Some questions/concerns about my (relatively) new axolotl.

[Pickle]

Hi everyone. I adopted a juvenile axolotl exactly two weeks ago from someone on Kijiji. The axolotl is approximately 4 inches long, or maybe a bit bigger. The person I got it from guessed it was a few months old.

I've done research on and off over the years about these guys, since I've wanted to keep one for years. I was pretty confident I could take good care of it, but it's been causing me a good deal of anxiety because I've run into some unexpected bumps.

Here's the current set up:
- I have it in a temporary 15L tub while its tank finishes cycling. There's a good amount of room for it to move around and it allows me to clean easier. You can refer to the photo to see what's in the tub.
-Water is around 20 degrees Celsius. My house is kept at 70 degrees (yes, our thermostat uses Fahrenheit for some reason) and I have a small cheap fan blowing air across the top of the tub. I'm planning to buy an aquarium fan set though.
-Water changes: I remove any debris/poop/uneaten food each day, along with about 20% of the water, and replace it with clean, dechlorinated water. I've also done two 100% water changes so far. It gets really stressed out by this though, so I've been doing smaller daily water changes instead unless the water is very dirty.


Now for my concerns:

1. I've been quite stressed trying to get it to eat and poop regularly. In the two weeks I've had it, it's maybe eaten four times, and all very small amounts. My research tells me they should be fed every day at this size, but mine just doesn't seem that interested in food. As a result, it also doesn't poop much. I try to feed it at least once every day, and I've tried a variety of things:
-Northfin carnivore pellets that are soaked and crushed (refused)
-Tropical axolotl sticks (refused at first.... ate one on Wednesday but has refused any more since)
-Fluval bug bites (snapped a few small granules once, but otherwise refused)
-Freeze dried blood worms (a weekly treat for my bettas, but I was desperate at the one week mark and tried it out on my axolotl- it took two)
-Frozen blood worms/brine shrimp mix (I've had the best luck with this: ate 3 blood worms in the first week. Yesterday it also ate a small amount- maybe 1/8th of a cube).

I don't have any worms currently, since they're sold out at my corner store. I found a lady who sells red wrigglers in a town close by, so I'll be trying to buy some this week.

For the feeding method, I've been wiggling the food in front of its face with a pair of tweezers. It will often show interest, coming over and sort of 'booping' the food with its snout, but it'll rarely snap/eat. If the food falls to the ground it loses all interest. The other problem is that it will often get very stressed/scared in the middle of feeding and swim away and hide.

At first I thought this was stress due to the new home, but it's been two weeks now and it really hasn't eaten much. As a result, it also hasn't pooped much. So in the two weeks I've had it, it's eaten 1 axolotl stick, 2 freezedried bloodworms, and a small amount (maybe about 6) frozen blood worms/brine shrimp mix. It's visibly pooped twice, but I realise it might have also just stepped in it and broken the little 'poop package' before I noticed.

2. It seems to like floating a lot. I've read this can be a problem if they seem to have difficulty staying down and can be a sign of constipation, but my axolotl doesn't seem to have any swimming problems. It can swim down/around its tub just fine, it's just that very often I'll check on it and see it floating lazily on the top. Is it just a quirk? A cause for concern?

3. I bought it a PVC pipe for an extra hiding spot, but I didn't notice until I got home that it had one of those barcode stickers on it. Any tips on removing the sticker/adhesive fully so it's aquarium safe? Will boiling work?

I'll also attach some photos of my little guy. Sorry for the poor quality.

Thanks for any help!

 

[ValerieH]

What was he fed at his previous home? I'd start with that. Perhaps a sponge filter would help. Have you been testing the water quality parameters? Maybe live blackworms would spark a feeding response
Some fish stores or online carry them. Another possibility is to use Holtfreter's solution.

 

[Pickle]

What was he fed at his previous home? I'd start with that. Perhaps a sponge filter would help. Have you been testing the water quality parameters? Maybe live blackworms would spark a feeding response
Some fish stores or online carry them. Another possibility is to use Holtfreter's solution.

The lady said she fed it pellets, blood worms, earth worms, and "whatever she had on hand". The only things I haven't tried yet are live worms (which I'll be trying to get later this week). Unfortunately I haven't been able to find live black worms anywhere! I found a Canadian website that sells freeze dried blocks, but they're on back order right now so I'm not sure when I'll be getting them. (I know live is preferred to frozen/freeze dried, but I haven't found any luck finding a Canadian place that has them in stock).

I don't have a sponge filter in the tub, but the tank that's cycling has a sponge filter. Should I move it to the tank and do an axolotl-in cycle? I usually prefer not to do fish-in cycles because I know it can be stressful for fish and you have to be on top of the water quality and do very frequent water changes to make sure levels don't get deadly. I assume it'd be the same for the axolotl. If it's more beneficial for the axolotl to be in the tank, I'll definitely move it though. I've been testing the tank that's cycling, but not the tub itself. I can test that tomorrow though.

I've never heard of Holtfreter's solution, but I'll look into it. Thank you.

 

[Linkisnotzelda]

My axolotl was super picky at first, but eventually he started to eat, and now he begs me for food every chance he gets! Just be persistent, and try to drop the food in front of him, and wait for a bit. He may not be eating because he feels threatened still, and letting him eating without hovering over might work. Even he loses interest, give it a while, and he’ll smell it. If he still won’t eat after another week or so, then try to take other measures, like finding out what he ate at his old home and going out of the way to get special food. That’s my advice!

As for the floating, don’t worry about it. Young axolotls do it a lot, and as long as he can swim down, he’s okay. If he looks like he is struggling to sink down or his rear end keeps floating to the top, that means he might be constipated or other related issues.

I personally would wait until your tank is fully cycled before putting him in, you obviously have fish keeping experience and he should be fine in the tub for now, and your water changes sound fine. I know that one of the best ways to get adhesive of of something is to scrub it with hand sanitizer, but I’m not sure if the boiling would get rid of all the chemicals. You would need to research that. Boiling in some form is definitely the way to go!

If he still seems skittish two weeks after you got him, it could be due to multiple things. First, he (or she) could be a naturally skittish axolotl, or the water changes in the tub could be stressing him out. You can’t do anything but wait these out, once the tank is cycled he might settle down a bit, and as he gets older he will get more lazy.
The things that could be stressing him out that you CAN change are the temperature and light. Because axolotls have no eyelids, getting thrust into bright light can create a lot of stress. Personally, I do have bright LEDs over my tank, but when I first got my axie, I kept all light low and gradually increased it once he got more comfortable. Now, he gets stressed if the light isn’t on! If you think this might be part of the problem, move him to a darker location, and try to gradually introduce him to light.
Finally, you could try to lower the temperature of the tank. While 20 degrees (68 Fahrenheit), is technically okay for an axolotl, it is a tad high, and the ideal temperature is around 17-18 (around 64ish). In the summer, this is hard, but lowering the temp could also help. If you have cool evenings, try opening a window to cool down the tank so it has a bit of wiggle room to climb slightly in the day.

Sorry this is so long, but I was super freaked out when I first go my axolotl, and I want to help others the best I can! Hopefully at least a bit of this is helpful to you!

 

[Pickle]

My axolotl was super picky at first...

Thanks for the help. I do have a little experience in fish keeping. Mainly bettas, but I've also kept some goldfish and a community tank in the past. I didn't know that about hand sanitizer- I'm googling it now and it seems rubbing alcohol will work fine if I wash it thoroughly after.

I'll contact the lady and see which pellets/other food she specifically fed him.

I don't think lighting is an issue tbh. My room is naturally dim and he just gets the ambient room light for now. I'll try to lower the water temperature and see if that helps though. You wouldn't think it, but it gets really hot and muggy where I live during the summer! I did order an aquarium fan from Amazon earlier this week, so I hope it helps.

 

[Linkisnotzelda]

Lol yes, I’m constantly battling the heat too, even though I live in the wet and rainy Pacific Northwest! I’m moving him down to the basement soon, but until then I’m running an aquarium and a room fan, and adding ice cubes every half hour, barely keeping it under 67 (my axie gets really stressed when it’s hot, poor guy). Glad I could help!