Worried

Hi my name is Ashlie,

I aquired 2 young axolotls last week. They are beautiful leucistic coloured girls (i think) called Ephyra and Guinevere.

Guinevere doesnt stop eating, she is really active and is growing really fast. However, Ephyra is very shy and hides alot.
She used to eat out of my hand but she hasnt eaten for a couple of days now, and this afternoon, she dived head first into the corner of the tank and wouldnt move. I moved her to hand feed her for dinner, but she just swam to another corner and dug head first into the pebbles again.

Im worried because my first axolotl (Lancelot) died, the day after i bought them, from stress, (Ephyra is his replacement) and i really really dont want to loose another one.

This is the first time i've kept axolotls, and im trying to follow all the advice on the axolotl website, but i just dont know what is wrong with her. Please help if you can.

Hi Ashlie

First thing I would say would be to remove the pebbles in your tank, as your axie may have/may in the future swallow them, which is potentionally very dangerous. You can either replace with sand or have a bare bottomed tank.

What is your tank like (dimensions) - how many hides do you have for your axies? Could it be that your axie is trying to conceal herself when she puts her head in the stones, in lieu of a proper hiding place?

What are your water conditions like - results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? What temperature is it? And is there a strong water flow in the tank?

It's really concerning that one of your axies died the day after you got him - when you say that he died from stress, what caused this stress? Because just the stess of being transported and a new home should not be enough to kill an axie.

Additionally, did you quarentine your new axie before putting him in with the old one?

And are either showing any other signs of stressed (curled gill or tail tip/unusual behavior)?

Cheers

Zoe x

Hi Zoe, thanks for replying,

There is no chance of them ever getting the pebble is their mouths... the pebbles are (on average) 3"-4" in diameter, i got them because i didn't want my axies to be able to swallow it, like they do with gravel. And they've got quite a few places to hide when the tank lights come on, however i think you might be right that she is trying to conceal herself when she puts her head in the stones, because she only hides her head.

Ive attached pictures of my tank so you can see the set up, and how big the pebbles are in relation to my axies.
The tank is 80cm x 35cm x 40cm and atm my axies are only about 2"-3".

The water conditions are all good, i got those checked the other day at my local aquatics centre. But the temperature is about 21oc... ive been using ice bottles in the tank to keep the temperature down but i cant seem to get it any lower than that.

As for water flow.... theres not really astrong current but i do have an air stone in there but the axies seem to like it. They tend to sit on top of it.

I was devistated when my first axie died. The place i got them from didnt keep them in very good conditions (they kept about 15 juvie axolotls together in a bare 1ft x 1ft tank), and Lancelot was pretty sick looking when i bought him. When he died i took him back to the shop and they said my water conditions were fine and he probably died from the stress of being moved??

How do you mean quarentine? All 3 axies came from the same place within days of each other so i didnt think i would need to keep them seperated (to de-disease them).

She isnt showing any of the usual signs of stress (gills and tail) shes just hiding alot and not eating at the moment. Could she be regenerating? She is still missing one of her front feet and i read that axies tend to lie still and not eat for ages when they are regenerating?

Please help

Your new axie is probably still a little stressed, I wouldn't worry too much.

Some axolotls seem to have different personalities, some more outgoing, some more greedy, etc. Perhaps she is just shy?

What are you feeding them? Earthworms usually entice a reluctant axie to eat.

Being so small your axies DO need to eat regularly though, what have you tried her with so far? Have you tried leaving the food in the tank and walking away, perhaps she doesn't like an audience?

As you got your axolotls from the same place within days I don't think there would be any need for quarantine, but I'm curious.........if this pet shop keeps their axolotls in such bad conditons, how come you went back there for another?

By the way the fact that your axie is missing a foot wouldn't cause her to hide away, they regenerate missing parts quite easily. In fact, she would need to keep up her intake of calories to aid that regeneration.

One last note, you won't be able to tell the gender of your two axies for a few months yet!

I know I cant really tell their gender yet, but i already gave them girls names, which might obviously need to change.
Just out of interest... how can you tell what gender they are??

I think i may have just been being an over anxious new axie mum. I woke up this morning and Ephyra... the one i said wasn't eating was finally out of hiding, and she had a pink blob on her tummy. I feed them frozen bloodworm cubes so could this pink blob be a full stomach where she's eaten over night??
So i think you could have been right with this idea... "Have you tried leaving the food in the tank and walking away, perhaps she doesn't like an audience? "

Because they're still only small, i didnt think they would be able to eat earthworms yet. im worried about using live food because i use large rocks in my tank, the food sometimes falls between the cracks ( which is annoying for a hungry axie).

The shop i bought my axies in is the only one for a loooooong way that has axolotls, and i sort of felt as though i was rescuing them, like i can give them a better home, where they will be well looked after instead of having to live out there days in a scummy old pet shop.

I think she might just be shy... my other axie is out swimming around all day long, but ephyra only seems to come out at night, otherwise she hides, or stays around the back of the tank.

Thank you for your advice, i think you might be right, there doesnt seem to be anything wrong with ther this morning, she was just having a mad 3 hours. Although she does seem to hide away when the aquarium lights come on. Is this a regular problem? Her tank mate seems to love the light and becomes more active when the lights are on, but she appears to hide under her log or bury her head in the pebbles?

It sounds like Ephyra is doing just fine, all normal axie behaviours. It is quite normal for an axolotl to hide from the light as they have no eyelids so the bright light is (usually) uncomfortable for them. It sounds like you have one axie more outgoing and one more shy, I wouldn't worry.

With feeding them, I think you would find it a whole lot easier for you (and the axies) if you didn't have so many pebbles in the tank. It would make it easier for them to find the food, (especially frozen bloodworms, they get everywhere) and easier for you to see and clean out any leftover food. I think you should try either with a bare-bottomed tank (which I have) or sand, it is sooooo much easier!

How are you feeding them the bloodworms? I found the easiest way is to either drop them in front of the axies mouth using a pipette or to put the defrosted bloodworms into a glass jar. (Fill the jar to the brim with some tank water, drop in the worms, they will sink, then slowly lower the jar into the tank and rest it on its side. The axies soon learn where the food is.)

Keep posting, there's always people here willing to help out newbies!

Hey Ashlie

Glad you managed to get everything sorted out :happy:.

My axolotl does a very similar thing - when the light in his tank comes on, he will swim into one of his hides and at first, push his head up against the side, so his eyes have maximum shade - after a few minutes he'll relax and then just hang about in his hide for an hour until the light goes off.

Additionally, when I first got him, before he was fully comfortable in his surroundings, if I came near the tank, he would press his head up against the plants in the tank (using them as a fancy vallisneria-mask ) or against the side of the tank - I think his theory was "If I can't see you, then you can't see me!"

Zoe x

Hey all...
Thanks for all of you help recently, but i woke up this morning and Ephyra has gone to the little mexican lake in the sky. I think she has developed a fungal infection that she wasnt able to shake because she wasnt eating properly.
I took her back to the shop and they said that my water was fine, its just one of those things....

Ive decided to be a responsible pet owner and just take care of the one axie i have left instead of trying to introduce anymore.
Is there any chance the infection could spread to my second axie? She looks fine, and she has just desimated a whole bloodworm cube by herself, so shes got no problems feeding... i dont think i could deal with the heartache of loosing another one

Sorry for the bad news... thought you might be interested x

Hi Ashlie,

I´m so sorry about your loss.

I´ve read this thread from the beginning again and I´m disturbed, because it was your second loss. Yor have had the axie only for few days and now 2 of them have passed away. I don´t know what the reasons are, but if your water is fine the possibility that you bought ill axies is nearly high. Maybe they had an infection or parasites which they died of.
I would take the last one to a vet for a checkup.

-Tina-

I'm so sorry to hear that Ashlie. I think you're doing the right thing and just concentrating Guinevere for now.

I think perhaps the way the pet shop has been keeping these axolotls has left them vulnerable to infections. Perhaps Guinevere is just made of stronger stuff and was able to tolerate the poor conditions.

Keep a close eye on her in case she falls ill too, keep posting on here if you're at all worried about her.

Once again my condolances on the loss of Ephyra.

Long may Guinevere continue to be a happy, healthy axie.

Hi Ashlie,

I'm really sorry to hear about Ephyra.

I don't have an axie yet, and despite your bad experience, I know if I came across some in a scummy petshop I would probably still buy them. It's that need to rescue them. (paternal instinct maybe?).

I wish you and Guinevere all the very best.

Ron