Axolotl floating upside down+not eating

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roeanddarwin

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Ive been really worried about Darwin, he's become quite sick and i'm not entirely sure what's happened.

My other axolotl, Roe, is 100% fine. She eats and swims perfectly, she's a happy girl (apart from her and darwin fighting on the odd occasion). Darwin, on the other hand, not so much. I noticed that maybe a month ago, he wouldn't eat anything that I gave him. Before, I could drop the worms/frozen cubes into the tank and he'd be straight there. Now, he moves away from the food. Also, he has lost 3 of his legs due to the squabbles mentioned above, but they've grown back and are developing perfectly.. He sort of just floats around the tank sometimes, but mostly lays slightly elevated so his back legs aren't touching the tank floor. I do think that having smaller limbs on sides contributes to the floating but it's worrying. Also, he tends to flip upside down. What's happening?

As I said, Roe is happy and healthy and eats anything she can have straight away. I changed the tank today but I don't think that's why he's unwell.

Someone please help. Thanks.
 
Did you cycle the tank before you changed it? What are the parameters? How long has he gone without eating?


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You might want to separate them to. The 1 floating around might be depressed. Because he keeps getting his butt kicked by the other one. Just think if you shared a room with your brother. Every time you did something he didn't like he ripped one of your arms off. Not to fun plus there together 24/7:eek:
 
Kilolotlkeeper said:
Did you cycle the tank before you changed it? What are the parameters? How long has he gone without eating?


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Yeah I did. My mom said the tank was all fine and she had put the tap safe in etc. I've been doing it the same way for nearly 2 years and they've been fine, it's just recently he's been like this. He ate about three small small worms I got from my garden today. I had put him in a container and tried to give him brine shrimp but he didn't touch a single one. That was two weeks ago, and it's been the same since then leading up to today. He ate a few pieces of worm here and there but they were tiny as he wouldn't touch the larger ones.


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Canecorsonewt said:
You might want to separate them to. The 1 floating around might be depressed. Because he keeps getting his butt kicked by the other one. Just think if you shared a room with your brother. Every time you did something he didn't like he ripped one of your arms off. Not to fun plus there together 24/7:eek:
Click to expand...


How do I go about separating them? I really don't want to buy a new tank because I have that one plus another in my room ?. If I put him inside a small (not tiny) container, how often will I have to change the water and where do I keep him?


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I in no way meant to sound salty! I realize I sounded like a huge jerk! Your axolotl might be stressed from the small and large beatings. The moving away from the food could be showing he is scared of the squabbles. I'd recommend trying separating them for a little


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Kilolotlkeeper said:
I in no way meant to sound salty! I realize I sounded like a huge jerk! Your axolotl might be stressed from the small and large beatings. The moving away from the food could be showing he is scared of the squabbles. I'd recommend trying separating them for a little


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Omg no I didn't think that at all ?. Yeah he does seem pretty scared, which way do I separate them? And how? I only have a (maybe) 20 cm long container with a lid, like a hamster carrier. I use it to feed them in


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I guess anything would be better than keeping them together. I think the one with three legs shouldn't be able to climb very good. So you could put it in something bigger than the hamster carrier. But i don't know how to help a sick newt or axo. Some might say the carrier would be perfect with lower water levels. I would THINK to leave the sick one so you dont stress it and move the healthy one. BUT I have NEVER cared for a sick axo or newt.
 
I would suggest removing both of them from the tank while it is being cycled.
You could always get a small plastic stack box from the supermarket, plus the carrier, would house them separately. As long as you do regular daily water changes (with dechlorinated water), and remove any food and waste as soon as you see it, things should be ok.
If your axie is sick because it is stressed this should help.
There are several other threads regarding cycling your tank, and take a look at this site
Axolotls - Housing in Captivity
Read through all of the articles on water quality, cycling your tank, feeding, health etc.
Thankfully I've not had to deal with a sick axie yet, so there are people with a lot more experience than me on this forum. Hopefully they will be in touch soon as well.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you and your axis.
 
Your Axolotl will not be depressed, it seems like he has a floating issue since the symptoms of back end floating and flipping on the back is a sign of possible constipation.

Can you post the test results for your tank, which include, ammonia, nitrite, nitrAte, PH?

What is the temperature of the water?

What is the size of both your Axolotls? Since most adults of the same size don't often have much issue of injuring each other but yours has lost 3 legs. For future reference, you should try feeding your Axolotls separately to avoid nipping, make sure you have plenty of hides for your Axolotls to have their own space. Can you take some images of your tank and post them?

For now, ideally you will want to move your Axolotl to a different container in shallow water (just enough to cover the Axolotl) to stop your Axolotl's floating and flipping from causing any stress.

You can use a large plastic food container like this: plasticfoodcontainer.jpg

You can purchase these containers cheap from hardware/grocery stores.

Keep your Axolotl in the container in dechlorinated water, change the water 100% everyday to keep the water quality up. Remember to make the water shallow but still covering the Axolotl to help keep the Axolotl on the ground to reduce stress.

You can use this method but also fridge your Axolotl, since putting your Axolotl in the fridge helps the body to secrete any waste in the body. be sure to follow this fridging guide perfectly if you are going to do this: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beginner-newt-salamander-axolotl-help-topics/f48-axolotls-ambystoma-mexicanum/f58-sick-axolotl/85263-axolotl-fridging-guide.html
 
Last edited:
I have a container, I don't use a heater so the water isn't freezing or too warm, so it's about room temp maybe colder since I just did a full water change. I put tap safe in so that should be working. I'll send a pic of the tank a bit later, and i'll take a sample of the water into the aquatic centre by this afternoon. I can see how he would be constipated but he's rather skinny and it doesn't look like there's anything inside of him. Since the water that is brand new is dechlorinated, can I use that to put inside the fridge? I've researched fridging and i'm planning on doing it this evening.


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You should purchase an aquarium thermometer so you always know the tenperature of the water your Axolotl is in. You should also purchase the API Freshwater Master Kit - Welcome to API Fishcare: FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT It is important that you yourself can test your water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrAte and PH rather than ruling on a pet store that could provide false test results or poor information on Axolotl care.

If you read the fridge guide carefully it will give information on the water changes you perform while the Axolotl is being fridged. You basically always have extra water separate in the fridge so it is the same temperature as what is in the container with your Axolotl, ready to be put into the Axolotls container when you do the daily water changes
 
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