Food problem

[Tephra]

Alright, I got my first axolotl around October/November last year. The weather wasn't exactly great for worm hunting, so I mostly fed my axolotls on pellets.

Recently though I bought a huge load of worms (start up a worm farm, you know...) and all my axies love it.
Except one. Derpy, the only male. The very evening I got those worms, he ate one. A big one. He enjoyed it too. But ever since then, he hasn't eaten anything.
Whenever I give him a worm now, he snaps at it, tries to swallow it, fails for some reason and spits it out. Eventually he gives up trying to snap at the worm at all.
I've tried giving him some pellets, he doesn't take those either.

It's been almost 3 weeks now. I know axolotls can handle some time without food, but I'm getting worried. He's starting to lose weight.
He doesn't appear to be impacted; his cloaca is perfectly normal. It gets bigger in the evening when he's dancing for the girls though. That's another thing... other than the not eating, his behavior is completely normal.

All water parameters are perfect, all my other axies are perfect. They beg for food every time they see me (even if they just had a big juicy worm, lol). They would eat until they'd throw up (yes, it has happened before )

I change about 30% of my water every week, I've been using all the products I've been using for ages now (I think I've been using these since before 2013); being
- a dechlorinator
- a pH balancer (my tap water's pH can be high)
- a fertilizer for the plants
That's all I use.

My tank cycle is strong, both nitrites and nitrates almost always appear to be white when testing. Ammonia always remains below 0.02ppm.

I don't know. Is he just being picky?
I just think it's strange that he tries so hard to swallow, but somehow fails...

I'll try and film it by tomorrow night.

 

[Possum63]

Hello

I'm not a huge expert here but a couple things came to mind when reading this. Have you tried cutting up the worms so they are smaller and easier to handle?

And the other thing is I remember reading a while ago that sometimes males will stop eating when they want to breed. This allows the girls to eat more food and therefore prepare better for the mating and egg laying. I don't know how true this is, if at all, so please someone else chime in but perhaps he's wanting to mate? Just a thought that popped to mind

I hope he's okay and starts eating soon Good luck!

 

[Tephra]

The chopped up worms won't work; I've tried feeding him big worms, medium worms, small worms... he always spits them back out. It's like he can't swallow them.

The mating thing...?
I'm not sure... I've been seeing several spermatophores around the tank for quite a while now, but no eggs. And the females don't see too interested.

 

[Possum63]

Hmm... Perhaps try shrimp/prawns? My two were refusing worms. They would snap them up them chew for a while and spit... Turns out they are red wrigglers and my guys possibly don't like the bitter taste.. They were sick of pellets so I went to the super market and got raw frozen prawns (they didn't have shrimp that wasn't cooked) I sliced the prawn up smaller and they ate it so fast I had to question whether I'd given them any at all !! Haha. Another one my guys LOVVEEE is chicken.. I figure it isn't so bad coz it's high in protein and low in fat but it's only a treat. Maybe you could just try experimenting different food options. If he still seems to be struggling to swallow then you know it's something more serious?

Also have you checked in his mouth to see if anything is blocking the way? Is there even anything in your tank that could cause such a problem?

I really don't know what else could be the problem, and I'm not very experienced at all so just throwing idea's around

 

[snuggly time]

Have you tried removing him from the tank and feeding him separately? I'd try him in his own tub and throw a bit of everything in, leave him on his own and see if he eats any.

 

[Tephra]

I didn't even have to remove him or anything. He LOVED the shrimp.
He ate quite the bellyful. Thanks for the tip

But I'm not sure if shrimp are a good staple diet...? Is there anything else I should add for him?

 

[Possum63]

Ahh, good stuff!! I believe shrimp isn't a good staple diet and should only be feed as a treat. But at least now you know he is able to eat fine so you just need to find something that he loves as much as the shrimp It's good progress!

 

[Tephra]

Update:

I'm now feeding the worms only sweet fruits. I believe it might influence the taste of the worms, since Derpy now happily munches them down. He still takes much longer than the others to swallow them, considering how long he received already dead food, but he'll get the hang of it again, just like the others

Just thought I'd put it out here in case anyone else has trouble feeding a particular axolotl earthworms.

He's turning slightly chubby again, I'm so happy now