Nina
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- Jul 22, 2007
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- Location
- Perth, Western Australia
- Country
- Australia
- Display Name
- Nina
Hi,
I just wanted to share with you my story on an axolotl who wouldn't eat.
My axolotl probably ate three times in 9 months, the latest stint being 4 months with no food.
This last time i had basically given up hope, from reading all the advice to other peoples questions it seemed that all i could do was to check his water (it was fine), take out gravel (i didnt have any) and to put him in the fridge (which i couldnt do because my housemate would have had a fit) and didnt really see what putting him in the fridge would achive, he didnt seem sick just not eating. Yes i understand that it lowers the metabolism etc but if he isnt eating and isnt sick i just didnt see why he would eat in the fridge.
Now i know this is all that can be done to try to work out why but its rather disheartening to know that you have done all this and things seem fine but he still wont eat. and it appears to be that if an axolotl hasnt eaten for more than 2 weeks then the most you can do is to try to keep him comfortable because the inevitable is bound to happen.
So i had basically given up on him, was just trying to keep him comfortable. until that is i read a post on here which gave an alternative view for someone whos axie had not eaten for about 3 months. i didn't reply to that thread as i didn't want to stir up any issues that were presented in there. I'm not trying to say that anyones advice is incorrect, its most definitly valid, but i think we need to be a little more open minded when an exact reason can not be found.
so basically i couldnt work out the reason why he wouldnt eat. his water was fine, he wasnt sick, he was just sitting at the bottom and not eating, he only started loosing weight in about feb.
so i decided to follow a little of the advice i had read on the post i am refering to. I took out everything that was in his tank on the weekend. He didnt seem interested. he just sat there still. he did seem a little upset as he didnt have anywhere to hide. i kept hassling him with food, he didn't want it.
then on wednesday as i was about to give up he snapped it out of my fingers and ate it. i couldnt believe it. a couple of minutes later i tried it again. he missed the food and snapped my finger instead but he tried again without me encouraging and he got it.
This was the most he had eaten in 4 months and the most responsive to food that i've seen him in about 9 months! for the entire 9 months every day i tempted him with food, i tried everything but he didnt want anything (apart from the 3 times he ate).
yesterday he ate again as he did this morning. I'm so happy that i read that post, i would never have thought to take everything out of the tank. if the author of the post reads this, thank you so much for giving me hope and helping my axie survive. I dont know if doing that helped or whether he would have started eating again but at least it was something else to try and to give me hope.
next step is to get him a play mate so he will become more active again!
hope this helps anyone who is having problems with your axie not eating, i dont say that just because an axie hasnt eaten means that they wont die. the realities are there that they probably wont survive. but i do give a story of hope and that is all this is meant to be.
I just wanted to share with you my story on an axolotl who wouldn't eat.
My axolotl probably ate three times in 9 months, the latest stint being 4 months with no food.
This last time i had basically given up hope, from reading all the advice to other peoples questions it seemed that all i could do was to check his water (it was fine), take out gravel (i didnt have any) and to put him in the fridge (which i couldnt do because my housemate would have had a fit) and didnt really see what putting him in the fridge would achive, he didnt seem sick just not eating. Yes i understand that it lowers the metabolism etc but if he isnt eating and isnt sick i just didnt see why he would eat in the fridge.
Now i know this is all that can be done to try to work out why but its rather disheartening to know that you have done all this and things seem fine but he still wont eat. and it appears to be that if an axolotl hasnt eaten for more than 2 weeks then the most you can do is to try to keep him comfortable because the inevitable is bound to happen.
So i had basically given up on him, was just trying to keep him comfortable. until that is i read a post on here which gave an alternative view for someone whos axie had not eaten for about 3 months. i didn't reply to that thread as i didn't want to stir up any issues that were presented in there. I'm not trying to say that anyones advice is incorrect, its most definitly valid, but i think we need to be a little more open minded when an exact reason can not be found.
so basically i couldnt work out the reason why he wouldnt eat. his water was fine, he wasnt sick, he was just sitting at the bottom and not eating, he only started loosing weight in about feb.
so i decided to follow a little of the advice i had read on the post i am refering to. I took out everything that was in his tank on the weekend. He didnt seem interested. he just sat there still. he did seem a little upset as he didnt have anywhere to hide. i kept hassling him with food, he didn't want it.
then on wednesday as i was about to give up he snapped it out of my fingers and ate it. i couldnt believe it. a couple of minutes later i tried it again. he missed the food and snapped my finger instead but he tried again without me encouraging and he got it.
This was the most he had eaten in 4 months and the most responsive to food that i've seen him in about 9 months! for the entire 9 months every day i tempted him with food, i tried everything but he didnt want anything (apart from the 3 times he ate).
yesterday he ate again as he did this morning. I'm so happy that i read that post, i would never have thought to take everything out of the tank. if the author of the post reads this, thank you so much for giving me hope and helping my axie survive. I dont know if doing that helped or whether he would have started eating again but at least it was something else to try and to give me hope.
next step is to get him a play mate so he will become more active again!
hope this helps anyone who is having problems with your axie not eating, i dont say that just because an axie hasnt eaten means that they wont die. the realities are there that they probably wont survive. but i do give a story of hope and that is all this is meant to be.
Axolotl Enthusiast