Behaviour Change

[lizm619]

I left my axie, Popo, with my roommate for nearly three weeks while I was on vacation. She said everything went fine and I checked the water parameters, did a water change, and have a chiller that keeps him at 64 F. However, his personality has totally changed and I am concerned that something is wrong. He used to be very bold and interactive and swim around quite a lot but now he seems pale, lethargic, and skittish. But there are no wounds, signs of infection, or any issues with his gills or anything that I can see at least. He is about 6 months old so I was also thinking it could just be a part of maturation. Has anyone else noticed such drastic changes in their axie's personality? Do they just get more sluggish as they get older?

 

[Melina]

Hello!

That definitely is not ur friends fault but neither the axolotls. Yes, axolotls do in fact get more mature while growing up and getting more lazier. The problem might be your friend, maybe they didn’t play with him like you do or just acted different than you. Axolotls can probably sense it. But I wouldn’t be scared, since there could be a chance it’s just maturation.

 

[AMurry24537]

I will agree with the above statement that they do definitely get a lot more chill as they grow up (less zooms, etc), but this is usually pretty gradual in my experience, not an abrupt change. Also turning pale and skittish doesn't seem normal to me. Out of curiosity, what kind of diet are you feeding him?

 

[lizm619]

Thank you both for the replies! It turned out that I messed up the nitrate test the first time and it was pretty high (around 30 ppm). He pinked back up pretty soon after a water change and started moving around more again so I think he was just feeling sick. I’ve also been back for a week now and we have rebuilt our play habits and he is bold and responsive like he used to be! Thank you for your concern and advice!
He gets fresh red wigglers as his main diet with the occasional glob of bloodworms or axolotl pellets for diversity.