice
I just measured the temperature and its about 23 degrees! I live on the Gold Coast so I know it's hot but I didn't think it would be that high! I feel really bad for my axolotls now I should have been monitoring this but I only just got a thermometer! Could this be why he isn't eating? I'm also freezing 2 bottles if water to put in there to hold illy cool down the water, is this a good or bad idea? How else could I cool down the water without harming them or spending a lot ?

Yeah it is tough in this heat. I usually use 3L frozen bottles but keep rotating them before they completely defrost so the water temp doesn't fluctuate too much. I also keep a dark towel over the tank to keep sunlight out. Did you have any luck with the earthworms?

Epsom salts? That's magnesium sulphate, not salt which you do salt baths with just for future reference (god forbid you ever have to) Once everything mentioned above is done you should see a huge improvement

I'm also having trouble keeping the tank temp below 24.C here in NZ, I have recently brought a fan which is in the mail so hopefully that will really help, otherwise rotating ice bottles keeps it at 21-22. Not ideal but I;d hate to think what it would be if I didnt.

ebonykrow said:

I'm also having trouble keeping the tank temp below 24.C here in NZ, I have recently brought a fan which is in the mail so hopefully that will really help, otherwise rotating ice bottles keeps it at 21-22. Not ideal but I;d hate to think what it would be if I didnt.

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Any fan can be directed to flow over the tank surface - I use a tower fan but any box or pedestal will help reduce temp by a degree or 2



<3 >o_o< <3

My tanks in quite a dark and cool area and has no light on it so I don't understand why it's soo hot but ill give the ice bottles a go
I also just tried earthworms from my garden, my white one gobbled down 5, 1 big 4 small, I was waving a large one in front of the one that won't eat for about 10 minutes, no luck, for a second there he took in a mouthful but then spat it out, I got so excited. I'm getting soo worried why won't anything work

Should I try fridging him but at a high temp of like 17 degrees?

JasmineH said:

Should I try fridging him but at a high temp of like 17 degrees?

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Fridging will only slow his metabolism more - if you can get the temp down with keeping lights off / fan over tank / iced bottles changed before they completely melt will all help to hold the temp down & stable. Maybe it's been too warm to eat - hopefully if it can drop a little he might come good with little other effort. Keep an eye on him & keep offering the worms good luck



<3 >o_o< <3

I've decided to put him in the fridge, I put it on its highest which is about 17 degrees (old fridge) and put the themometer in the plastic tub with him to monitor every half hour. Of course covered the tub with a thin towel. It's been a week today that he hasn't eaten and a girl at the pet shop said I should try this. Also lately it's been very hot, the themometer said the water was 27! If it stays that hot I might put my other axolotl in a separate tub in the fridge. Also from work today I got give a bunch of 5L cream bottles so I'm freezing two now to put in tomorrow , should help I hope!