Please help, axolotl hasn't eaten for nine days!

BasilBear

BasilBear

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Hello
After six long months I finally got my aquarium cycled, my axolotl just went in the tank about 9 days ago and since then all she ate was 2 pellets, and when she did eat those 2 pellets it was when I had to take her out of the aquarium and put her in to a 8 gallon bin of water because the power went out & the filter was off. But today will be the 9th day and I'm starting to get worried. I thought it might be because she didn't like the pellets anymore so I bought some Canadian nightcrawlers from one of my local pet stores and I tried to feed them to her in her tank and she snapped at them a couple of times but wouldn't eat them (I cut them up in half). Also she did vomit pellets yesterday all over her aquarium, (I don't know what this means really). Im not sure of what to do, other than the not eating part, she seems happy, always coming up to say hi. Thank you so much for reading my question and if you want to know anything else about her such as her tank levels, temperature and her appearance please don't hesitate to ask!
 
Hi, my axolotl is still not eating and its going to be two weeks and I'm getting worried. She looks like she's losing weight now and I can defiantly see her ribs. I made a appointment with a exotic veterinarian that treats axolotls but its not until the 28th of July 😬, I don't know if she can wait that long. If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it.
 
Do you have any recent water paramaters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temperature, pH)?

Could it be an impaction? What kind of substrate do you use?

Do you wiggle the pellets around, or do you leave them on the bottom of the tank?
Have you tried other kinds of food than pallets and nightcrawlers? Do you know what she was fed on as a juvenile? Do you have any shrimp, fish or beef lying around in the fridge?
 
The only thing I can think of to help (since it’s not clear what’s going on) is maybe to try fridging. If it’s an impaction or digestive problem, that may help... I’m not really sure, but hopefully that’s better than nothing...
 
First thank you both for responding!
Two days ago I took the levels and this is what they are: Ammonia-0-.25 Nitrites- 0 Nitrates- 20-40 PH.- 7.6. The substrate that I use is tile (I rinsed it off with bottle water before I put it in). I tried to wiggle worms around and leave it there for both nightcrawler and pellets but the option that she responds to the most is when I drop it directly on her head:ROFLMAO: (she then snaps at it and spits it out). I never tried any other type of food accept earthworms and pellets, I know before I got her (about 3 months old) she was on a diet of live black worms (the breeder got her on pellets before she gave her to me), I don't really understand she was such a good eater before. I might try to get some live Bach worms to see if she likes it, but I'm also thinking I might feed her some cooked organic 95% nonfat chicken (its not cooked with oil) would this be okay? I might give fridging a go if this keeps up. Also the aquarium has been looking fogy I had my aquarium bye a window but then I realized it can cause algae so I put a blind up ,but the fogginess was happening after she started refusing foods I don't think this could be it. She is quite active at night time but not so much in the morning and afternoon. Thank you both again for responding and I hope this information might help.
 
From my experience, it is best to have no ammonia in your tank, and even 0.25 can be dangerous. My guess is that that is the cause of the cloudy water (food waste creates ammonia) and maybe even the eating problems. I’m not a vet, but maybe up your water changes, try to determine the cause, or get some help.... from plants!
I have a heavily planted tank that converts all of the nasties into nitrates (less harmful) and oxygen. It might be harder with a tile substrate, but I would recommend getting some live plants! You could get java ferns that grow on rocks and wood, or floating plants like duckweed! I’m sorry I can’t be of more help, but here are some things you could at least try!
 
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  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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