Please help

R

reeba

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hi.. i have had my axolotl for about a month, today is her 4th day that she hasnt eaten. she is about 7 months old, the only thing different is that she has little black tips on the ends of her toes now. up until 4 days ago (when i cleaned the tank) she was swimming all over, she litterally hasnt moved for 4 days , no food and no swimming???? her colour looks fine, she doesnt look sick, i am really worried, any info would be great,, thanx
 
She's probably just not hungry. I feed mine usually two or three times a week. They can go quite some time without eating. The black toe tips are thought to be a sign of sexual maturity, but it isn't definitive. Axoltols in general are pretty lazy, and the older they get, the less they move. My female hasn't left her corner for 2 days. If food came right into their mouth, I don't think they'd ever move.
 
reeba - how much did you clean the tank? Did you change any water? Did you remember to use a dechlorinator? What is the water temp?
 
hi cynthia, i cleaned all the water out except enough to cover *KHALIDA* i now realize i didnt need to do that, i changed all that water i have a large 3 foot long tank that she is in, the water temp is about 16 to 17 oC , i have since taken her out of the tank and put her in a small iso tank for now and i have taken all of the large river pebbles out and i went and got a bag of play sand, when i took the pebbles out there was heaps of nasty left overs really sliming every thing up already, so i am going to try sand and see if that will keep the tank a bit cleaner, i have a feeling that she is a he, the guy at the shop said it was a she but from what i have read in here i have a he, there seems to be a lump at the start (body) of the tail, and the toes are nearly all black tipped now, im not even sure what the black tip is?? sorry this is so long but today is like day 5 with no food or swimming
sad.gif
 
Reeba what are you feeding them? a live wriggly earthworm will usually get them going. The black on the toes means he is sexually mature as Joan said.
I brought a really big axie awhile back and she went off her food for a couple of weeks they can do this without too much concern, some live blackworm was actually what got her eating again.
 
hi natasha, yep i tried a fresh fat juicy earth worm and he had no interest at all, i was just reading that a curly tail isnt a good sign well his tail is totally curled, he even curled it around my hand wen i moved him to isolation
 
I use large river rock with an undergravel filter. The 'slimy' stuff you're feeling is actually bacteria that are your biological filter. When people talk about 'cycling' an aquarium, that's what you want, lots of bacteria covering stuff. I also find that the slime helps round over any hard edges. You don't want to dismantle a tank that has already been cycled if you don't have a good reason. But if you want to keep the stones, I think an undergravel filter or a large aquarium vacuum would keep your substrate clean.
 
Reeba, have you tried blackworms? I notice you are in WA as am I, I just got some live blackworm from my local pet city and let them go loose in the gravel for a few days this stimulated her appetite too, also put a guppy in there (not a very good idea because of disease risk) it did the trick.
 
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