Floating upside down

[jacco]

One of my axolotls is floating upside down now for a week. The others are just fine.
The strange thing is she is just eating fine and swimming around (chicken and pellets) She looks good either.
I've put her in a separate tank, with a less water, so she can touch the ground. (against stress)
I thought it would go over, but after a week she is still floating upside down.
At first i thought it was a 'farting' problem (air in stomach), but it's taking to long now.

What do you think? And what to do against it?

This are some of my thoughts:
Not enough fat in her foot, what cause in a poo problem.
Worms in her bowels (A medic told me that this was possible for fish)
Zwemblaas malfunctioning (yes zwemblaas, sorry it's dutch and i can't find the english word, literally translated: zwimbladder ) But i'am not sure axolotls got one. Most fish got one, but sharks don't have one for example. And since axolotl's aren't 'normal' fish i doubt.


I have searched the forums, and there are many topics about it, but mostly they float 'normally' (not upside down?), They stop floating after a couple of day's, they won't eat and are put in the fridge or there are other symptoms what point to some disease or stress.

Thanks for your help!

 

[sharn]

how warm is the tank? if possible leave it in the shallow container and put it in the fridge, as long as the fridge is above 5C is will be ok. read around more for some info on that

if shes been floating upside down for over a week shes one tough cookie! im not sure why this could be happening to be honest.

i would try get some more variety into her diet, earthworms make a great staple and are easy to culture. im not sure how good chicken would be for her...

good luck and hopefully more people will be along to help you soon!

 

[jacco]

Thanks Sharn,

The tank temperature is 18 degrees stable.

I have considered to put her in the fridge, but i don't see why low temperature (fridge) would improve the situation. Digestion goes even slower at low temperature as far as i know.

But i'am going to try other foods.

Btw, does anyone know anything about the 'zwemblaas' aka 'swimbladder'.

edit/ I found the English wiki of this thing called 'zwemblaas'. The right translation was: 'gas bladder'

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimbladder

But the big question is... do axi's have one?

 

[kapo]

One of our axies when stressed swims upside down, which freaked me out when first saw it. Only happens occasionally but we put him in the fridge when we notice and leave for a couple of days to destress. Usually fine once he returns to tank. Putting in the fridge does slow its metabolism and if there is any food in its stomach it will either regurg/vomit or poo out the remains. This may help your axie from whatever is making it float upside down. Depending on the fridge temp, if it is lower than 9 degrees (ours sits between 6-8deg) our axies won't eat. Maybe if your fridge temp is higher than 9deg, it will eat. And as Sharn says, worms would be a better staple.

 

[mary]

my little guy floated sideways for the first couple of months when i got him and his "sister". she was fine! he was eating fine etc but always seemed so restless- speeding around the tank and banging into the glass. He would even roll 360 degrees sometimes. i felt so sorry for him! once i stopped feeding them little blood worms and replaced them with more solid meat he started sinking!! i was so amazed- thought he was destined for a life at the top. He also used to get lumps out the sides of his abdomen, which i knew weren't stones coz he couldn't get to the bottom! I think he had too much air and an underdeveloped intestinal system!
how old is your axie?

 

[jacco]

Maybe we are on to something. It could be accidental, but i don't think so.
Last night we fed her pellets drowned in vegetable oil. Some hours later she was totally fine. And i have just put her back with the others!

So i think floating could be a 'fat' issue which leads to a bowel problem. I can't be sure, but it sounds plausible to me.
In wild they eat worms, small fish and other fat containing food. In captivity there diet is in a lot of cases low fat, like mine situation. Low fat results in bad 'lubrication' of the bowels and defecation problems. Humans can have simultaneous problems.

It looks that everything is fine now. If she is still fine tomorrow i think more people should try this when a axi is floating.

Thanks for the help! And i keep you informed.

This axolotl is +/- a year btw.

 

[mary]

that is good news! i hope the little guy keeps well.

 

[jacco]

She still fine, so i guess it worked