Illness/Sickness: Sick Axie

Hi There,

My axie is (im pretty sure) quite sick
I have recently moved (two and a half weeks ago) and am assuming the stress of moving is the underlying cause, and i therefore had to do a new cycle with him in it. although it didn't take long being that all the plants (fake and java moss),sand, filter, rocks and some of the tank water stayed in the tank and it was more like doing a 90% water change.

Symptoms started as he has barely been eating and recently stopped eating entirely, he is look terribly thin and was floating at the top of the tank near the filter a couple of days ago, now usually its not much of an issue when he's floating because he tends to like doing it even when he is well. but as he is thin and hasn't been eating i thought he looked terrible!! so i have decided to firdge him at least until the weekend.

he has been in a 2ft tank on his own since december, but i have recently bought a 180l 3ft tank for him and was going to be getting another in the next couple of months.

Tank temp was no higher than 19*to 20*c, unfortunately i don't have the ammonia nitrite and nitrite test results as i have since moved him to the fridge and done about a 90 - 95% water change on the tank and taken everything except the sand out and moved it into the new tank to help with the cycling(which is almost done)
How long would you think i should leave him in the fridge, and what foods would you suggest to help him put as much weight on as fast as possible.

Hello,

How long did you have your axolotl before the move? I'm asking because you wrote that the tank has sand, so I'm wondering if there is there a possibility he could have swallowed something like gravel in a previous setup. Is there anything else in your aquarium that he could have swallowed and is causing impaction - snails? Small stones? etc.

The next suspect would be water quality. Lastly, it may indeed just be that the axolotl is stressed from the move.

Pellets (salmon pellets) are high in protein and if you feed him lots of those, he is sure to put on weight relatively quickly. Earthworms will have the same effect but are a bit more "work" to eat than pellets. I'm not sure that putting on weight quickly would be a good thing, though. As long as the axolotl starts eating again, that would be the main point solved.

It sounds to me like you know what you are doing. You know what to watch and what to do. If your axolotl is not showing other symptoms of illness, I would follow the same course of action you are following now.

Good luck,

-Eva

Hi Junglist,

A spell in the fridge certainly won't hurt and will buy you some time to ascertain what the problem could be. During the Summer months in Australia, I've known members who have kept their axies in the fridge for the whole of Summer with no problem - axies love the cold.

Ensure the fridge is set for at least 5 degrees celcius - no lower than this. While in the fridge, the water will need to be changed 100% each day with fresh dechlorinated water.

While in the fridge, he will not be inclined to eat as the fridge slows the metabolism right down - which is fine as the weight loss also slows right down. Try offering food each day, even leaving the food with him overnight in the fridge and he may partake in privacy.


Axolotls will float for a variety of reasons. Water quality is often the main culprit, but there are others:

• Movement Stress: Is there any water current at all in the tank? (such as from the filter)
• Impaction: Is there anything he may have swallowed, such as small stones, snails, etc?
• Gas: How deep is the sand substrate? If the sand is over an inch deep gas pockets can develop and affect the axolotls.
• Just Stress: Axies can get stressed at the drop of a hat - water movement, temperature, surprise, mistaken perception of "Oh my, a predator, ARGH!"...
• Just for the hell of it - very frustrating!

What do you usually feed him?

Earthworm is the favored food for axolotls as a staple, as it has all the nutricion an axie needs in one wriggling package. Pellets made for carnivorous fish such as salmon or trout pellets also make an excellent staple diet.

This article has lots of food options available for the axie's palate with worms at the top of the list :
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods2.shtml

Could you post a photo of the axolotl and of the tank setup?

Cheers Jacq.

thank you for your replies.

to answer a few of the questions:

i've had him since december and have only had a sand substrate, and he has been fine until now.

i usually feed him a range of beef heart or liver or tubefix worms (freeze dried), and on the odd occasion i will feed him some live fish(when i have the time and patience for quarantine).
it's quite hard to feed him anything else as pellets arent moving and when they are in my hand he can usually tell its not alive... as i'm pretty sure he likes to think his food is alive

when i first got him he was on pellets (i think they were shrimp pellets) and he just stopped eating them... he'd suck them in if i dropped them above his nose and then he would spit it back out.

on the weekend i might get him some axolotl pellets (i never bought them on the assumption that they would be quite crappy and judgeing by the sound they make in the bottle they seam very small) but i might also ask if they have salmon pellets.

i would feed him worms if i could find some, but i don't have much of a garden and live close to the heart of brisbane so there arent many bait shops around here.

There is a filter in the tank, it's quite small and has a spray bar and creates very very little current.

There is nothing in the tank that could fit in his mouth it's either sand or rocks that are more than big enough for him to not be able to even consider as food.

the substrate in the tank is very thin as it makes it easier to clean so there is no chance of air pockets. However in my new 3ft tank, in which he will be going into hopefully soon, has quite a thick level of substrate and i did notice a couple air pockets when i swished around, is that going to be an issue?

note: will post photos as soon as possible

I'm going to guess your problem is the water conditions - I'd keep him in the fridge for a while and do partial water changes in your new tank until you can get a kit to test it.

Cheers, Phil

ok so he spent about 2 weeks in the fridge and hasn't eaten anything at all, i've offered him food everyday, right before i changed the water in his container, i've been offering , beef heart, beef liver, salmon pellets, tubifex works, frozen blood worms and live earth worms.

Today i moved him into his new tank (3ft), he's been there all day and still hasn't eaten anything
(note: water stats; ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate- between 5 and 10, and temp between 16-18c (there is a chiller on the tank))
when i do offer him food it looks like he wants to eat it, but he just can't open his mouth.
His mouth will open about a millimetre and you can see that he is trying to suck in the food like he would if his mouth was open...
I know axolotls can go a long time without eating but its been about 3 weeks since he's eaten and he is look really thin. I'm just wondering if maybe he's forgotten how to eat ( i remember reading somewhere that they can forget how to eat) or if it's something a little more serious, or if i should just wait.