Illness/Sickness: Axolotl refusing to eat and acting strange

I guess I did a water change because he was acting very strangely and I was so worried about my other axie getting sick too!

I read the link on cycling, thank you. The water conditioner I use also eliminates ammonia, will I need to change it to one that doesn't do this to allow the tank to cycle?

I've been offering my sick axie live earthworms and frozen bloodworms. I've had a look around for mealworms but haven't been able to find any, same with salmon pellets. I was thinking of trying some prawn to offer him maybe?
 
Your water conditioner will not be removing ammonia, only binding it. This causes problems since it is not available to be fed on by the bacteria in your tank, this will crash your cycle. Also binding ammonia means that after a day or so the ammonia will be released again potentially in lethal doses.

Purchase fluval dechlorinator, or Tetra Water Safe. These dechlorinators remove chlorine, chloramine, and metal toxins.

Just feed earth worms as they are the most nutritious, frozen blood worms are also okay. Meal worms have an exoskeleton which is hard to digest so better to avoid these. Salmon pellets are good as a back up if you run out of everything else. I wouldn't feed prawns.

Caudata Culture Articles - Worms
 
"Good" aquarium water conditioners will not crash the cycle, even if they bind ammonia.

However, such products are not a cure-all and can't neutralize excessive amounts. Also, since axolotls are more sensitive to some chemicals than fish, I would not recommend "overdosing" such products (as recommended in their instructions for high ammonia/nitrite levels), since I don't know if they would have a negative effect.

While I can't say that there aren't ammonia-binding-conditioners that crash cycles, I can say that Seachem Prime binds ammonia into a non-toxic form (at least for a while) while still allowing the bacteria to consume it. That is, it does not crash the cycle. (Likewise Kordon Amquel will bind ammonia and not crash the cycle, but I haven't seen axolotl keepers recommending it, whereas I have seen axolotl keepers recommending Prime.) I use Prime. See Seachem. Prime and AmQuel® Plus? | Kordon!

I find a large water change (done properly, of course) to be something that won't hurt and might help. It makes me feel better, even if it doesn't do a thing for the axolotl. :happy:
 
I should have said that Prime is a safe option, I use it my self but don't like to recommend it to new keepers as it is highly concentrated.

Doing a 50% water change in my opinion can just slow your cycle especially if you have low readings of ammonia, you'd just be taking the ammonia/ nitrites out slowing the cycle. Water changes when cycling only really needs to be done when there is excess ammonia/nitrates, or some other issue.
 
I do have a bottle of Prime in my stores but had not used it as yet because I have to do water changes with buckets and it was difficult to get the dose low enough per bucket. Each bucket is approx. 10L, would anyone know a good way to use prime with this system? Alternitavely I could get one of the other products. I certainly didn't mean to ruin a cycle by doing a 50% water change, I guess being in a state if anxiety about my other Axie made me not think. I really appreciate all the help and advice everyone.

Sadly my sick axie is still not eating and backs away every time I try to offer him food :(
 
Try spending 20 mins dangling food in front of his face, then dropping it in front of the mouth. hopefully he snaps.

You can calculate the amount of Prime to use
 
I gave it a really good go with a worm, got 4 snaps but he spat it out each time. He also hasn't done a single poo since he has been in the sick tub. He was put in it 5 days after last eating, would his bowels have already cleared themselves by then? He isn't floating at all, but when I did a clean of the main tank there was only one poo in there, which I imagine the my other one left
 
Yeah, he's giving up because he cant swallow it all. Try smaller 1cm chunks. Then try 1 inch chunks.
 
I gave a smaller chunk a go but he was looking a bit stressed (flicking gills) and kept turning away so I might try them again a bit later. Wish I'd thought to have a smaller chunk before when he gave it a go!
 
For water changes with Prime, you can just add the prime to the tank first. Also, what I do is I have a very small bottle of Prime with a "dropper" lid to put the prime in the tank, and I add the Prime to the tank with that. I refill the little bottle from the economy-sized bottle.

A 50% water change done properly won't hurt the cycle. If the tank isn't cycled yet, it can slow the cycle, but if the ammonia or nitrite would be too high for the occupants otherwise, the large water change is warranted.
 
Flicking gills isn't really a sign of stress. I find that if you keep bugging Axolotls trying to go near their head they can start to move away. I use plastic forceps to feed
 
LSuzuki said:
For water changes with Prime, you can just add the prime to the tank first. Also, what I do is I have a very small bottle of Prime with a "dropper" lid to put the prime in the tank, and I add the Prime to the tank with that. I refill the little bottle from the economy-sized bottle.

A 50% water change done properly won't hurt the cycle. If the tank isn't cycled yet, it can slow the cycle, but if the ammonia or nitrite would be too high for the occupants otherwise, the large water change is warranted.
Click to expand...

It's usually best to add prime or any dechlorinator to the water first, before adding to the tank. The Prime instructions state 'better if added to new water first'. But I suppose if you wanted to add it first you can, especially if your cycling with no Axolotl in the tank. The dropper bottle is a good idea!

Yes I did say 50% water change will just slow the cycle. Obviously if you needed to reduce particularly high Ammonia or Nitrates during cycling, a 50% water change would be potentially needed, or at least a percentage of water to be removed based upon how much you want to lower certain readings, this water change can be done in increments. But the OP has very low readings for the test results so 50% water change just wasn't needed and will slow the cycle which isn't ideal.
 
Last edited:
He had a go at a really small piece of worm and seemed to try to get it down, but spat it out again, is he too weak to get it down?
 
Hard to say, keep trying every so often. He should take it eventually.

What kind of worms are you feeding ?
 
Ive tried a few more times today, he has made no attempts to take it again so far. I'm using tubs of live worms from a bait store, they're the same ones I've been using over the past 10months. They aren't as big as night crawlers, just regular size.
 
You could try blanching the worm first before offering it. So run the worm under hot water for only a second and then run cold water over the worm. It will kill the worm so it won't excrete the foul substance axolotls sometimes don't like. It may or may not make a difference but worth trying.
 
I'm trying blanching them now, thanks for the suggestion. Haven't had any more attempts from him since the last time though. when I offer the food he sometimes looks at it (or not) and then turns his head away. I am offerin the food to him with both plastic tweezers and my hand (how he was usually fed). The water he is in is staying around 14 - 16 degrees, I'll try to warm it up a degree or so over the next day
 
I got to take him to the vet as our local vet was happy to talk to a specialist to know what to do. They couldn't feel anything in his stomach, but he is getting and x-ray on Friday. They also gave him an antibiotic shot (after talking to the specialist). I had a go with a blanched worm this evening but he kept turning away. So I had a go with all the lights off so it was very dark and he ate the worm and has so far kept it down! I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I'm so glad he has eaten something :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top