Not eating?

Hi, my sons axolotyl is not eating. The water is fine, ph, nitrates etc. There is a small flow in the tank as it is a 2ft Aqua One. But we have had the axy for months now and it hasn't seemed to bother him. He has no 'bent tail' so i don't think he is stressed. Problem is, he is getting skinnier and you can see all his ribs. He looks really unwell and i can't get him to eat. I wave food around on a stick in front of him and he is not interested. Any ideas please would be most welcome.

What are you feeding him?

When you say you can see his ribs, do you mean you can see the costal ridges along the sides? These aren't ribs, and they're normal on all Ambystomatid salamanders.

Hi, i am feeding him frozen beefheart and he seems to like the frozen cichlid mix. It must be the costal ridges, but he is definitely skinnier and his head isn't even as bit as it was. He just seems very sickly. No fungus or gill problems that i can see. However, having said that his 'meaty' bits that stick out with the red gill section seem more blue purple than usual?

Try offering some live food. Earthworms are the best choice, but you can also try waxworms, decapitated mealworms, crickets, guppies (quarantined). This might stimulate his appetite.

What is the temperature in your tank?

Thanks for your tips.... Can i take a worm from my garden? I don't use any chemicals at all.
What about compost worms? Also, where to do buy waxworms or meal worms? from a pet shop?
Also the temperature is sitting at 22 degrees celcius which is ambient temp in the house. i have been researching and realise that is is a bit too high. As i can't move the tank anywhere cooler, i have placed a picnic ice pak in the tank to bring the temp down. His name is Blaze. He is orange with red/orange eyes. He looks like the axy on the page with the stressed tail and white marks.
I have just given him a 10min salt bath (which he hated and tried to escape the entire time and now hes back in the tank with a curly tail! Hes not happy.

Salt baths work best if there is a fungus present, if your axolotl does not have fungus then a salt bath will just stress them out even more.
You can get all sorts of worms from bait and tackle shops, just make sure they don't have teeth - in any case I always squish both ends of a worm before feeding it to my axolotl.

Blackworms are also a good idea and should be available at any aquarium-based pet store.

Thank you once again for your info. I have checked the ph etc and all is fine, tank is still a little warm, and i have tried to entice him with an earthworm. But he is not interested. I shall just have to keep a really good eye on him.
Thank you again

Hi Cass,

I would leave the worm in with the axolotl overnight. Worms can survive for quite some time under water and you may find it has mysteriously vanished by next morning. Axolotls are nocturnal and quite active during the night - while it is cool, dark, relaxing he may take the worm.

Thanks, i shall leave it in there and take note if its gone tomorrow. Thanks

Its currently 10pm and the worm is still there. He seems really stressed. His tail is practically vertical and with the kink on the end. Tomorrow i will do a water change.
Also the tank is now on 24 degrees celcius. I can't seem to get it down. Constant ice paks is fine except it is not consistent. Any ideas please are most welcome.
I can't move the tank to a cooler site either.
Also i have made a spray bar out of a piece of tube and have slowed the water flow in the tank right down.

Cass said:

Its currently 10pm and the worm is still there. He seems really stressed. His tail is practically vertical and with the kink on the end. Tomorrow i will do a water change.
Also the tank is now on 24 degrees celcius. I can't seem to get it down. Constant ice paks is fine except it is not consistent. Any ideas please are most welcome.
I can't move the tank to a cooler site either.
Also i have made a spray bar out of a piece of tube and have slowed the water flow in the tank right down.

Click to expand...

Hi Cass,

High temperatures and fluctuating temperatures bouncing up and down will stress an axolotl.

I would either move him into the fridge where the cold temperature is a constant or put him in a tub and move him to a cooler part of the house in fresh dechlorinated water.

If he is very stressed, I think the fridge is the best option.

Ensure the tub is filled so he is fully submersed. If he is 'floating' due to stress - put enough water to cover his back completely but ensure he can touch the ground.

While in the fridge, his metabolism will be slowed right down so he won't be inclined to eat, but fortunately the weight loss is also slowed right down which buys you some time to destress him. Set fridge for at least 5 degrees celcius.

If you opt to keep him in a cool place, try him with food each day and see if he will partake while in a still, calm and dark environment where he feels safe.

Either method, you will need to change his water 100% each day with fresh dechlorinated water.

If fridging, keep bottles of dechlorinated water in the fridge with with the axolotl, these will be used for the water changes so he is not subjected to temperature shock.

If you keep him in a cool place, keep bottled declorinated water in the same place as to keep the water temp constant for water changes.

Please keep us posted.

Edit: Ensure tub has a secure lid so axolotl can't wriggle or jump his way out of the tub. Also, if fridging cover the tub with a teatowel so the fridge light does not disturb the axolotl.

G'day, Cass,

I don't know which part of Australia you are from, but I sure know how difficult it can be to lower the tank temperature. However, you're in luck, because there many articles on how to effectively cool your tank:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cooling.shtml
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/nftt/index.php
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Aquariumpros_Chiller.html
http://www.thekrib.com/Marine/chiller.html

See how creative you can get!

Jay.

Cass

Might be a good idea if you let the people on here know the capsity of your tank.

I myself have a 165 litre tank & I know what you mean, trying to keep the temperature down. I have three 2 litre plastic coridal bottles that I keep in the freezer & use them each day. This allows me to keep the termperature about 20 degrees.

Good luck

I have a 40lt tank and I live in central QLD. I seem to always be complaining about the temperature in my tank but after some trial and error, I now have my tank at a constant 18C. YAY

I have a desk fan set up just above my tank, blowing directly onto the water. I turn the fan on the second I wake up and don't turn it off until bed.
I also have 8 600ml bottles which I keep in the freezer which are filled with clean dechorinated water. I put one bottle in the tank at a time and change them constantly before they have a chance to completely thaw (thats the key I found). I keep frozen bottles in the tank 24/7, even getting up once in the middle on the night to change it (I'm a mum so I'm already awake). When I go to bed, I make sure that I put a new bottle in and when I go out I put in 2 bottles.