Axolotl Headbutting Itself

[WooperZet]

Alright, this might sound really weird, but whenever my Axolotl swims to the top of the tank to take a gulp of air, it repeatedly turns its head inward and bashes it against its body. It's so strange, and quite worrying. Water parameters are fine, but the temperature is 20 degrees Celsius, so I'm trying to get it down. Anyone know of any possible causes?

If you want to get a rough idea of what it looks like, just think of an axie curling up its body into a spiral and then uncurling and repeating. It almost looks like he's trying to scratch something.

 

[Biev]

He's hitting himself in the belly, right? If he's not injuring himself, I wouldn't worry about it too much. It sounds like superstitious behavior to me. It could be that it helped him burp before (or he thinks it has), and he's doing it to avoid floating.

 

[auntiejude]

He's trying to scratch at his gills the same way a dog would scratch his ears. Check your water quality and temp.

 

[WooperZet]

Temp: 19 degrees Celsius
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: ~24 ppm (my test kit is sort of weird)
pH: 7.2