SirDerek
New member
Hello!
Our two year-old female axolotl has now hit the one week mark without eating, and we're a little concerned. Usually she eats hikari sinking pellets and has quite an apetite, so this is pretty out of the ordinary. When we try to feed her, she'll barely respond, and then after a while of dangling the food in front of her face, she'll back away from the food altogether. Very usnusual.
We've checked the water parameters and all were good: no amonia or nitrites. About 5-10 ppm of nitrate and PH was in the right range. Water temperature is consistent around 12-15 degrees celsius, as well. We did a 50% water change anyways and watched for another day, but no improvement in appeteite. She's a bit more lethargic than usual, but other than that, showing no signs of stress: her gills aren't curled, tail is staright, and has no visible marks or signs of fungus on her body. The only thing that stood out is that she'd occasionally "twitch" a little bit, like a small hiccup.
Today we decided to put her in a tub of fresh dechlorinated water, to see if maybe something in the main tank was upsetting her. She seemed a bit more active, and that hiccupping has stopped. She also did about half a poo (she's had a full poo once since refusing to eat)., but regardless she won't eat. We've tried pellets and bloodworms, and I'll dangle food right in front of her and she won't even react.
She's pretty chunky as is, and hasn't seemed to have lost weight yet, but we're a little concerned. It's possible she's got egg bloat, as we think she's had that before, but going a week without interest in food is a bit of a concern. I've heard stories of axolotls going without eating before, so hopefully this is the case. We have no idea what else could be wrong: she has a clear bottom tank, so there isn't really anything that could have impacted her, and the other lotl in the tank is perfectly happy and healthy. We've given her lots of shade too, in order to cut down on stress, but she seems perfectly fine otherwise. We're at a loss at what to do? Should force feeding be considered in this case, and if so, when?
Our two year-old female axolotl has now hit the one week mark without eating, and we're a little concerned. Usually she eats hikari sinking pellets and has quite an apetite, so this is pretty out of the ordinary. When we try to feed her, she'll barely respond, and then after a while of dangling the food in front of her face, she'll back away from the food altogether. Very usnusual.
We've checked the water parameters and all were good: no amonia or nitrites. About 5-10 ppm of nitrate and PH was in the right range. Water temperature is consistent around 12-15 degrees celsius, as well. We did a 50% water change anyways and watched for another day, but no improvement in appeteite. She's a bit more lethargic than usual, but other than that, showing no signs of stress: her gills aren't curled, tail is staright, and has no visible marks or signs of fungus on her body. The only thing that stood out is that she'd occasionally "twitch" a little bit, like a small hiccup.
Today we decided to put her in a tub of fresh dechlorinated water, to see if maybe something in the main tank was upsetting her. She seemed a bit more active, and that hiccupping has stopped. She also did about half a poo (she's had a full poo once since refusing to eat)., but regardless she won't eat. We've tried pellets and bloodworms, and I'll dangle food right in front of her and she won't even react.
She's pretty chunky as is, and hasn't seemed to have lost weight yet, but we're a little concerned. It's possible she's got egg bloat, as we think she's had that before, but going a week without interest in food is a bit of a concern. I've heard stories of axolotls going without eating before, so hopefully this is the case. We have no idea what else could be wrong: she has a clear bottom tank, so there isn't really anything that could have impacted her, and the other lotl in the tank is perfectly happy and healthy. We've given her lots of shade too, in order to cut down on stress, but she seems perfectly fine otherwise. We're at a loss at what to do? Should force feeding be considered in this case, and if so, when?
