Help with very skinny axo

[JS]

I am very glad to be a part of this forum. My daughter wanted an axolotl for Christmas so I obliged and she is lovely. Her name is Milky. She was thin when we got her and around 4 inches long and although she ate well, she never really got fatter. We are in Australia and I found out after having her a few months that 30 deg water was not good for her! She'd stopped eating and gills were forward but other than than she looked ok. I have managed to cool and keep stable the temp to around 18-20. She started eating again and I started feeding her more to help her fatten up but just black worms constipated her. I have fridged her and she has emptied her bowels but I still see dark masses where I think her stomach is on her right side and in her abdomen. She pooed after a 24hrs and it has been another 24 hrs with nothing more expelled. I thought I might start the process of introducing her back to her tank and maybe the warming up will begin her metabolism to move things along if what I see is a full stomach. I thought I might give her a baby guppy for first food. Can't seem to get much variety of food for her but I will keep looking at other aquariums and online. I would love to hear any feedback. Thank you. Jen

 

[Skudo09]

Welcome to the forum. You may be best posting this in the sick axolotl section.

It is good that you have cooled the tank down. What are the parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? You could try some chopped earthworms at that size. If feeding fish, you need to ensure they are quarantined first as they can carry disease and parasites. I would opt for earthworms if possible. Earthworms are very nutritious and easy for them to digest. Make sure that the worms you feed are not from a source where any chemicals have been used such as pesticides or fertilisers etc. he may not want to eat much whilst being in the fridge though. What substrate in the tank do you have?

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

you will need to keep in mind they are cave animals, so temperatures in darkness are much more cooler. Maybe in Aust is a bit difficult to cool down your water but you need to find a way to do it. Try put fans to stop air acomulation/short your lamp cicles... At last resource i used ice, its not the best but, its better than 30ºC...

Keep in mind too que water quality, more pure for best results, they are big and dirty your water, if the thank is small will go dirty quickly, and you will need to change water more quickly.

Ohh, and the food, if you eat only rice, you will have nutricional deficience, so animals too, try to vary his diet max. possible or find a very nutricional food, like the earthworms as Skudo09 said.

But I never had axolotls so, a more experienced user will give you better advices!
Post some pics of it

All the best!