dkeat
New member
Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum so I apologize if I'm posting in the wrong section. I recently picked up a baby glowing axolotl (about 3 in. long) and seemed to be doing fine at first. The pet shop I bought him from didn't really have a lot of information on how to properly take care of it, so I just went off the internet. He was also missing 3 of his limbs but the woman at the pet shop said it was normal and he would grow them back. I used river rock substrate from a hobby store with one large hide after boiling them for several minutes. I was told to feed him frozen red worms, but I never saw him eat any of them even when I would set them directly in front of his face. The lighting I used came with the 10 gal. tank I bought and I also used black lights since he was a glowing axolotl. Yesterday he seemed completely normal (Stayed in his hide and came out on occasion to sit on the rocks) until he randomly started floating upside down. I set up a hospital tank with dechlorinated water but he continued to float on his back and randomly started swimming fast almost as if he was fighting it. I quickly took a water sample out of the 10 gal. and got it tested at a pet shop and they said my water's pH was a little high but nothing too concerning. She recommended getting some aquarium salts and quick start for my tank. The little guy ended up dying still and I'm pretty much baffled as to how it happened. I called the pet store I bought him from and the worker said that it could have been caused from the stress of traveling and being in a new tank. I did have to take him on a long car ride to get him back to school, however, he was in a travel container filled with conditioned water and the tank was sitting on someone's lap. Also, I bought him last Sunday so it's been a few days for him to adjust to his new surroundings. (The pet shop's tank was literally empty with no substrate, hides, and almost all of them were missing limbs.) I hope someone can give me some insight on this. 
