Need some help fridging my axolotl

Hello all,

My axolotl is 1 year old, but recently he has been having his butt up and his left buttcheek is swollen. His left leg is also somewhat swollen. It seems like there is poo stuck or something. The water quality is good, but the temperature is 24 degrees. He barely eats (he ate just one earthworm this week) so I think I'm gonna have to fridge him, since it's not getting any better.
He doesn't seem to be bloating (yet?), but he has a very hard time to keep himself to the ground (because his butt will float up) and needs to use stuff in his aquarium such as the wood and moss, to keep himself down and it seems to stress him out.

Now I have a few questions:
1. What is the minimum temperature the fridge should be?
2. What would you advice me to use to put him in (how large does it need to be?)
3. I read I should do daily water changes. Do I need to take the axolotl out and put him somewhere else and then put him back again, when changing the water, or are there other methods?
4. I assume I need to make breathing holes in the 'thing' he'll be fridged in, right?

Thanks for your response!

Here is a great article on fridging, it should answer all of your questions.

Thanks, that answered most of my questions, but there are still a few left

1. I read I should do daily water changes. Do I need to take the axolotl out and put him somewhere else and then put him back again, when changing the water, or are there other methods?
2. The article doesn't say anything about breathing holes when putting on the lid. So.. should I just put it on there without making any holes or..?
3. Since my axolotl is in a 24C tank right now and will be switching to the fridge, how should I prepare him for the lower temperature, or is this not needed?

Thanks again!

1) What I do is to have 2 containers setup in the fridge. One has the axie in it while the other has contioned water. That way all I have to do is switch the axolotl to the new container, dump the water out of the old container, then set it up for the same routine the next day. Hopefully that makes sense.

2) You won't really need holes since you will be taking the lid off everyday for water changes.

3) The water will cool down gradually when you put it in the fridge, so there is no use in worrying about the temperature change.

After the first change, though, since you will already ahve your axie used to fridge-temp water, I would keep the alternate setup in the fridge as well to make sure when you switch him, he stays the same temp. Having to warm up and cool back off gradually would stress him out further I think. My axies are currently in the fridge too and what I do is, instead of putting a big bin in there with water, I fill an empty 2L bottle up with conditioned water and put that in the fridge instead of the altenative bin (to save room, only one bin in the fridge at all times). I then pour that into the setup right before I switch the axies and fill up the 2L again and put it back in the fridge with the axie in his new enclosure. This way, instead of having 2 enclosures in the fridge (one with axies, and one Idle, you will have one enclosure and one 2L bottle. This should save alot of room and make it to where your axie always has the same temp water. No stress.

Mark

Thank you both for your reply

Now all that's left is finding something good enough to put him in.
Though the idea is a bit cruel, how would a pan be?

I have a very big pan, it will keep it dark and it even has a hole in the lid for some air to come in.

I also have a plastic box made to quarantine sick animals such as a rabbit or a cat. It's been used once for a rabbit, to carry it to the doctor. It has lots of space and the cap is full of venting holes.

Would any of these do? Sorry for asking so many questions, but I just want the best for my axolotl and am always terribly afraid to make a mistake.

Im using a tupperware cookie container. Anything that will allow him enough water to be fully submerged (I like to give another about 1-2" just to give him room to move around if he wishes) and will not leak toxins into the tank would suffice. I actually think that a lid without holes would be better as to make sure there is nothing getting into it, as long as you open the lid every so often. I wouldnt use a pan because its metal and could still have soap or other food stuffs on it. This is my thread. Thats how I did it. I would advise whatever you put him in, you put a towel around it so the fridge light going on and off wont bother him. He will slow down dramatically and actually look limp when you net him if its cool enough, so dont be too worried if he slows down. The cold slows down their metablosim also, so you dont have to feed so often. You will most likely just be fouling the water and he wont eat every day anyway most likely. If you have anything that will accommodate his length and also give enough height for enough water, with a lid, it could hold him. I would only use plastic, though. Nothing youve cooked with or on. Dont wash it with soap before putting him in it either (as long as its clean beforehand). This will put soap residue in the water. Make sure it is rinsed thuroughly with hot water before adding the water to make sure nothing leaks from the container into his water.

Hope my babble helped.
Mark

Yes it did help

There are no worries about lights going on or off and things leaking into the water , cause I'll be putting him in a coolbox and just him alone. No food or anything else in there, besides my axolotl (and an extra container with water for the daily water change).

So no pans because of the metal? That's why I asked actually, cause I was worried about metal being an influence. I think I'll go for the pet carriage then

I don't have a big enough tupperware container unfortunately. Or at least, I don't think it's big enough.

Yeah, I wouldnt use metal. As long as the bin can fit him from head to tail without touching sides, its big enough (generally, but just to be nice (and practical) allow some more room.)

Mark