Bobillion
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- Apr 5, 2010
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Hi, my axolotl has been acting strangely for about a week now and I'm getting worried. Basically, he's been acting quite cagey, jumping at the smallest things that never startled him before and even pulling away from my hand when I offer him food (I've always hand fed him). Also, he's been spending much more time in his hide recently, and doesn't seem to like coming out as much. Or, if he does it is furtive and temporary. He never used to act like this, he was usually quite calm, relaxed, and curious, and would often spend much of his time out of his hide or near his feeding corner. Which is another point - he hasn't been eating nearly as much as he used to, and does not pick up food from the ground anymore, whereas he used to be ravenous all the time.
These are the only factors I can think of that might be relevant:
1) I'm not sure if his hide is the best, When he was much younger I gave him a hollowed out coconut to hide in but he either ignored it or sat on top of it. So, to make things roomier I made his hide out of a piece of driftwood (with a plant on top) and placed near the corner. The two bordering walls have coverings and I even used black construction paper to darken it a bit. On top I have a floating plastic plant as a ceiling of sorts. He seemed to like it, but lately he's been digging holes under the log to try to squeeze himself in as far as possible. I've been considering getting a new hide from a piece of pvc pipe for him, to stick in the same corner. Perhaps this will make him feel more secure? Maybe he's just stressed and feeling exposed?
2) I have plants, as mentioned before (Amazon Spear Grass, Java Fern, and Anubias). They aren't doing too well. I thought maybe it was from a lack of food, but it sounds like it is probably more a lack of light. I'm thinking of getting a light put in for them (perhaps with an auto-timer), but only after his hide is perfected so he doesn't have additional stressors. I try to remove dead leaves as soon as I see them, but the tank still has a weird planty smell and there are swirls of something on the surface. I hope plant juices aren't bad for him...
3) Water quality is fine. The water is cycled and ammonia and nitrite levels are good. The pH is acceptable (~7.8) and the water is hard enough that his gills are always red. The temperature is... not ideal, but I live in one of the hottest cities in Canada. I have air conditioning, though, and I've managed to keep his temperature around 20-21 degrees.
4) I found a nasty surprise last week. I'd slipped on my weekly cleaning regiment and was late by about a week. I found something strange in his feeding corner, a sort of mucousy, spider-web looking thing. I decided it was time to clean. Underneath that spider-web and a thin layer of sand was black. I was pretty horrified! I managed to vacuum up the patch of death sand (there was none more that I could find shortly beyond that corner) and I think the explanation is that a pellet of food got buried there and started to rot. Likely, while digging for food he swallowed some of it and threw it back up. Now I think he's been scared off from eating food from the ground (is this even possible?)
I think number four is most important. I think he may have gotten sick, and the high water temperature is not helping. He looks healthy enough, but he's acting weird and isn't eating nearly as much as before. Can illness explain jumpy, frightened behaviour? I'm strongly considering fridging him, but I'm not sure if that would be preemptive. I also don't know how I'd get him out. Normally I scoop him out with his little transport container, but with how frightened he seems of me I'm worried I would give him a tiny heart attack.
Thanks
These are the only factors I can think of that might be relevant:
1) I'm not sure if his hide is the best, When he was much younger I gave him a hollowed out coconut to hide in but he either ignored it or sat on top of it. So, to make things roomier I made his hide out of a piece of driftwood (with a plant on top) and placed near the corner. The two bordering walls have coverings and I even used black construction paper to darken it a bit. On top I have a floating plastic plant as a ceiling of sorts. He seemed to like it, but lately he's been digging holes under the log to try to squeeze himself in as far as possible. I've been considering getting a new hide from a piece of pvc pipe for him, to stick in the same corner. Perhaps this will make him feel more secure? Maybe he's just stressed and feeling exposed?
2) I have plants, as mentioned before (Amazon Spear Grass, Java Fern, and Anubias). They aren't doing too well. I thought maybe it was from a lack of food, but it sounds like it is probably more a lack of light. I'm thinking of getting a light put in for them (perhaps with an auto-timer), but only after his hide is perfected so he doesn't have additional stressors. I try to remove dead leaves as soon as I see them, but the tank still has a weird planty smell and there are swirls of something on the surface. I hope plant juices aren't bad for him...
3) Water quality is fine. The water is cycled and ammonia and nitrite levels are good. The pH is acceptable (~7.8) and the water is hard enough that his gills are always red. The temperature is... not ideal, but I live in one of the hottest cities in Canada. I have air conditioning, though, and I've managed to keep his temperature around 20-21 degrees.
4) I found a nasty surprise last week. I'd slipped on my weekly cleaning regiment and was late by about a week. I found something strange in his feeding corner, a sort of mucousy, spider-web looking thing. I decided it was time to clean. Underneath that spider-web and a thin layer of sand was black. I was pretty horrified! I managed to vacuum up the patch of death sand (there was none more that I could find shortly beyond that corner) and I think the explanation is that a pellet of food got buried there and started to rot. Likely, while digging for food he swallowed some of it and threw it back up. Now I think he's been scared off from eating food from the ground (is this even possible?)
I think number four is most important. I think he may have gotten sick, and the high water temperature is not helping. He looks healthy enough, but he's acting weird and isn't eating nearly as much as before. Can illness explain jumpy, frightened behaviour? I'm strongly considering fridging him, but I'm not sure if that would be preemptive. I also don't know how I'd get him out. Normally I scoop him out with his little transport container, but with how frightened he seems of me I'm worried I would give him a tiny heart attack.
Thanks