Klasta
New member
I'm new to Axolotls (and amfibians in general), I've had mine for about 2 weeks now and he's recently stopped eating. He used to eat 2-3 dried silkworms a day and half a cube of frozen bloodworms every other day, but for the last 3-4 days he hasn't swallowed a single silkworm and the bloodworms just don't seem to interest them. I can usually tempt him to try and eat a worm but it just seems that he can't suck it in.
While handfeeding him, he sucks so weakly that he hardly pulls it out between my fingers, while the first days they instantly disappeared into his mouth.
He was pretty thin when I got him and this surely doesn't help him gain weight. I have fine gravel covering the tank (about 1-3mm grains) but I thought handfeeding him would prevent him from swallowing any.
I haven't seen him in any special poses that would indicate intestinal obstructions, but then again, I'm not 100% of how it exactly looks, so I might miss it if he's quite subtle.
I'm starting to get a little worried but 99% of the Belgian vets don't know anything about axolotls since they all have a certain speciality and hardly any of them are specialized in amphibians, let alone neotenic amphibians.
Is this normal behaviour, is it because of the food or is it something else? I'm getting quite worried that this might harm his health.
While handfeeding him, he sucks so weakly that he hardly pulls it out between my fingers, while the first days they instantly disappeared into his mouth.
He was pretty thin when I got him and this surely doesn't help him gain weight. I have fine gravel covering the tank (about 1-3mm grains) but I thought handfeeding him would prevent him from swallowing any.
I haven't seen him in any special poses that would indicate intestinal obstructions, but then again, I'm not 100% of how it exactly looks, so I might miss it if he's quite subtle.
I'm starting to get a little worried but 99% of the Belgian vets don't know anything about axolotls since they all have a certain speciality and hardly any of them are specialized in amphibians, let alone neotenic amphibians.
Is this normal behaviour, is it because of the food or is it something else? I'm getting quite worried that this might harm his health.