Please help my axie

Hi everybody,

In fact, I just bought an axolotl from a local pet shop 1 day ago. When coming home, I put my axolotl in the tank including my asian arowana and other fish such as discus, flagtail, tinfoil barb and my albino bichir...Well, the seller of the pet shop told me it was ok to put the axolotl with other fish...and I just found out that was totally wrong after reading this website
As it did happened, my axolotl was bitten by the arowana and the bichir. So he lost one of his 6 gills and one of his leg was injured as its toes now turn bluish black. After that, I seperated him from that tank and temporarily put him in a small box with an air stone for observation. Today, I also set up a new tank for him, so he will stay by himself.
Yesterday I did not feed my axolotl anything, as I wanted him to get used to the new environment of water. When he was in the tank with other fish, he swam up and down and looked active. After being bullied, today he does not move much, but if I touch him he does swim around the box. This evening, I've just given him 1 pellet of fronzen bloodworms, but he does not eat them at all. His toes on 1 leg are still bluish blue and he is still inactive, though he does occasionally crawl and move at the bottom of the box if sensing something. I had put some salt (without iodine) in the box and I intend to move him into his new tank tomorrow.

I am just a beginner as a pet owner of axolotl, so I really don't have much experience. Please help me with this problem. I really look forward to your advices!

Many thanks :happy:

Hello Ganymede264,

Glad you found the site here and are learning more about your new pet - welcome!

First, it is not uncommon for axolotls to stop eating after being transported. Your axolotl has been through a lot in the past few days and definitely needs some time to recover from that. Provide the axolotl with someplace(s) to hide (a cave or two), keep lights off, keep noise down, and please stop touching him.

Frozen foods should be defrosted before being fed to the axolotl. You should also give them a quick rinse with fresh water to get rid of the nasty melted water. Feeding defrosted worms will be messy, so to keep mess to a minimum in a larger tank, fill a teacup or jar with water from the aquarium and then put the defrosted, rinsed worms into the teacup. Lower the teacup gently to the floor of the aquarium (if you move too quickly, the worms will fly everywhere). Uneaten worms will be left in the teacup, making them easier to remove.

You might also try live foods, depending on how big your axolotl is. If he is small (12 cm or less), you can offer him Daphnia or live mosquito larvae, which are usually available at good aquarium stores. You can also try earthworms, which can be found in your garden (as long as there are no pesticides or fertilizers used in the garden) or at a bait shop. If the axolotl is too small to eat a whole worm, you can cut the worm to a length roughly equivalent to the width of the axolotl's head to make it easier to eat.

Again, the axolotl may just need time to recover from the stress of the past few days. Keep offering food, removing any uneaten food after about 20 minutes, and try to keep things calm, cool, and dark for a few days. Watch for fungus on the injuries.

In the meantime, if you haven't discovered them already, here are some links for you:

The axolotl site has lots of information, including info on feeding and housing, as well as an axolotl's basic requirements. The Caudata Culture site has lots of articles that are worth browsing, too.

Good luck to you, and welcome to the Forum!

-Eva

Hi
When I got my axolotls they took a week or so to settle down, and eat. Yours has been through quite a lot (aren't Discus tropical fish, requiring a high temperature of water?). Keep him col and dark, and I'd be offering him live food (eg earthworms). Good luck.

You shouldn't add salt in with your axolotl unless he needs a salt bath due to fungus.

Just keep him in a cool, dark place where he can relax quietly. Oh, and keep an eye on those toes and watch for fungus which looks like white cottony stuff.

Good luck!!

Thank you everyone for your advices :happy:

Today, I still let my axie in the box with an air stone. He has moved around the place more often. His toes of the injured leg are still bluish black, but it doesn't show any sign of infection. In fact, my axolotl can still "walk" on his 4 legs. His gills are also moving normally, although he's already lost 1 gill.
As you advised, I try not to disturb him while he is in the box. I finish setting up a new tank for him (capacity: aprox 20 litres) with a filter, an aeration, as I put tap water in this new tank last night, and opened the cover of the tank so that the chloride in water would evaporate completely after 24 hrs. I also added 2 spoon of salt without iodine in this new tank for prevention of fungus and bacterium.
At the momemt, I am pretty worry that his injured leg may get infected, so I intend to add medicine in the new tank, when I let him stay in this place. As I reckon the quarantine box is not really a suitable place for him, I intend to move him into his new place this afternoon.
According to http://www.axolotl.org/health.htm, Furan-2 is a relatively safe medicine for aquarium use. I've already bought 2 tablets of Furan-2 (not the powder packet).
Honestly, I am not sure whether I should move my axolotl in his new tank or just keep him in the quarantine box until he fully recovers, and whether I should use the Furan-2 on him to support his injured leg to recover faster and prevent further infection?

Please advise me!

Kind regards,

In general I would advise against adding medications of any kind unless there is an actual, specific need (as in, an obvious disease that needs treatment). If you want to take a precautionary measure, you can give the axolotl a tea bath - read about tea baths in this article from the Caudata Culture site - you will need to scroll down the page a bit to find tea baths.

Did you really mean 20 liters or is it 200?

-Eva

Yeah - the others are right medication in the tank is bad. I have hospital tanks & quarantine tanks. I never medicate in the main living tank. Antibiotics can interefere with good bacteria, get into decorations and leach out.

Sharon

This evening, I've just moved my axolotl into his new tank. As you advised, I did not add any medication in the new tank. I also measured the tank's size as follows 45cm x 25cm x 22cm. My axolotl's length is approximately 22cm. I don't let any tank-mate live with him this time
I actually don't give any food for him today, because I think that he needs to gradually adapt to the new environment. At the moment, I am still observing my axolotl.

Cheers,

Another thing, which I've just noticed my axolotl, is that his gills turn forward. Is this a sign of stress caused by the water flow in his new tank? In fact, I use the same air stone as the one in the quarantine box before, and I also tune the air pump into its lowest level. Well, the tank currently has been equipped with an external filter, so is it really necessary to use an air stone for the axolotl?

Many thanks,

It could be a sign of stress from the water flow or it could just be stress from moving to a new home. Its not necessary to use an airstone for an axolotl, their gills are equipped to take oxygen from the water.

Hi Ganymede264,

Have you tested your water for levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? If you don't have a test kit, you can buy a "lab" with lots of different tests, or the tests for the individual chemicals. Please do not buy the dip strips because they LIE and you will not be able to get an accurate reading from them. They are more expensive than the dropper tests in the long run, anyway.

If you can't afford the dropper tests right now, you can take a water sample from the aquarium to your local pet shop and they can test it for you for free.

Just a thought.

-Eva

At the moment, my axolotl seems to be fine with his new tank. His injured leg is getting better, as the bluish black stuff on its toes are fading gradually (oh I forgot to tell you that he was a white axolotl). There currently isn't any sign of infection. I only equip a filter for him and don't add any decoration stuff or air stone so on.
However, my axie is still quite passive, he only moves once in while as I have observed him. Yesterday, I gave him 1 pellet of frozen bloodworms (indeed, I defrosted the pellet before giving it to him), but he did not show any interest in the food at all. I wonder if he will be ok without food for some days?

I look forward to your advices!

They can go for quite a long time without food, weeks sometimes months. I find live foods are good for an axolotl refusing to eat dead food.

Have you got something in your tank the he can hide in?

My axie has eaten some live food; he becomes more active now
Yesterday, I changed the type of food for my axolotl, as I gave him about 10 tiny snakeheads fish. This morning, when I looked into his tank, there were only 2 tiny fish left. So he must do his hunting activity during last night!
His injured toes also become pretty well now; no sign of infection!

Truly thanks everybody for your helpful advices ^__^

Hi Ganymede264,

I am so glad your axolotl is starting to eat! Congratulations.

Fish are a lot of work for an axolotl to catch. Is it possible for you to get earthworms? Earthworms are an excellent food for axolotls. You can feed them in addition to the fish. You can also read about more foods in this article (and their nutritional value here).

Do you have a cave for your axolotl to hide? A cave to an axolotl is the equivalent of a bed for us humans, a place for the axolotl to retreat and rest.

Good luck on the continued good health, I am so happy for you!

-Eva

Well, to be honest, I am not very "keen" on worms and insects In fact, a petshop owner once suggested me to feed my asian arowana with some kinds of big worms...I even didn't stand to look at it! Okay, that's a bit "going around the bush".
At the moment, I use tiny snakeheads fish as feeder fish for most of my fish. My 2 asian arowanas and 2 hybrid flowerhorns are very much interested in these feeder fish. I reckon that the snakeheads fish aren't that fatty. Personally, giving feeder fish for my fish is a way of getting them to do some "exercises".
Anyway, I will definitely give my axolotl variety of foods to fulfill his appetite :happy:

Many thanks,

Oh about the cave for an axolotl, would you please give some suggestions? As my axie's tank is not a really large one, I am not sure whether the decoration stuff can lead to growth of fungus? In fact, another large tank, which contains my asian arowana and other big fish, were once infected by fungus, because there were a lot of "dirty stuff" sticking on the gravels and other plastic decoration in this tank. After that, I had to remove all of the decoration and gravels in that tank. Since that incident, I am afraid to put plastic decoration or gravels in any tank.

Please advise me what I should do to build a safe cave for my axie.

Many thanks,

just aslong as you keep the substrate clean, there should be no fugus growing on decorations...

i had a similar problem, which was a protien bloom (if i can call it that)
having decorations is a good thing

i would suggest silk plants, over plastic, as plastic tends to be harder, and can cause injury easier then silk.

some simple peices of slate made into a "cave" would be enough..
benificial bacteria grow on decorations, and plants (live or not), which helps with the natural bio-filtration.
remember 25% water changes, and there shouldnt be a problem

hope all that helps

A cave could be something as simple as a cleaned flower pot or a jug!