Axolotl Not Eating, Now Floating Sideways

Fantastic! I'm happy something finally work , yay! :rofl:

He still floats most of the time, but he will at least hang out on the bottom sometimes. Before, he wouldn't at all.
I have some of those special leaves now and put a portion of one in his tank.
He isn't eating still. I got him to snap at a worm by dropping it in when he wasn't expecting it, but he spat it back out immediately. I leave him in there for hours a a time with one or even a minnow and so far no luck. He is still somewhat active though, and isn't quite as sideways as he was- though still not perfectly upright. So I'm hoping he's beginning feeling better, even though he isn't eating.

With more oxygen add in water (especially more oxygen in the bottom) you can drop a few worms in along side with him and the worms will survive just in case he'll try to eat on his own.

I can put one or two in there, but last time I did that they disintegrated after a few days and it was gross. I do have the filter running now though (it was very easy to set up I feel silly for not being able to figure it out x.x)- will that provide enough oxygen into the water?

Even my boyfriend pointed out Snoop is being less sideways today, so I'm glad it isn't only me noticing. He has also spent most of his time on the bottom of the tank today, looking content, instead of floating like a dead fish on the top and looking miserable. His personality seems to be returning as well, and he's acting more like he did before he became unwell. I'm hoping this is all signs of improvement. If only he would eat! I'll put a worm in there at least for the night, but if it is looking squishy in the morning I might have to take it back out.

Squishy worm left on the bottom normally means that your axolotl did try to eat which is a great sigh. ( axie might already suck a bit of worms inner ) earth worm will only last in tank if you have bubble stone inside the tank to help them breath, but if you don't want to add any bubble stone along with your filter then don't drop worm in. I just remembering something from a while back (If your axie still have difficulty eating), although it's not as nutrious as earth worms . Wax worms probably on my top list of the most super fast digesting worm I ever known for axie to eat , although I would never ever recommending them as food for axie cause as far as nutrition goes it's like feeding mashmellow to a young child. So it's more like a light snack cause it doesn't take axie a lot to suck them down . Sometime they goes down too easily my axie seem to always have a surprise look on their face after they ate it .

Your night time temp is the high end of acceptable (70f) and your using a 10 gall tank without daily water changes and your wondering why your axolotl is sick ? It's called suboptimal care, improve your care standards and you will find these problems go away. Get a bigger tank, 10 gall is fine if your doing daily water changes , if not the ammonia levels will climb, the "professionals" who say it's ok are utter, utter fools as this advice kills axolotls. Temp needs reducing to 64f or below, you may think a few degrees don't make much difference but they do. Higher temps increase the likelihood of illness, fungus, floating then death.

I agree with everything you said . 10 gallon is just too small to keep with out constantly changing water over and over . I have one 10 gallon tank that use as hospital tank or nursery tank only . To imagine my self keeping a full grown axie in there, if it doesn't set me on full blown panic attack mode, then my axie would be. It's count down situation , one tiny little small slip up then the axie is sick again , one tiny little bigger slip up then death . It's a dead end situation. Cross fingers and hope for the best.:kill:

The worms are still alive in the tank but I'll take them out, I don't want them to die!
I don't have any waxworms that are full grown on me but I do breed them and intended to buy some more for my lizards soon; I'll either find the biggest one in my lot or when I get some more in about a week I'll try it then, whichever comes first.
Today he is significantly less sideways and while I've only been back a few hours (had to come check on him and the sick boyfriend, urg, all these sick guys), he's still sitting contently on the floor. Though he didn't eat the worms. I have him again in his tub and no luck so far.

I realize after this past two weeks or so of frantically trying to figure out the problem that miscare was the problem...I never have had an amphibian, and I suppose I was treating him similar to my fish. I cleaned his tank almost weekly before and for that time he was good; after all this new information and time spent thinking and working to fix the problem, his getting sick seems to correlate with when I got plants- I think they made the tank extra nasty, and so his week/week and a half tank cleanings weren't enough, since two or three of them died. I plan on cleaning it weekly and changing some of his water throughout the week on the days I'm here, and keeping a close eye on the remaining plants that are in there (they appear healthy). On top of that I have an ammonia test kit now and plan on using it fairly regularly.
I cannot get a larger tank at the moment. We simply don't have the room. Once my boyfriend and I move out in a few months I will try my best to upgrade Snoop because I want him to do well. But until then I will take the measures I must to make his 10g work for him. I was apparently misinformed when I bought him as to what he needs, and while I and my boyfriend did some research once we got him, I guess basically we were just not prepared. I take care of hardy lizards, cats, dogs, and fish (not that that means I do not clean and care for them- I certainly do- but they do not need things as pristine as Snoop nor do they have some of the same requirements). I was not ready for such a squishy little guy- I didn't realize he was so sensitive. But I have him and I am not going to let him suffer if I can help it; I pride myself in taking care of my animals. I appreciate everyone's help very much on this thread because I have learned a lot and feel much more confident in taking care of the little dude. He may not be eating quite yet but he seems much healthier and his tank much nicer to live in. I still plan on giving updates until he is fully functional again. You guys are awesome and I'm glad you took the time to help me out.

As an update, Snoop is still not eating. His tank was cleaned again, ammonia levels are fine, and he isn't really sideways. He hangs out on the bottom mostly now. His filter is going. I've got him to snap at a few worms, but he always spits them out. He did that to the waxworm too. But I've been coming over every day to try and feed him. I guess snapping at food is better than not even trying.

At least he sounding like he's doing better. But as I said before he need to learn to eat the right food so the only way is to keep live worm next to him ( with air bubbles From your sponge filter will keep any earth worm alive and moving) Untill he learn how to eat it on his own. Keep your tank temperature close to between 68f-70f too low he wouldn't have any appetite .

I've been keeping a worm or two in the tank off and on, I usually take them out every two days or so just in case, but so far they've all looked fine. I don't have one in there right now but I'll be adding a new pair tonight. I've also been getting into the routine of adding ice to his tank again, to keep it cool, but it seems to be staying pretty chill whether I do that or not.

So the little dude has decided he likes worms, but I think you're right, I think he is trying to learn to eat again or something. He has gotten to where, in his tank, if I drop a worm around him he'll attack it and act like he's trying to eat it, but eventually he spits it out again. Most of the worms aren't but about half grown and I think he could eat them fairly easily if he wasn't still funky. I tried to cut one in half and give it to him in his tub but he wouldn't even strike it, so I guess for now in his tank it is. But this is progress, and I'm excited. Hopefully he'll actually eat one soon!

don't need to cut it , he will learn eventually. Don't add more ice . Stop cooling him down cause that what stop him eating. He only need temp below 70 and no lower than 68 to eat . Any more cooler he will just go to sleep

Alright, will do.

tipnatee said:

don't need to cut it , he will learn eventually. Don't add more ice . Stop cooling him down cause that what stop him eating. He only need temp below 70 and no lower than 68 to eat . Any more cooler he will just go to sleep

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They feed fine down to 10c, optimum temp is 16-18c (?-64f), 20c (68f) is high end of acceptable. You need to increase your basic knowledge before you offer advice

I've only been putting ice in there every other day or so, as it's been staying cool by itself. I only really add it occasionally just to make sure it stays that way (and I don't fill the tank or anything, it's just a large drinking cup full). It was hotter when we first got him, so I think it was needed (then we were adding it at least once, if not twice, a day), but since it's been cooling down a bit the tank stays nice and chill. I don't imagine it's getting below 68, or if it is, only briefly. So I guess I'll only keep adding ice if I think it's getting too warm.

Snoop must have eaten something. I went to visit this weekend and cleaned his tank, and I only two out of the three or four worms I had put in his tank were still there. And those two were dead, looking like they'd been beaten (I'm assuming from his repeated attempts to eat them), but he must have eaten the other one or two that were in there 'cause they're gone. He wasn't quite as skinny, and was refusing to attack any worms I dropped in front of him. I am assuming that was because he was full (his stomach probably shrunk after so long of not eating). He had started to slow down and not move as much, but this weekend I noticed he was active more like he was when he was healthy- very alert, moving occasionally, not sitting in the same spot for hours on end like he had started doing the last week or two. His color looks better and his gills are nicer now. I mean, it isn't perfect; he's still too thin and should be eating more. But he isn't a stick anymore and will hopefully gain more of an appetite in the coming weeks, so that's progress.
I also got a thingie to tell me the temp. of his tank, so now I'm only putting ice in there as needed (aiming to keep it at around 70). All in all, I'd say the little guy is acting much better and is certainly improved from when I first made this thread. Again, thank you guys. I'm so glad he seems to be eating again. Unless he starts to go south again or anyone has any more questions about Snoopy, I think this'll be the last update. <3