Problems with my axolotl!

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Ignacio

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Ever since I brought my axolotl with me to my apartment for college, we're struggling to keep the heat down. Meaning I'll come home from class and see his water temperatures are reaching over 75 Fahrenheit!! I've tried other spots in the apartment but nothing is working and I'd rather him not live in a refrigerator lol.

The other issue I'm having is that I recently switched over from large rocks to sand. But not too long with the new substrate he started eating loads of sand. I didn't have the proper materials to feed him at the time so I knew he was hungry. So he became bloated for the past couple days. He looks fine now, but everytime I try to feed him, he just turns away. :confused: Should I keep trying until he eats? Is this an illness? Could it be the temperatures too?

Please give me any suggestions you may have. I'd rather have my axolotl live...
 
To get the temp down, I'd suggest the biggest fan you can find- angle it so it's blowing across the water surface. Be aware that frozen water bottles melt in approx 45 mins, and cooler blocks 1hr 30mins, so need to be changed over at those intervals to avoid the temperature rocketing up and down.
As to food, maybe try mixing it up? If you can find some earthworms (Ask the grounds staff- they'll hopefully be able to help you find a spot which isn't doused in chemicals and has a whole load hanging around, or else a small tub from a bait shop) they're an excellent food (and wriggly-axies love wriggly), or else pellets, frozen bloodworm (Try getting a pippette, sucking up the bloodworms and squirting them carefully right in front of him- pretty quickly he'll be wrestling with it if he likes them :) ), although you've got to watch them as they can be very messy, or if you want to go live aqautic foods (along with the other options- variety's the spice of life!), guppies and glass/cherry shrimp- just remember that they need to be quarantined for 30 days before they are put in (or got from a fellow hobbyist who will have a good idea of the health of their stocks and had them for over 30 days themselves- not a pet shop/lfs as they've got stock flying in and out of their tanks on a daily basis. )
 
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  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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