Newly adopted babies

[magpie]

Hi everyone, first time poster.

We adopted 2 axis in the past few days and I ahve been reading this forum flat stick ever since.

They are on gravel, which is to change today to sand. I suspect they are full of stones as they look a little too rounded. One of them is fine as far as I can tell, it is smaller but has good colour, fluffy gills, eats well and is active.

The second larger one has really short gill feathery bits, they had no real red tinge to them when we got them but it is showing small reddening at the tips now. However, it is really pale compared to the other one, you cant really see the veins in its tail etc and it tries to eat but regergitates everything as far as I can tell.

It was being fed ox heart and liver, the food provided was dreadfully freezer burnt. I am going to the petshop today and think that I might get some axi pellets due to the water becoming really messy with all the regurgitation. I have tried a little prime beef mince and though she (think they are shes) goes into a feeding frenzy, this also is thrown back up. I am concerned about changing their diet as they are over 2 yrs old and it is all they are used to living on.

Their tank, pump, filter, shelter housing etc was in shocking condition . I have scrubed and scrubbed everything, the water I put into the tank has been aged etc and the water is clear. I am running a small pump and an oxi stone.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to work out how to post pics now. Will add as soon as I do !

 

[madeve]

to post pictures all you have to do is scroll down when you post to additional options, then attach files tab click on manage attachements and upload your pictures.

 

[magpie]

ahhh thanks for that. I was trying to load via photobucket and it wasn't working.

Update, stones and paua shell are gone, waiting for sand to be delivered. Added large stones and plastic plants.

 

[kapo]

Try and avoid feeding them mince. If you do feed any meat - it needs to be lean and have all tendons/fat trimmed of it.

Just because they've been fed meat for the past two years, chances are when they were larvae and juveniles they would have been started of on live food (daphnia, mosquitoe larvae, baby brineshrimp, small worms etc... as larvae only respond to live food). Meat shouldn't really be used as it's staple/primary food. It's okay in the interim until you can sort things out. Make sure to slice it in worm like strips.

Ideally the best food is things like live earthworms, garden snails (i smash the shells), garden slugs, slaters etc... as long as you don't use pesticides/weed killer in your garden.

You can use this food combined with axolotl pellets and there is also a food available at petshops called axolotl tucker (though never managed to find it at ours); as well as frozen bloodworm cube (which needs to be thawed before adding it to the tank so the defrosting matter doesn't foul the tank).

I realise you scrubbed your tank etc clean and have only had it setup a few days so assume your tank has not been cycled. See: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

As such you will need to do daily or every second day frequent 20=30% partial waterchanges on your tank for several weeks to keep toxins down in the tank and clean up any uneaten/regurgitated food within a couple of hours.

Find out when they were last fed? Axies are opportunistic feeders - ie: they will eat as much as they're offered in some cases and will not stop when they're full - they're trying to store food. They may be regurgitating/vomiting the food up as there is already food in their gut. With adults they should be fed every 2-3 days or twice a week. So just wait a few days and try again. If you can find earthworms, try them in a few days!

During winter months axies may eat even less than twice a week, as their metabolism slows down as the temperature cools down.

 

[magpie]

Thanks so much,

No their tank hasn't been cycled, sadly I did not know that before putting them into their nice new clean environment!! I had hurridly set up the tank as they arrived squished into a bucket with little water and were not at all happy about it.I feel sorry for the poor blighters, but man are they hardy. Thanks for the link, I will study some more and ensure their tank is going to be at its best for them.

The stones were removed yesterday afternoon and the sand is now in. Already this morning I have removed 3 stones that miraculously appeared over night. I have some aqua master axolotyl pellets. So far they haven't eaten any of them. I popped in some blood worms yesterday but cleaned them out again after a few hours as they weren't interested in them. Despite sort of sniffing at them on the bottom of the tank.

I am not going to stress about them not really eating anything much at this stage. Hopefully once they have settled in a little more they will be happier about changing to a more suitable diet.

 

[kclinton]

Some live worms might do the trick.

 

[magpie]

Hi again

What a change. These guys are lokking really good. They loved the worms and have also been tempted by the pallets. Looks as though they have been hand fed as they weren't really looking for their food on the sandy bottom. But now they are.

A few more stones appeared on the sand after this weekend. The plants I put in the tank look great and they love peering around the corners and through them.

I have been takinging out a percentage of the water every two days and aging the new water I am adding. Must admit I still get the feeling that the larger one is not 100 % but it is now eating and keeping the food in so fingers crossed. Thanks for your help:blob: