Help

[Untreu]

My axolotl JamesPond is floating on his side. He is around a year old and currently has a bacterial infection. I have tubbed him and put some Melafix in there to help him and he is healing fine but I started to noticed that when I changed the water in the tub, after an hour he started to go on his side and almost float. Any ideas what this could be and how to help him out?

 

[wolfen]

what food has he been having?
axolotls can't control how the air that they have ingested (some air is from gulping and some from food ie.. hard pellets) affects them, some float head up, some tail up and some end up on their sides or backs, whilst he is floating have him situated in shallow water (feet touching floor) make sure the water is cold and oxygenated.

 

[Untreu]

what food has he been having?
axolotls can't control how the air that they have ingested (some air is from gulping and some from food ie.. hard pellets) affects them, some float head up, some tail up and some end up on their sides or backs, whilst he is floating have him situated in shallow water (feet touching floor) make sure the water is cold and oxygenated.

Sorry for late reply, I have been keeping the temp at around 15.5c and do water change everyday in the tub. I have been feeding him 2 medium sized worms around 5cm long every 2-3 days

 

[wolfen]

whilst he is in recovery vary his diet by also feeding food that contains vitamin A ie.. krill, mysis, brineshrimp, fish, basically eyed food, annelids (worms) don't contain vitamin A which is an important vitamin.
the temperature is good.
add an air-stone to the water for oxygenation.

 

[Untreu]

whilst he is in recovery vary his diet by also feeding food that contains vitamin A ie.. krill, mysis, brineshrimp, fish, basically eyed food, annelids (worms) don't contain vitamin A which is an important vitamin.
the temperature is good.
add an air-stone to the water for oxygenation.

I have now put in an air stone and he is no longer tilted to one side and his wound is healing but he has refused to eat for the last week. I have tried to feed him worms and bloodworms but no luck. What should i do and can he go without food for much longer?

 

[wolfen]

feed the food at night and change the water in the morning.
axolotls can go for a long period of time without feeding, it's a case of perseverance.

 

[Untreu]

I am going on holiday in a week and I was wondering if it would be alright to put him back in his tank by then. His infection has stopped getting worse and he is recovering but he hasn’t eaten yet. Would this cause a threat to the other axolotl in the tank and what should I do?

 

[wolfen]

because the infection would be most likely caused by bacteria it also means that it would be contagious (this is why I suggested treating both at the same time in your other post)
it is better to keep tubbed until healed in case of recurrence.

 

[Untreu]

because the infection would be most likely caused by bacteria it also means that it would be contagious (this is why I suggested treating both at the same time in your other post)
it is better to keep tubbed until healed in case of recurrence.

Because my tubbed axolotl isn’t eating and therefore no pooling is it alright if I change the water every two days rather than everyday because it might make him feel more comfortable and start eating

 

[wolfen]

axolotls excrete waste even if they don't defecate so whilst tubbing daily water changes are very important.

 

[Untreu]

axolotls excrete waste even if they don't defecate so whilst tubbing daily water changes are very important.

It been a week and a half since he last ate and I was wondering what I could do to get him to eat. I do the water changes early in the morning and try to feed him late at night. I have given him pellets, worms, blood worms and brine shrimp but he just doesn’t seem interested. I will keep trying to feed him everyday but is there a way to get him to eat?

 

[wolfen]

unfortunately there isn't really anything that can be done to help stimulate an appetite apart from offering a variety of different foods.