theKobus
New member
My axolotl (presumably male, leucistic, 17cm, had him for 8 months) has been behaving a little strangely and I'm worried about him. Hoping you guys might have some advice.
About a month ago he got a strange red bump on his head (it looked a little bit like a blister) and he stopped eating, so we fridged him for two weeks and the bump went away. But since he's been out of the fridge he hasn't been acting the same way as he did before he got sick.
Before the bump appeared he would always look at me when I walked past his tank, and was always very excited for feeding time. He spent a lot of time in his hiding places, but would usually still hold his head up and peek out of them.
After he got out of the fridge however, he stopped looking at me when I came to the tank. He'll eat half an earthworm every two days if we're lucky, and, most strangely, he hasn't been holding his head up. He just lets his chin rest on the bottom of the tank, and it'll often cause him to sort of lean one way or another.
In the past few days especially his gills have been curled, his tail's been curled, and the veins in his tail have been very red and visible.
So here's his current situation:
-He's in a 10 gallon, non-cycled tank (we were under some misconceptions when we got him. We thought we had a suitable set-up from the research we had done, but further research after we got him revealed otherwise. Not much we can do about it now except save for a new tank and filter system)
-We change 75% of his water every other day, and 100% every weekend to make up for the lack of cycling. From the tests we've done, this seems to keep all of the perameters in check. So dirty water doesn't seem to be the problem.
-We feed him almost exclusively earthworms, but occasionally give him little pellets and bloodworms as a treat
-His water stays at a very steady 20c. It's as cool as we can possibly keep it in the summer. (We have a window-mounted air conditioner in the room we bought specifically for him as well as a small tank fan pointed at the surface of the water.)
-His tank is bare bottom, so there's no risk of him having swallowed anything dangerous.
-We worry that it may be because of water movement/disturbance from the fan+filter, but I feel like if that were the problem we would have seen him react to it much, much sooner.
-We suspect he might be constipated, but he has pooped a four or five times since we got him out of the fridge, so that doesn't quite add up either.
-We do not have access to a vet. (yes, we realize we made a lot of foolish mistakes before getting an axolotl. But at this point the best thing we can do for him is try to care for him to the best of our ability. He's got nowhere else to go.)
Does anyone have any idea what's wrong with him? Is there anything we're doing that's actively harming him? Is this just normal behavior? Should I just fridge him again...?
About a month ago he got a strange red bump on his head (it looked a little bit like a blister) and he stopped eating, so we fridged him for two weeks and the bump went away. But since he's been out of the fridge he hasn't been acting the same way as he did before he got sick.
Before the bump appeared he would always look at me when I walked past his tank, and was always very excited for feeding time. He spent a lot of time in his hiding places, but would usually still hold his head up and peek out of them.
After he got out of the fridge however, he stopped looking at me when I came to the tank. He'll eat half an earthworm every two days if we're lucky, and, most strangely, he hasn't been holding his head up. He just lets his chin rest on the bottom of the tank, and it'll often cause him to sort of lean one way or another.
In the past few days especially his gills have been curled, his tail's been curled, and the veins in his tail have been very red and visible.
So here's his current situation:
-He's in a 10 gallon, non-cycled tank (we were under some misconceptions when we got him. We thought we had a suitable set-up from the research we had done, but further research after we got him revealed otherwise. Not much we can do about it now except save for a new tank and filter system)
-We change 75% of his water every other day, and 100% every weekend to make up for the lack of cycling. From the tests we've done, this seems to keep all of the perameters in check. So dirty water doesn't seem to be the problem.
-We feed him almost exclusively earthworms, but occasionally give him little pellets and bloodworms as a treat
-His water stays at a very steady 20c. It's as cool as we can possibly keep it in the summer. (We have a window-mounted air conditioner in the room we bought specifically for him as well as a small tank fan pointed at the surface of the water.)
-His tank is bare bottom, so there's no risk of him having swallowed anything dangerous.
-We worry that it may be because of water movement/disturbance from the fan+filter, but I feel like if that were the problem we would have seen him react to it much, much sooner.
-We suspect he might be constipated, but he has pooped a four or five times since we got him out of the fridge, so that doesn't quite add up either.
-We do not have access to a vet. (yes, we realize we made a lot of foolish mistakes before getting an axolotl. But at this point the best thing we can do for him is try to care for him to the best of our ability. He's got nowhere else to go.)
Does anyone have any idea what's wrong with him? Is there anything we're doing that's actively harming him? Is this just normal behavior? Should I just fridge him again...?
