Gailgirl
New member
Hi everyone.
My juvie axolotl Clementine seems to be persistently troubled by a gas bubble in her stomach on one side. It keeps her up to the top, on her side, with just the bubble-part of her side protruding. She has learned to gulp air in her lungs and then she can keep her self a little more upright, and (adorably) how to lock her front and back leg on that side together with her toes so they aren't floating around. She sometimes dives to the bottom, releasing her lung air, and goes and hides in her hide, stuck on the ceiling like Mary Poppins.
I fridged her for about 6 days last week, she pooped a good bit but nothing but poop, and then, about 4 days in, was resting comfortably at the bottom. After that, I tempered her fresh declorinated fridge water with fridged tank water, 25% 75% the first day, 50% 50% the second day, and 75% 25% the third, then all fridged tank, then acclimated her back to the big tank. (Side note: Is that necessary? I'm assuming since I'm mid cycle, yes)
She didn't eat the whole time she was in the fridge, despite my best efforts, which was understandable. As her tub was acclimating back to 62 degreees for the big tank, she ate a few pieces of earthworm, her standard food. Yesterday, she ate about 75% of what she ate before this whole thing started, which is about 1 earthworm (e hortensis, from Walmart's bait cooler).
This afternoon, she had the belly bubble, and was somewhat stuck at the top on her side, just like before. I put her in a little tub with barely enough water to cover her, so she'd calm down enough to eat. She ate one piece of worm, and then couldn't be tempted. I have started the fridging cycle again, but am unsure if I need to change anything, to prevent this happening again.
She is about 5" long, I have had them for about a month.
Parameters:
Mid-cycle, with daily partial changes. Never ammonia above 1, never nitrite above 1. If either gets near to 1, I do a 50% change to drop it down. Now that I have nitrites, I have very little ammonia
Ammonia: less than .25 but not 0
Nitrite: .75
Nitrate: 0.
pH: 7.6
API Tap Water Conditioner.
Temp: 62 F (16.6 C) with a chiller. Should I drop it further? It seems to be the average suggested temp.
Substrate: Slate tile and river pebbles, glued down with Silicone I and sealed with bar top epoxy. Leaves the pebbled texture, but watertight and smooth.
Food: e hortensis from Walmart, they have been very consistent. Her tank "neighbor", another axie on the other side of the divider, literally eats the same thing. I chop up a worm, and one piece to Clementine, one piece to Edwina, and so forth, so I feel like if its a bacteria in the worm maybe only Clementine is sensitive. Before this type of earthworm, she was raised on live blackworms by the breeder, and so that's what they ate for the first 2 weeks. Second week, I did half live blackworm, half bloodworm, since the blackworms are hard to get. Then, they started taking earthworms, and have for the last 2 weeks.
My juvie axolotl Clementine seems to be persistently troubled by a gas bubble in her stomach on one side. It keeps her up to the top, on her side, with just the bubble-part of her side protruding. She has learned to gulp air in her lungs and then she can keep her self a little more upright, and (adorably) how to lock her front and back leg on that side together with her toes so they aren't floating around. She sometimes dives to the bottom, releasing her lung air, and goes and hides in her hide, stuck on the ceiling like Mary Poppins.
I fridged her for about 6 days last week, she pooped a good bit but nothing but poop, and then, about 4 days in, was resting comfortably at the bottom. After that, I tempered her fresh declorinated fridge water with fridged tank water, 25% 75% the first day, 50% 50% the second day, and 75% 25% the third, then all fridged tank, then acclimated her back to the big tank. (Side note: Is that necessary? I'm assuming since I'm mid cycle, yes)
She didn't eat the whole time she was in the fridge, despite my best efforts, which was understandable. As her tub was acclimating back to 62 degreees for the big tank, she ate a few pieces of earthworm, her standard food. Yesterday, she ate about 75% of what she ate before this whole thing started, which is about 1 earthworm (e hortensis, from Walmart's bait cooler).
This afternoon, she had the belly bubble, and was somewhat stuck at the top on her side, just like before. I put her in a little tub with barely enough water to cover her, so she'd calm down enough to eat. She ate one piece of worm, and then couldn't be tempted. I have started the fridging cycle again, but am unsure if I need to change anything, to prevent this happening again.
She is about 5" long, I have had them for about a month.
Parameters:
Mid-cycle, with daily partial changes. Never ammonia above 1, never nitrite above 1. If either gets near to 1, I do a 50% change to drop it down. Now that I have nitrites, I have very little ammonia
Ammonia: less than .25 but not 0
Nitrite: .75
Nitrate: 0.
pH: 7.6
API Tap Water Conditioner.
Temp: 62 F (16.6 C) with a chiller. Should I drop it further? It seems to be the average suggested temp.
Substrate: Slate tile and river pebbles, glued down with Silicone I and sealed with bar top epoxy. Leaves the pebbled texture, but watertight and smooth.
Food: e hortensis from Walmart, they have been very consistent. Her tank "neighbor", another axie on the other side of the divider, literally eats the same thing. I chop up a worm, and one piece to Clementine, one piece to Edwina, and so forth, so I feel like if its a bacteria in the worm maybe only Clementine is sensitive. Before this type of earthworm, she was raised on live blackworms by the breeder, and so that's what they ate for the first 2 weeks. Second week, I did half live blackworm, half bloodworm, since the blackworms are hard to get. Then, they started taking earthworms, and have for the last 2 weeks.
