Acting strange!

[SallyandDom]

Hi Guys,

You've been a lot of help to us so far in our newbie paranoia, so please could you help us again?

Max has just started eating fish (since Thursday, today being Sunday) and has been having one a day since Thursday. Yesterday we noticed a strange greyish thing sticking out of his gills which we couldn't work out if it was part of a fish that has got stuck or if it was something grown on his gill. Today he went a bit crazy, like he does when he is spooked, and managed to dislodge whatever it was that was there. I took it out straight away, but still couldn't work out what it was (I've thrown it away so don't have any pictures). Since then he seems to be a bit more subdued than normal. I haven't fed him today just in case it was because I overfed him.

The fish I've been feeding him are frozen fish from a good aquarium place who sell axies, they are light grey, about two inches long, approx half an inch high and about 1/4 inch wide. All three nights he has eaten them he has been looking for food. He doesn't look bloated, but I've just read something about axies gills being red being a sign of stress- Max's gills have been slightly redder for a few weeks now, however they are not at all bent and his tail is completely straight. Max himself is approx 7 1/2 inches long and has previously got blood worm stuck in his gills (one of the reasons I put him onto bigger food). His gills now look completely normal.

Anything you guys can think that this could have been?

Sally and Dom

 

[SallyandDom]

Ps. I'm feeding fish at the moment because I am having trouble finding a good earthworm seller!

 

[Morrison]

Red gills are a sign of your axie being active. Their gills turn red when you feed them, for example. So it's not a stressed axie I think.
Gills curled forwards on the other hand might be a sign of stress (sometimes it's also a genetic thing. I have an axie with curled gills and it's absolutely not stressed, she has always been like that). If the tailtip is curled (like a little spoon) then that might be stress, or your axie feeling uncomfortable. But you say the tail and gills are straight, so I wouldn't worry about him being stressed.
So as far as I know red gills are fine

My axies are looking for food hours after I've fed them. That's totally normal in the life of an axie. They're ALWAYS hungry. :lol:
That's why some people easily overfeed them, because they think their axies are still hungry.

When my lotls eat bloodworms, I see bloodworms stuck in their gills a lot of times. This might look scary but it's not a real problem. They will get out pretty fast, so feeding them bloodworms is still possible

 

[snuggly time]

Buying Lobworms, Worm Fishing for Salmon, Earthworms for Sale, Wormeries for Fishing, Worms Coarse

I purchase my worms from this company, they send the worms really quick! You can also buy different size worms, I buy small so I don't have to cut them up as much. :happy:

 

[SallyandDom]

Thanks for the help, thought you guys might want to see a couple of pics of our gorgeous axie <3

 

[CJ1981]

Yorkshire worms are good too. Healthy worms, quick dispatch and they sell wormery starter kits and worm food.

www.yorkshire-worms.co.uk/

 

[SallyandDom]

Is it ok for us to feed him the rest of the fish over the next few weeks before we get him earthworms? I know they are best for him but we now have quite a few frozen fish in the freezer and it seems a shame not to use them.

 

[CJ1981]

Get the worms and feed those as a staple diet, you can still feed the fish just treat them as a treat or supplementary food.