Question: Possible start of sickness or becoming an adult?

[Jeff93]

Hey everyone, So me and my wife have have our Axolotl Tarochan for 3 months now.(He is about 6 months old now)

Everything has been good, but for a few days now his fur stuff has been a little forward meaning he seems a little stressed. 3 days ago my wife tried to feed him (We always give him frozen blood worms) for the first time he didn't eat.

He ate the next day but he still seems to be curled a little he sits on the bottom or in his hide (Which I know is normal)
But Tarochan usually swims a few laps and walks around now he doesn't do much. He doesn't seem to have fuzz or anything I can see. He gets regular water changes, he has a nice filter and a water chiller so it's always nice and cool.

Maybe I am just being a paranoid daddy but if anyone has any ideas?
Maybe it's an age thing and he is going from teen to man I don't know lol
Please see attached pictures.
-Thank you

 

[Jeff93]

I added a few more close up pictures. Right now his gills aren't forward so I don't know if it's maybe water flow moving them sometimes?

 

[Hayleyy]

Pretty axolotl!
What is the current like in the tank? You want it as low as possible otherwise something like this can happen, like you said.
Do you have a water test kit? Any water quality issues can also affect the gills.

 

[KumquatSquats]

the tank looks like it gets a lot of light, that might be why they are slightly curling gills. one of mine always curls his gill a little when i turn the light on for feeding. if everything else seems normal i wouldn't worry too much

 

[Jeff93]

Thanks for both of your replies! I will check the water soon. But the last time we checked it was good! We turned the flow on the filter pump even lower just now too.
I am sending pictures of how the tank is setup too!
Thankfully we are moving soon so I will make sure he is in a darker area so he can relax more!

 

[Hayleyy]

Let us know your water test results when you get them. You want 0 ammonia and nitrites, nitrates around 40ppm.
Could be the light like KumquatSquats said. It doesn't look like there is a lot of flow in the tank, if you notice the gills 'blowing' in a current at all then it's too high.