Illness/Sickness: Is my Axolotl Sick?

Hi Guys

Ive been a member of this forum since I got my Axie but have never needed to post on here about any illnesses until now.

I have a 2 year old (roughly) axie named Miss Thing. (pants name I know ). She is the sweetest axie I have ever been graced to meet and she is very active and loves to socialise with anyone passing by her tank. Her tank is 5ft and is only filled a quarter of the way up, prehaps just a bit more than that. She has a blue glass vase that she loves to sit in, and some plants she hides in. I have a fluval edge filter in the tank and two air stones. She has sand not gravel, and some large rocks to sit on. Water has never seemed to be an issue as she has always been fine in the water.

On Sunday (29th May 2011) I fed her frozen bloodworm (obviously I let it defrost) and she snapped it up eagerly like usual. I usually feed her every other day as that is what I have researched on the Caudata web pages. I also bought a recommended book from the website which said to feed the axolotl's every 2-3 days. I have always stuck by this feeding pattern and she has always been a happy healthy size. She is about 30cm right now. I also feed her occassionally some trout pellets, but this is very rare as they have a high fat content. Its more like a treat for her.

Anyways, my problem is that she hasn't eaten since the Sunday, and is not interested in food at all. She won't even socialise with anyone anymore, and she is not her happy bouncy self. I cannot see any parasites on her body, no signs of infections. Her mouth is fine and she is not floating. I have put her in the fridge today with dechlorinized (sp) water, and will be changing the water once a day. I did this as I am not sure whether she just might be constipated? If she doesn't get any better soon, I have already decided I will take her to see a vet.

Im worried about my poor axie, she is so sweet and gentle, and I love her so

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scooty

Water parametres of the tank would be very helpful, and a pic of your girl now? From the sounds of it I can't think of much beside constipation that might be wrong...

Hi

Thank you for getting back to me. I was always taught honesty is the best policy so being honest, I dont have a water tester right now, I plan to go up to town today to get one, and to get some beef liver for her. Once I get the tester (which will hopefully be in an hour or 2) I will get straight back to you with the readings.

Here are 3 pictures of my axie. Ones a full body shot, a close up of the body, and then a close up of her head. (that is her recovery pot that she is in, not her tank! I would never keep my axie in something that small forever, her real home is 5ft long!)







Also I tried to feed her some bloodworm last night but she wouldn't accept it, so I left it in her recovery pot over night, as this morning she still hasn't eaten it, so I gave her a water change with filtered water. She does seem a tiny bit more perkier though. Also this morning when I was changing the water, I noticed a little white bobble on her toe, which had some bloodworm stuck to it, so I took a cotton bud and removed the bloodworm and the white bobble. The white bobble then dispersed when I took it off, and floated around on the top of the water all broken up and fleshy.

Sorry to ramble on. Thanks again.

Scooty

Just got back from the shops and have tested the water.

Reading from the filtered water the axolotl is in now:

GH - 120
KH - 0
pH - 6.5
NO2 - 0.5
NO3 - 40

Reading from the axolotl's current tank:

GH - 180
KH - 240
pH - 7.5
NO2 - 0.5
NO3 - 80

P.S Just realised you can see her deformed toe in the pic! When I bought her she was missing a leg, and it grew back, and the toe grew another toe coming off it!

She looks well. It could be the changing of the seasons that are throwing her off a bit. How warm is your tank? Is there any reason you only have it filled up 1/4 of the way?

Trout pellets are quite a fine food too. You needn't limit the number.

My tank only gets warm in the summer, but my thermometer (sp) started to become unstable for the tank so I need to get new one, but when it was working it used to say around the 30 mark for a really hot British summer.

When it used to get that hot I would put iceblocks all around the tank to cool it, and plastic iced bottles in the water, and it would bring it down to around 20-24 degrees. Her tank is usually pretty cool most days.

I fill it up 1/4 as I thought they had it shallow, but I think I've been worrying and been a bit too worried! I have the last couple of cleanings risen it to at least nearly half way now.

Fill that tank up! I fill mine up to about 8-10cm from the top (as a buffer in case he decides to make a run for it). Having a lot more water will buffer against poor water quality, and it will also help you keep the tank cooler. A large body of water takes a lot longer to warm up.

Here's an article that gives you more ideas on how to keep the tank cool. Personally, I've used fans with great success.

Thank you for the link and advice! This will come in very handy and I will bookmark it. I have a small fan which I use to blow onto the tank to try and keep it cool too. But I think I may invest in those reef fans, they look very handy.

And I will fill the tank up more. Its only since I got the new tank that I had trouble estimating at how much I should fill it!

I have also got some beef liver, so I will try tonight to see if she is interested.

Liver is fine as a treat, but don't feed it too often. It's fatty, and can contain high concentrations of Vitamin A. Try offering live, wiggly food. Most axolotls can't resist a juicy earthworm!

And keep in mind a healthy adult axolotl can go weeks without eating. Your (big!) lady should be just fine.

Ah thank you! About the earthworms, where is the best place to get them? We dont use pesticides or anything in our garden, but I always worry about the pesticide coming from somewhere else.

Haha, she is big! I can't believe how much she has grown, I remember when she was so tiny! And thank you, that eases my worries a bit. Just got scared because she has never gone off her food ever.

I get mine from WalMart. So you should be able to find them at your local Asda, or pet shops often have them. If you're in a pinch, try a bait shop. If your garden is reasonably secure, and none of your neighbors have big gardens that they're spraying, you can probably harvest them from your garden without problems.

Wow I dont believe I have seen them Asda! Which area of the shop would I look for them in?

I don't think ASDA will do them, unfortunately. ASDA aren't quite as exciting as WalMart, not even the big WM supercentres!

Your local bait shop is your best bet, Scooty! Whereabouts in the UK are you, someone might be able to recommend somewhere

Or, if your local pet shop doesn't sell them, perhaps they could order them, or you can even try ordering online, but the weather is getting a little warm for that

Your axie will thank you for the worms, she looks beautiful by the way

I thought ASDA might not have them

I am from Essex, I think there is a few near me, so I will go enquire!

Just tried to feed her beef liver, she didn't want that either, but at least this time she didn't back away.

And thank you! it took alot for me to understand axolotl's as the place I got her from told me she was just like a goldfish but the difference was that she ate bloodworms!

scooty16 said:

And thank you! it took alot for me to understand axolotl's as the place I got her from told me she was just like a goldfish but the difference was that she ate bloodworms!

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You aren't alone here, m'dear, a lot of us get given poor advice, but we here at Caudata a changing the world for axolotls, one axie at a time ^_^

In my defense, I only went to Asda twice when I was in Doncaster, and that was 5 years ago. So my memory's a bit foggy.

Axolotl care is pretty similar to goldfish, but they're definitely not fish.

I'm still going to try ASDA for curiousity...

Sorry, I have one more question... should I still keep my axie in the fridge or just return her to her tank?

Also, just being nosey, how many axies do you guys have?

I'd put her back in her tank. There's not any reason to keep her in the fridge.

I currently have one, down from oh, about 300.

Okay I will return her to her home!

Oh wow! Awesome. I would love a wild type axie.

Was just wondering if anyone could also give me some advice on how to improve my tank? (when I have the funds next month hopefully!)

I did order some live plants for them to grow and flourish, but guess what? They never sent me all of them, and the ones they did send, were dead! And I never got my money back because they never replied to me! (if anyone has some cool reliable sites for axolotl equipment that would be very handy!)

I have taken some pictures of my tank (going to fill it up with more water in a minute!) If I'm not asking too much, it would be nice for some input on improvements as I really want to make it the best environment possible for her!






My room has a strange purple glow because of my purple curtains! And because I keep them closed in the summer to keep the room cooler.