Not eating

[adam]

hi my axolotl has not eatin in about one month i have got the water tested and it all was fine i have put the food in front of it and it is not interested in the food it hardly moves. i've read about putting it in the fridge wont this kill it??

 

[heihei]

No the fridge doesn't kill it; it slows the axie metabolism down to allow it to destress, calm down and give it a chance to heal if need be. While in the fridge the axie won't necessarily eat if the temperature is under 8 degrees celcius.

Minimum temperature in your fridge should be 5Celcius.

What has your tank temperature been like, have you added anything in the few weeks to the tank prior to him stopping eating? Apart from the lack of eating is there any odd behaviour/out of the ordinary? Does he have other tank companions?

Axies can go up to a month or sometimes a bit longer without eating. My sister's axies stopped eating, 2 from illness up to 5 and 7 weeks; another just stopped eating for 4 weeks.

 

[adam]

the temp has been at about 22 but ive put it down to about 14 there is one little live fish which i was hoping it would eat this pet shop gave me specal frozen green food and it hasent touched that either what does salt bath do?

 

[heihei]

Salt baths are used if axie has an infected wound or fungus.

 

[adam]

when its mouth is open a bit i try to put food in it but it backs away is it supose to have a black under belly just behind its front legs also it has very small gills is that normal?? ITS VERY SKINNY

 

[ravenous]

if it hasnt eaten in a month then it will be very skinny. small gills are just a sign that he has an oxygen rich envioroment. with axolotl colour variations there is no "normal". has the black been there its whole life or just appeared suddenly? if he hasnt eaten in so long i would be surprised if he has the energy to catch fish. if you can get live worms from a bait shop then you could try that. you need to try him on something that wriggles but wont be too fast for him to catch. I hope he eats soon and i wish you luck with bringing him back to full health.

 

[heihei]

Is your axie a wildtype axie or leucistic (white with darkish eyes) or type of albino (golden/white with reddish eyes).

The dark under belly may just be colouring. My sister has 5 dark wildtypes/5 leucistics. The wildtypes all vary in darkness, dark browns to blacks with greyish sides or grey/dark underbelly.

How old is your axie and do you have an airstone and filter in your tank. If you have enough oygen in tank axies gills will be smaller. Are they healthy looking gills tho they're smaller, ie; all the gill filaments/hairs are still on the gill stubs or do the gill stubs look a bit bare as well as small)?

An axie will sometimes sit with it's mouth open a bit. Have you tried live worms, someone tried live crickets once (not sure how they're fed though), or even try a piece of lean red meat (cut all fatty bits of) cut in inch long thin strips and jiggle it in front of him; or axie pellets or mealworms (cut off the head tho).

What is the ingredients in the special green food?

Have you tried frozen bloodworm cube?

 

[adam]

it is white one i dont no how old it is i have a filter in the tank the gills look bare as well as small i have tried live worms but he spat them out i have also tried raw fish im not quite sure wats in the special food i think it might be shrimp its green tho and must be kept in the frezzer

 

[heihei]

How long have you had your axie? Also, did you test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as well?

My sister's 4 yr old ones have hardly any filaments on their gills but they had their gills damaged from bad water quality with previous owners. Try the other things i mentioned he might take a liking to one of them.

 

[adam]

ive had the axie for about 2 or 3 months ive had the water tested and it was all fine its also has lumps on the top of its back legs on both sides

 

[adam]

ive done a 30% water change but the axie is still not intrested in the food. when i tried a live worm he grabed it the let it go. when i tried little prawns he nips at it the points his head the other way