Skinny axolotl

[stephen]

I am now feeding my axie a worm every second day but it doesn't seem to be putting on any weight. I am going to get the water checked again on the weekend. I will make sure I write down what all the reading are and then I will post them on here. Should I feed it everyday? Will that make it start to get fater?

 

[philbaker76]

Hi Stephen, I have a young rescued Axolotl I'm feeding up - I feed him once a day, a cricket if he won't take a worm (he's a bit fussy with the worms); and he's slowly started to fill out.

Try feeding him daily, until he looks a little better ...at least he's eating!

 

[ianclick]

Hi Stephen I agree with phil,

Try feeding him small feeds everyday until he starts to gain weight

 

[J A M]

oh i ddin't know that you can feed crikets.....
so do i just put the crikets in the water and the axie will eat it?

 

[stephen]

So would it be ok for me to feed it a whole worm a day or is that to much? Could I feed him a worm one day and then a small bit of beaf heart the next day?

 

[philbaker76]

oh i ddin't know that you can feed crikets.....
so do i just put the crikets in the water and the axie will eat it?

Yeah, not sure if you're supposed to - but I try mine on near enough anthing I can find (that I know can't sting, poison or bite). Woodlice, slugs, flies etc.

I hand feed them, just dangle the cricket in - or - put your hand in and wave in-front of their nose

 

[philbaker76]

So would it be ok for me to feed it a whole worm a day or is that to much? Could I feed him a worm one day and then a small bit of beaf heart the next day?

Hi Stephen, if the worm is a bit big, cut it up. Personally, I'd keep him on worms - give him the beef heart once a week (beef heart might be a bit much to digest if fed every other day). He'll soon plump-up.

 

[stephen]

ok i will feed him the worms. I hope he startes to get fat. He got skinny because I used to just feed beaf heart every second day. I had looked in my garden for a long time and I never found a worm. But then for some reason I look under a pot plant and there I found heaps of woms. So now I just go there and get a worm for him.

 

[kapo]

The best time for wormhunting is when it rains. Then look under every piece of item in the garden/back yard like bricks, big stones, wood/branches, buckets, garden furniture, potplants etc... - far easier than digging in the garden especially at this time of the year. You can then start a wormfarm if you find enough.

 

[stephen]

I have enough worms now

I have found a pot in the garden that is in the shade and underneith it there are HEAPS of worms. I will get all my worms from there now. This is a picture of my axie. It has started to get a bit fatter but it still looks skinnier than all of your axies.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Hi Stephen,

I looked at the picture and to be honest he doesn't look too skinny, but the biggest problem I could see was the gravel. This is large enough to be ingested by your little guy and this could leed to impaction ( getting bunged up with the stones) . This in turn could slowly kill him. I do appreciate that the gravel looks pretty in a tank, but its a really pain to keep clean as the debris has a habit of floating under the stones and at the end of the day its the little guys health and well being that is most important.
I started off using sand, then a dark coloured sand in my tank and my two would clear paths ( like clearing snow from the ground) throught he tank, as time went on the sand hoover would remove more and more sand . Now I have a sand island that the escaped worms try to hide in which jeffrey then digs and chucks about to recover his food, the rest is in two terracotta pots that hold the plants in place. It is a lot lot easier to clean, and the added bonus for me is that I can see more of my lovely axolotl..the bottom of the tank acts like a mirror. He has never had problems with his movement on the bare glass.
I appologise for adding to your concerns on your little guys welfare, but in my opinion the gravel really needs to go as this could be the main reason he does not put on weight. On the bare bottom tank or sand bottomed tank you'll be amazed how little stones will appear from know where as he'll pass them.

 

[kapo]

Bellabelloo, Stephen has been advised by other members/moderator in the following thread: www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?p=88425#post88425, previously many months ago about the possible impaction problems his axolotl/s could have but uses this substrate which his parents prefer. He did at one stage have sand which blocked his filters.

 

[stephen]

I have an filter which is under the gravel so that sucks up all the food and waste. I clean that out about every 2 to 3 weeks. I have never had a problem with this gravel being eaten because most of the rocks are to big to be eaten and I don't think my axie is going to go around looking for the smaller pieces so it can eat them. Thanks for trying to help bellabelloo.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Ok, have read the previous post. I have just divided my large tank into two to accomodate some of the larvae. Jeffrey has the large side and the 4 youngsters have the smaller section. This has been done to as the younger axolotl are getting too big for their tank. When I seperated the tank, the remaining sand was moved all into the adult side, as I feel this will be easier for me to clean the youngsters side of uneaten food. Now Jeffrey was able to see/ scent movement from the other side of the barrier and this caused him some upset. As my husband and I stood watching he snapped at a piece of floating plant bouncing along the bottom of the tank ( I think he thought it was dinner!) , in the proccess of doing this he literally took a huge mouthfull of the sand...he then proceeded to 'puff' it out through his mouth and possibly even his gills. Now I have witnessed him do this I have no doubt that sand/gravel/ stones will be inedvertantly be ingested along with what ever food is presented, especially if it has contact with the substrate..i.e fallen earthworm, blood worm etc.
Up until this point I too would have said that my axolotl , who is mainly fed by hand would not have any interest what so ever in consuming his substrate, now I know otherwise. In the photo of your little axolotl I can see a number of stones in just that one section that could be ingested in error, much as I like to gaze in wonder at my little beasties I can't watch them 24/7...who know's what they get up to when you are not around ( mine certainly managed to produce a hoard of eggs!!!).
At the end of the day Stephen I can only ever offer you advice on what I feel is correct and in this instance I would feed your little guy daily if you feel he is under weight and to remove the gravel as this could contribute in endangering your little guy's life.

 

[kapo]

Undergravel filters also get waste buildup below the plate not just under the gravel, which doesn't go up the filter. This can lead to a water quality problem.

Any gravel or round glass pebbles smaller than an axies head can be ingested. One of ours recently died from related pebble/gravel ingestion leading to a prolapse (a glass pebble and bubble protruding from its cloaca - we thought 18months was long enough for all gravel/pebbles to have been pooed out - obviously not).