What is worse for an Axolotl? Water that is not 100% clean or water that is clean but noncycled?

The vet said they will call me to set it an appointment. The vet told me they wouldn't be checking the worms from the first part of him getting it out since that would just be all those worms in general so it doesn't help prove if he was sick. I didn't really understand why they don't want the first set of poop but I'll follow the orders . It's the next set of fecal that they would check as it would soon show whether he is still having bad worms in him or not. he has not pooped yet. The next good news is that my axolotl ate 3 pieces of food today!

I'm curious if anyone would appreciate me writing a thread on how to force feed properly if it's needed to be done. Of course it's not great to force feed. I did a bit of research on it during when I had to force feed my guy. Some amphibians occasionally need to be force fed if they won't eat at all for weeks because they get grouchy over things that happened months in the past. That is quite amazing as it seems to indicates they have months of memory or at least of feelings.

Here's something I was always curious about...don't know if anyone may know the answer. I know many people think fridging solves a lot of things but if an axolotl hasn't eaten for a very long time...gotten really skinny and putting it in the fridge shuts down it's system (and slows metabolism), then wouldn't it also possibly encourage the axolotl to die? Please don't hate me for saying these things!!

hitman... that would be a great idea. you just never know when we may need it.

Of course we don't hate you for saying that! You're only thinking of what is best for the animal. I suppose there might be a point at which a salamander is so under-weight that its body isn't prepared for fridging. The thing with fridging, though, is that (to my understanding) their metabolisms are slowed down, so it's less important that they eat, and therefore less of a concern if they have little appetite. Of course, when the appetite loss is caused by parasites, fridging won't really be a solution. Only medical treatment will get rid of the parasite load, and only that will bring the appetite back.

I would definitely love to see a thread on force feeding/administering oral meds. We all hope it will never happen to us, but it's great to have that info on hand, just in case.

My guess is that the vet didn't want to test the first poop because she knew it would be full of expelled worms. If later fecal samples still show worms, that means the axolotl needs further medical treatment. If it comes back clean, then your axolotl is parasite free. I think she's less concerned with seeing what kind of worms they are, and more concerned with whether they continue to be present after the course of dewormer.