Simba's Troubles

A

anna

Guest
My poor little Simba always seems to have something wrong. He is an extremely picky eater. Atm he will only really eat mealworms with the occasional few blackworms and very rarely a small piece of earthworm. He isnt gaining weight or getting any bigger.

If that weren't worrying enough, he seems to have a balance problem. sometimes he will be swimming and when he stops and starts to sink to the bottom again, he ends up landing upside down. He can right himself but sometimes its a fair bit of effort for him.

Also, the other day when I cleaned their container, the poo in it was in strings. Could that be because of the chitin in the mealworms?

Im not sure wat to do with him. Decla is in the same container and she is thriving, even getting a bit pudgy cause she eats whatever Simba spits out.

Is there anything else that is equally as nutritious and balanced as the earthworms? I do find it hard to get some stuff here in Coffs but i'll do my best for my boy.

Sorry for the long, question filled post but he has me a little worried.
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earthworms are good but make sure they are cut small enough so that he isn't regurgitating them.
make sure the mealworm are dead before you feed them to your axie's (or make sure you crush the head first) try crickets if they are taking live food and also bloodworm, you could also try pellets.
lay of the mealworm and see how he goes.
 
He wont go near the earthworms even when I do cut them small. He just ignores them altogether. I have been cutting the heads off the mealworms cause I heard about the biting problems with them. He occasionally eats live blackworms but he doesnt always go for them. He completely ignores pellets too, I dont think the ones I have move or smell enough, they r very dry. The mealworms are the only thing he is always taking, without fail. I figure that though they may not be perfect, they r better than nothing at all.

Will try crickets tho. Is there anything I have to do to prepare them before offering?
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if they are from a pet shop then they have already either been dusted or fed supplements so they are ready to be fed to axie, reptile etc.
if self caught then you can buy the supplements and feed the crickets it, though plain crickets are ok the supplements are just extra vitamins and minerals.
how old is simba (approx)
 
Im not entirely sure. He was about 15cms when I bought him and I have had him for about 9 mnths.

He hasnt actually grown at all since I got him. In fact, his tail is looking a little shorter than normal so I have separated him from Decla.

Do I have to behead the crickets or ne thing like that?
 
Hey Anna, the debate still goes on with crickets and mealworms eating/harming caudates. This has been blown out of proportion. Even fly larva, maggots, will not harm once eaten. Crickets can nibble on land salamanders if they are many in number and do not get eaten right away. Some zoos use mealworms exclusively for most of their caudates, and do not crush heads!
You are doing the right thing with introducing different foods. Try liver or heart strips. How often are you feeding? 2-3 times a week, several bites each time is sufficient. What is the tank temperature and water quality? This can disrupt normal feeding and cause agitation. Extremely high or low temps can cause this. (These are probably dumb questions, that you already considered...but had to ask)

Some axolotls appear more sensitive than others. You have to remember, all axolotls are captive bred and weaker genetic strains can be passed on. In the past 6 years, I have noticed some axolotls can be more delicate that others, or prone to complications, while all are residing in the same environment (this is by observation only). I say this to point out that sometimes we do everything right, and do not get the same results.
Keep us posted on his status.
Al
 
This may sound cruel but i would catch a feeder goldfish, take my finger and flick its head till it was "retarded" then hang onto the tail and let it wiggle infront of the axolotl. If you do it right the smell of blood and movement should be enuff to entice it to eat.

Hope i dont get flamed for this method but the fish was gonna die any ways, i had to do what i could to make sure the little guy ate at least once a day.
 
Gee Forrest, I can't believe you "flick" poor little fishes...you fish flicker!!!
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sorry, I could not help myself
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I quit using feeder fish, even though it's a great food source. It appeared they sometimes infected my animals.
 
Yeah the absolute biggest problem with feeder fish is the tank they come from 99.9% has something wrong with it due to there being a overpopulation of fish, its most common is that white fungus wich i believe is ich.

Wich is why i plan to start my own guppy population that hopefully i can substain in the tank with teh axolotol before he eats them all off.

I figure when the tank is bursting thats good time to introduce the axolotl and let him do clean up lol.
 
I did consider feeder fish but I havent had much luck with undiseased fish from the local pet shops and Im worried that in his weakened state, he would die pretty quick if he caught ne thing.

The water quality is pretty good as I am changing it completely every day. The temp should be ok as they r in the coldest room in the house and the container has a large surface area. I have frozen bottle to keep the temp down on warmer days.

Im currently offering food to him daily but he doesnt always take it.

He will probably get better when I have the new tank set up and he can be in a more stable environment (one where im not changing the water daily) but that will still be a little while off as I have to cycle it and in his state, im not cycling with im in there.

Im guessing he is just a weaker animal. Im considering changing his name to Peter Pan cause he just neva grows! Lol. He hasnt gained weight or length since I got him!
 
Have you thought of sponge filters? If cycled properly, these would buy you more time and you would only have to do partial water changes perhaps weekly or biweekly. I add an air stone internally to mine and cut down the uptake tube to be below water level. I use these in some of my basic setups and with babies. works like a charm.
The daily wear and tear of water changes may be the cause of stress. How large is his setup?
 
He was in a fairly large underbed container for quite awhile but Decla has been attacking him a bit recently so I put him in a temporary, smaller, round container. Will be buying a second underbed container specifically for him when I get paid next. I do have a small corner filter that I was considering putting in the container. If I used filter wool from my old tank would that be helpful? The filter wool has been wet in old tank water since I took it out so the bacteria should still be alive.
 
Sadly, I dont think my baby is going to make it.
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. It was an abnormally warm day today and that may have been the final straw. Ive put him in a container inside a styrofoam box with a couple of frozen bottles but its not looking good. He isnt moving and although he tried eating a bit of worm, it took him a couple of attempts to swallow it. I havent even seen him flick his gills in awhile. He has gone really pale!
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I'll be surprised if he lasts till night. Its so upsetting!
 
If he ate for you, that a really positive sign!!

I think he is stressed. Try keeping him in a cool quiet environment.

Al
 
Try to put him in the fridge, the cold temperatures will take away a ton of stress. Have tried any antibiotics? Some signs of disease are refusal to eat. They can help. Also I order axolotl pellets from a breeding center, they are really healthy for them and have lots of nutrients heres the site: http://bigapple.uky.edu/~axolotl/food.htm
The pellets are really stinky so the axys like them.
How is the baby by the way?
 
snip "if they are from a pet shop then they have already either been dusted or fed supplements so they are ready to be fed to axie, reptile etc.
if self caught then you can buy the supplements and feed the crickets it, though plain crickets are ok the supplements are just extra vitamins and minerals.
how old is simba (approx"endsnip

This is not the case. Crickes as purchased from pet stores are typically deficient in fat, protien and some other micronutrients. They are not dusted.

The filter media should not be stagnent unless the filter has been off for more than a couple of hours or the media is so clogged that water can no longer pass through it. If it smells like rotten eggs then it is stagent. if it doesn't then it isn't stagnent.

Ed
 
Im afraid my baby didnt make it. He died not long after I posted last. He really has never been well so I guess its a good thing but I feel so bad for him. I wish I could have made him better. He has had trouble standing and keeping upright for awhile. RIP Simba.
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Sorry for your loss Anna. Sounds like Simba just wasn't up to this challenge despite all your best efforts.
 
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