Gunther won't eat!

[siona]

I'm wondering if these symptoms sound familiar to anyone...
At first it was constipation - he looked uncomfortable and wouldn't eat, so he was in the fridge over the weekend and a large poop appeared so he went back in the tank. After refusing bloodworms last night, he did eat a little peice of frozen feeder fish, but wouldn't eat bloodworms or pellets this morning. He looked interested but it's like he's forgotten how to open his mouth... Maybe he's just bored with the taste of them...
But for the last few days what he does is take an initial snap at the food, and if he gets it in his mouth, immediately spits it out again, or if he misses, he'll give up and just sit there. He was making slight movements in his mouth/chin, like slowly opening his mouth very slightly then closing it again. But after his spell in the fridge he seems a little back to his old self, and he's still a good size.

I'm just glad I got some food down him now . I'll try different foods tonight.

 

[zoezakella]

Hi Siona,

Your right he could be getting bored of his food

Have you tried earthworms with him as they are by far the best diet for your axie and they love them?

 

[siona]

Hi Zoe, I did start them on earthworms no that long ago after advice on here - I think moving food took them by surprise! They spit them out, then ate them again, and Gunther wasn't interested last time I tried one, but I'll have a dig in the garden tonight and give it a try.

 

[zoezakella]

Dont axie love keeping us on our toes!!

Fingers crossed he eats them this time for you :happy:

 

[memojo1979]

My axies spit the worms out if they are too long - maybe try chopping them up? I have small kitchen scissors for chopping up various foods(1 pair for axie worms, 1 pair for snake pinkies...)

 

[Kaysie]

Also see if you can find waxworms. My critters LOVE them!

 

[siona]

what are waxworms? Would I find them in a bait shop?

He managed a small peice of fish again last night, after refusing a nice small worm I found for him (he played with it for a bit then gave up). He wouldn't take anything this morning and neither would the other one! (althought he did have a big worm last night at least). I checked the levels last night and ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are all 0, and the temp is around 17 degrees. I'll do a water change tonight and give their bogwood a scrub as it's getting a bit nasty but I don't know what else I can do!

It's like he's interested, following the food around and nosing it, but doesn't seem to want to eat!

 

[zoezakella]

You can buy waxworms online from a lot of reptile shops I recently bought some off ebay will pm you the link they normally alway arrive the next day.

 

[memojo1979]

I get my earthworms from eBay (after asking a lot of questions to make sure they would be axie friendly - I'm paranoid ) + have been looking for other live foods + found waxworms on eBay too.

 

[siona]

Thanks guys, I'll order some today

Is there anything else I can do? Neither of them seem like themselves - they used to bite me when I put my hand in there - now they just sniff it and turn away