My axolotl isn’t moving much and he’s floating. He was fine yesterday. If not a little sluggish. He won’t eat anything. I’ve tried blood worms and krill. They’re his favorite. He literally won’t eat anything else.
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Axolotls are illegal in California. Please read this thread for detailed information and links to the actual laws: https://www.caudata.org/threads/axolotls-are-illegal-in-california-here-are-the-relevant-laws.30779/
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He’s floating
- Thread starter Rosie1230
- Start date
KumquatSquats
New member
i see you are in arizona, is it possible that the tank got too hot? over 70f you can see signs of heat stress and over 75f can become an emergency fast
KumquatSquats
New member
if hes still little (based on bloodworms and krill as foods) he could have swallowed too much air and not know how to burp it up, does he seem to have trouble swimming down or is he floating by choice? if they seem stuck floating move them to an isolation tub where the water can be low enough to just cover them, this should help them calm down and burp out the air.
if hes over 4 inches long my suggestion is to try other foods, those foods are ok for babies but dont have the nutrition bigger axolotls need. Pellets can be hard to get your 'lotl to switch to at first but are pretty easy overall, earthworms are the best food for them but can be hard to keep in stock so sometimes i freeze them for later.
if hes over 4 inches long my suggestion is to try other foods, those foods are ok for babies but dont have the nutrition bigger axolotls need. Pellets can be hard to get your 'lotl to switch to at first but are pretty easy overall, earthworms are the best food for them but can be hard to keep in stock so sometimes i freeze them for later.
KumquatSquats
New member
that looks like internal bleeding or organ problems to me 
beyond my scope of knowledge unfortunately
beyond my scope of knowledge unfortunately
Locke
New member
Is there substrate at the bottom? Small gravel? Looks like impaction to me. Fridge them, give them stress coat, and prey.
WasabiThumbs
New member
I'm definitely underqualified but I have heard in some places that axolotls don't take kindly to stress coat. Take this with a grain of salt.
Locke
New member
Really? Have you had any negative effects? I add stress coat to my water treatment tank, but I don't add it directly to the tank. I had hoped it would improve their slime coat.
How is this one going? I would probably take it to the vet if you can, I really don't know what can cause the colouration issue! It would be helpful to know the tank parameters as well in case that is contributing.
GemCityAxolotls
Member
Do you have any “before” pics? And is the change in color spreading? Looks like he could possibly be morphing...
Kingfisher
Member
I'm not 100% sure but it also looks like his gills are positioned forward, usually meaning he maybe under stress of some sort.
Kingfisher
Member
What are your water parameters? Is your tank fully cycled?
honeydew
Member
Is it possible that this is a tiger salamander larvae thats morphing? I’ve never seen this coloration before in an axolotl.
EDIT: Wow sorry, just realized how old this post is! I’d like to know if this was the case though..
EDIT: Wow sorry, just realized how old this post is! I’d like to know if this was the case though..
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To answer the unanswered question (because I too was curious)
https://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?p=493864#post493864
Seem highly likely that Sebastian was not, in fact, an Axolotl XD XD He was obviously stressed from him gills positioning, but I expect what was happening is he was morphing. Turns out Sebastian came from a bait shop and dont expect the shop to have a lot of knowledge on the bait aside from it's relation as effective bait
I want to know how this turned out though!! Does OP now have a salamander?
https://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?p=493864#post493864
Seem highly likely that Sebastian was not, in fact, an Axolotl XD XD He was obviously stressed from him gills positioning, but I expect what was happening is he was morphing. Turns out Sebastian came from a bait shop and dont expect the shop to have a lot of knowledge on the bait aside from it's relation as effective bait
I want to know how this turned out though!! Does OP now have a salamander?
Autistic Catholic
Well-known member
I know this post is very old, but I'm still curious as to whether the final verdict on what species Sebastian belonged to was ultimately a tiger salamander.
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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??+1
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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+1
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Clareclare:Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?+1
Clareclare:
Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus...
+1