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I'm a little worried :(

CaptainMudkipz

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So, i recently got an axolotl for my birthday.
I've had him for about, 4 days now :)
He's quite a beautiful creature.
I have named him mudkipz.

However,
I cant seem to get his tank right.
He is constantly pacing and tends to smack into the tank walls.
I've read this is quite bad..

Originally, his stones were blue pebbles, which i changed to black stones.
He seemed happier with this, less pacing.

Today i bought him two more plants, to make three in total,
and now he seems to be freaking out :(

I cant seem to get it right.
I've also heard they like a toy to push around,
but no pet stores have any idea about this.
What could i use?


Please help.
 

el301

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Hiya! Don't stress :p It's hard not too when it's your first though hey...!

I'm no expert, but I'll try to answer... Firstly, how big is your tank? The bigger the better it seems, so if you've got one the size of a small goldfish tank (ie about 20L), you could consider upgrading to a larger one.

Secondly, axolotls can't see very well, and they tend to bump their noses quite a bit into the glass. Once he figures out the dimensions he may be OK. I'm not sure how accurate this is, but when we first got ours they seemed to be startled by bright lights and sudden movements outside of the tank, so perhaps try and keep these to a minimum. Vibrations and too much water flow can also do this. Try and keep the tank on a solid surface (ie somewhere where your footsteps won't jolt the tank), and keep your bubblers/filter flow to a minimum, or at least out of the way in a corner of the tank.

Plants are good, and you could consider a tube-type thing for him to hide in. We have one of those ceramic half-logs that can be used for goldfish tanks, and ours love it. You can get them for under $15 at K-Mart, or even use a length of plastic plumbing pipe from Bunnings, but make sure the edges of this aren't too sharp.

Check your water temperature and levels, particularly as you've added the new plants which may have upset things.

I don't know about the toy though.... I've never personally heard of it, and I've never seen ours try and push anything... You could give it a go though! You'd need something non-toxic, yet something that wouldn't float too much - something like a cotton reel? Worth an experiment anyway!

Good luck!
 

CaptainMudkipz

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This is him in his current tank.
 

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el301

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He's cute :p

The tank looks around a good size, although bigger would be better. The plants look fine, and he's still got enough room to move about a bit. Can you move the filter system to one side? As it's in the middle, the running water may be disturbing him. Ditto the telly - who knows, maybe the noise from it could be disturbing him. You may also want to consider swapping the pebbles at a later date for sand.

My best advice would be just to leave him for a while. Make sure the water and temperature levels are good, and if they are, just don't do anything to the tank for a while. He's in a brand new environment, and he may just be stressed a little, particularly as the water levels may not be the same as those used in the pet shop. You haven't said, but maybe he had company in the pet shop and now he's all alone, which also could be stressful.

From my experience things to look out for are excessive gulping movements, and swimming across the surface of the water for long periods with his head out and gulping air. Axies will periodically naturally go to the surface to gulp air, but they won't do it continuously. Also, if he starts swimming like he's full of air it could be a worry - it'll make him look like he's listing to one side, or he can't touch the ground even if he tries.

If he's just acting startled every now and then, I think it's OK. Ours still do that on occasion. Will he eat? Again, expect him to refuse food for a little while (could be even a week or longer) until he settles down. Don't try to force food on him, let him go at his own pace for now.

Please let me know how he goes!
 

CaptainMudkipz

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I just feed him,
he took 6 mealworms before refusing them.
Is that a good sign?
His frantic swimming is a bit worrying for me.
Sometimes he swims around, sometimes he crawls.

The pet shop had two others with him.
The filter unfortunately has to sit there,
due to the lid.
It was a **** sell to me and im pretty angry.
I'm thinking about moving my room around and perhaps placing him on my desk?
I have a laptop there and a small lap, buts thats it.
Would that be better?
The filter expulsion is being directed into one of his plants and i raised the water level so it isnt so big.
This seems to have calmed him.


Hes currently clawing at the front panel of glass like hes trying to get through.
I have a reflective glass tank,
could this be the cause?
 

Jacquie

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I cant seem to get his tank right.
He is constantly pacing and tends to smack into the tank walls.
I've read this is quite bad.

Axolotls are easily startled and tend to bang into things if they panic. As you have had him for four days, as El301 has advised he may be just getting used to his new environment - this can take a few days.

If you could advise on your water parameters (Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/PH and Temperature) it will help ascertain if anything else is up with the axie.

Originally, his stones were blue pebbles, which i changed to black stones. He seemed happier with this, less pacing..

The black stones look small enough to be swallowed, I would remove them. Stones small enough to be swallowed are a hazard as when ingested (and they will be ingested - axies are masters at snuffling through substrate) they can cause impaction which can be fatal.

The best substrate is sand or bare bottom tank.

Today i bought him two more plants, to make three in total, and now he seems to be freaking out :(.

Live plants should be quarantined for 30 days before being introduced to the tank.

What sort of plants are they?

And how is he 'freaking out' - what is he doing?

Axolotls have no need of toys - they find us entertaining enough! ;)

I note from your next post that you have fed him mealworms? Did you remove the heads?
 

CaptainMudkipz

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Oh wow.
I wasnt advised on any of that D:
I tested the pH, it's about a 7.0-7.5
temperature varies during the day,
colder at night,
right now its cold enough to numb my hand when i feed him.

I am definately thinking about swapping to a sand base,
how do i go about cleaning this?

His frantic behaviour is basically,
he paces quickly, smacks into the wall, turns and repeats.
he does this around the entire tank.
I'm not sure what kind of plants they are.
You can see them clearly in the picture i posted though.

He seems to like the middle on in particular.
He climbs it alot.

About the mealworms,
i wasnt told to remove the heads.
When the woman showed me how to feed him,
she took the whole worm?
Which part is the head?
 

el301

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Hi again,

Yep, good advice from Havelock *thumbs up*

Water parameters are definitely the thing to be the most aware of. Your temps and pH sound good, and I assume you're dechlorinating the water before you add it?

The gravel would be good to swop before he swallows any, although the pebbles look quite large luckily. They won't be causing him to stress out too much though. Sand is easy to clean - you can buy pump thingies at pet shops, and you can put a couple of snails in too to help you with this.

The fact that he's eating is very good! Axies tend to go off their food when they're overly stressed. They're less hungry in lower temperatures, so the fact that he's eating and the water is cold can only be a good sign.

I personally don't know about mealworms. I buy frozen bloodworm cubes at the aquarium shop - they're less icky :eek:. Every now and then I feed them either a sliver of duck liver (you can buy it at a butchers and freeze it) or non-fatty raw beef, and even the axolotl pellets from the aquarium shop are good.

Your set-up is good, don't worry! The filter is hitting the plant, so you've minimised that as best you can. I would suggest moving it away from the telly - like I said, the noise and the flickering light may disturb him. However, you're desk might not be optimal if you bump it with your leg or knees for example when getting up or sitting down.... I'd advise going to an op shop and getting a small $20 coffee table/side table that you could use soley for his tank.


Lastly (epic post this one!), his behaviour isn't too unusual. Like I said, mine were startled when I first got them. As mine is a big four foot tank, they'd swim swim swim them bump! into the glass until they learned the diameters. They were also startled by my hand near them when I first tried to feed them, and by my appearance outside the tank. Yours could possibly be seeing his reflection, but if he's anything like mine, he's actually responding to you! Mine now stop whatever they're doing when they see me and yeah, they move their hands against the glass, but not in a panicy way. It's as if they're as fascitated with me as I am with them! Plus, I am the bringer of food, and I think they recognise that *lol*

If I were you, like I said, just wait and see. Watch and try to determine if he's just randomly panic-swimming, or if there's anything that's setting him off. I would advise against changing the tank too much again for at least a week. If the water levels/balances are OK, and he's eating, then things aren't too bad! :p Give him a day or more to adjust, and see if his behaviour settles down a bit. I know you want to change the gravel and the plants, and then maybe the water again after that :eek:, but if he doesn't physically look sick at all, it might be better to wait and watch carefully and avoid stressing him further.

From my experience there's so much to understand and so many variables that you can send yourself into a tailspin trying to analyse what's wrong, when in reality it all might be fine!
 
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CaptainMudkipz

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Thank you all so much :)
I will change to sand,
but i'll do it next week!
haha
Thanks everybody.
 

ellenant

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Be careful with the mealworms, though,
they have a hard chitine shell and this can cause impactions
(get stuck in the gut).
Go and try some earthworms.
My axies go wild with them!
:D
 

inkozana

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You can buy earthworms from the same people who make the mealworms for birds/lizards/axolotls.
When my axolotl has mealworms she tends to spit out the shell in tiny pieces after digesting the rest of it (or something) and it makes a lot of mess D:
 

CaptainMudkipz

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arent the worms still alive though..?
Like i know the meal worms are,
but they dont move when i'm handling them so that doesnt bother me.
 

Jacquie

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arent the worms still alive though..?
Like i know the meal worms are,
but they dont move when i'm handling them so that doesnt bother me.

Yes, the worms are alive. If you are reluctant to feed live food, pellets are an excellent staple food too - the best pellets are salmon pellets or pellets designed for carnivorous fish.

Mealworms should be decapitated as they have mandibles that are capable of chewing through the axie's intestine/innards and they are also very hard to digest with their hard chitin (shell). They should only ever be fed as an occasional treat, never as a staple.

This Article gives great detail on suitable varieties of food for axies: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml
 

gr33neyes

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With regards to the pacing , what sort of light do you have over the tank?
It may be pacing because it is trying to get away from the light and because of their bad eyesight they tend to bump into things whilst they are searching for a dark place.
Until it finds a place it will 'pace' the tank frantically searching.
 

blueberlin

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I would also definitely check the levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. If the axolotl is so new to the tank, the aquarium might be cycling. If left unattended, high levels of the above can "burn" the axolotl. Do you have a test tube (dropper bottle) test set for these parameters?

-Eva
 

CaptainMudkipz

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Thanks for the heads up on mealworms.
I'll change asap.


I dont have a light on the tank,
just my normal bedroom lights,
which are down lights, and pointed away from my tank.
He gets a full 6 hours of natural sunlight whilst i am at school though.
He does have a tunnel in his tank, and a fair amount of weed coverage in the back.


I dont have the test,
but i will pick one up when i get him some new staple foods.


On the topic of treats,
how often should they be treated?
Once a week?
 

Bellabelloo

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Pssst...what is your day time tank temps...I only ask as you say it has natural day light , the water can heat up quite quickly.
 

CaptainMudkipz

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i honestly couldnt tell you the temperature.
I also need to invest in a thermometer.
My bedroom isnt in direct line of sun,
and the air-con is always on.
Our house is also ducted.
 
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