It's been awhile since I last popped on Caudata which may be a good sign. My two axies have been doing well the past 8 months so I haven't needed much of one on one help, at least until today.
My Leucy hasn't been hungry the past 3 weeks. Like, at all. He has always been a very finicky eater, usually eating a Red Wiggler every 2-3 days while vegging out under his favorite hide. But the past 3 weeks he hasn't had much of an appetite for anything. Earthworms, Wigglers, Wax Worms, Gutloaded Crickets, Frozen Bloodworms, blackworms and two different types of sinking pellets. Violently writhing, blanched or simply dropped in, he hasn't taken anything other than one cricket and that was about a week and a half ago.
His Tankmate (Female Albino) continues to hungrily eat half an earthworm a day. They are both housed in a 33 gallon long. Temperature is anywhere between 16.2 c to 17.5c so chilly but not enough to skew their feeding for THIS long. Water quality is crystal clear with a 50g double sponge and 50g HOB filter with the flow broken entirely by a dollar store luffa. Params are sitting at 0amm/0ites/30ates with weekly 15% changes. No signs of stress, gill deterioration, floating/bloating, fungus or impaction as well as very little weight loss.
He'll occasionally show interest when I hand feed. His head will lift and he'll stare at what I'm holding, occasionally giving it a bite only to spit it back out followed by a shake of his head. I've been persistent with daily offerings and it's always the same outcome. I initially thought he may have had a bacterial infection. My LFS sold me some Furan-2 so I prepared a tub of halve-dosed Furan as per instructions. 3 days of tubbing and still no change. Fridging is what many people suggest but I'm afraid that'll slow his metabolism down even further if anything. There is nothing that would impact him in the tank and even so, it wouldn't cause him to completely go off his food,
What tips are there for getting a finicky lotl to try and eat? A lot of research the past week has pointed to "Don't fret it and he'll go back on his food eventually" but I can't help but think of the worst; liver failure, septicaemia, ect
My Leucy hasn't been hungry the past 3 weeks. Like, at all. He has always been a very finicky eater, usually eating a Red Wiggler every 2-3 days while vegging out under his favorite hide. But the past 3 weeks he hasn't had much of an appetite for anything. Earthworms, Wigglers, Wax Worms, Gutloaded Crickets, Frozen Bloodworms, blackworms and two different types of sinking pellets. Violently writhing, blanched or simply dropped in, he hasn't taken anything other than one cricket and that was about a week and a half ago.
His Tankmate (Female Albino) continues to hungrily eat half an earthworm a day. They are both housed in a 33 gallon long. Temperature is anywhere between 16.2 c to 17.5c so chilly but not enough to skew their feeding for THIS long. Water quality is crystal clear with a 50g double sponge and 50g HOB filter with the flow broken entirely by a dollar store luffa. Params are sitting at 0amm/0ites/30ates with weekly 15% changes. No signs of stress, gill deterioration, floating/bloating, fungus or impaction as well as very little weight loss.
He'll occasionally show interest when I hand feed. His head will lift and he'll stare at what I'm holding, occasionally giving it a bite only to spit it back out followed by a shake of his head. I've been persistent with daily offerings and it's always the same outcome. I initially thought he may have had a bacterial infection. My LFS sold me some Furan-2 so I prepared a tub of halve-dosed Furan as per instructions. 3 days of tubbing and still no change. Fridging is what many people suggest but I'm afraid that'll slow his metabolism down even further if anything. There is nothing that would impact him in the tank and even so, it wouldn't cause him to completely go off his food,
What tips are there for getting a finicky lotl to try and eat? A lot of research the past week has pointed to "Don't fret it and he'll go back on his food eventually" but I can't help but think of the worst; liver failure, septicaemia, ect