Question: My Axolotl has started holding his tail up? (picture in post)

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Dannii

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Darwin here is 2 years old and I've noticed that he has started doing this? I know it looks like its resting on his companion in the photo, but I assure you his tail wasn't touching her at all.

Is this normal behavior?
 

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Looks like he may be constipated or impacted. Constipation or air bubble makes their bums float.. Monitor his pooping and if it gets serious you may need to fridge
 
I see rocks/gravel in the background. Please get rid of it. It may be that your axie is impacted because of it. They sometimes swallow rocks.
Gravel can cause serious blockages and can make your lotl very ill or it can even kill it.

I prefer sand or just a bare tank.
 
Remember the photo I showed you? They are very much capable ay swallowing those rocks.. They look like the same size rather than bigger. I see maybe two that are bigger than his head the rest are much too small.
 
Like I said, they are bigger than their heads.
 

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To get this back on track, I think he only does it around Raven, my other Axolotl. Could it be a mating ritual type thing or not?

I know Darwin is sexually active, but Raven is still too young so I would like to know if this could be a sign?
 
At the end of the day it's your choice, but believe me no one would suggest keeping rocks, they are unsafe even if they are big (google axolotl impacted X-rays) and as I can see from your pic it harbors food and gunk in little cracks that can be a massive pain to clean properly and can miss spots (I used to miss spots when I thought I did a very thorough clean!)

I used to have large stones too like yours before and I witnessed my axolotl suck one up completely but thankfully she spat it out and that pretty much convinced me to change.

I am unsure about mating rituals but you're right with the age thing.. If raven is a girl and under 1.5 years or under a certain length it's very stressful for her to mate. I know boys occassionaly wriggle/shake around when they want to mate, does he do that?
 
I don't think I've been around enough to know- had a few busy days at Uni and Raven is pretty new to my tank. Shes the same length as Darwin but she would only be 6 months old so I know not to let them- I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for those jelly sack things... I found some in my last tank that He was in before I bought Raven. (I had an Axolotl die recently who was his companion) hense how I know that he's active.

Although, he hasn't done it since the photo now as there is 3 ft of water between the two of them
 
I am not very familiar with breeding and I've only seen the dance thing once with my first axolotl and he left spermatophores in the tank.. I do know that early egg laying can reduce the lifespan of a too young lotl... Maybe separate them for a while? Or research if there's any less favorable environments for mating? Silly axies, mine do that too one moment they can't get enough of each other then the next they don't even want to know each other for hours :happy:
 
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