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Gills curled backwards

FireAxo

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So i have an axie thats around 5 months old. While i was changing his water not too long ago (clearly i haven't read much about axolotls then) i disturbed the water quite a lot and he seemed to have lost it. When i was done he went around swimming really fast from side to side in the middle of the aquarium, sort of like a snake. Somewhy, i thought that if i took him in my hand it would calm it off but he didn't care at all and just swam away and finally settled. However after all of this his 2 top left gills were curled backwards and are still a bit like that ever since even if i do everything without moving the water a lot. Tried looking things up about this, but haven't found an answer. So my question is: is he sick? should i just wait or actually do something about it, because he seems fine just those two gills are a bit pointing back to his tail.
 

Zobug

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Would you be able to post a picture? I think that would help more as opposed to only a description.
 

Donna001

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Hi FireAxo and welcome to the forum. :happy:
In my experience axolotls swim a lot when they have been disturbed. It is probably best not to try to hold him to calm him, their eyesight is not good, so being held when they are already disturbed is only going to disturb then further.
If everything else is ok if your axolotl is eating, etc. then there probably isn't anything to worry about, but I agree with Zobug - a picture would be helpful.
It would also be helpful if you could post information regarding the water parameters - ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temperature, just so we can check everything to be sure that nothing is stressing your axolotl unnecessarily.
:D
 

FireAxo

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pics that i took when it had happened around 2 days after:
qq8oi1.jpg

2ltrbsn.jpg

and an hour ago while i cleaned his tank:
axicn8.jpg
(you can see that the right one is curling up as well)
5l530h.jpg

they seem to be shorter than the ones who haven't changed.
That's a bit of a problem with the water, since i almost know nothing about it. I'm gonna be sure to ask around and do some tests on it as soon as i can. All i know that my water is quite hard for a coffee machine...
 
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