Skinny, disoriented axolotl

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ceiba

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Hello from Mexico, I have two wild-type axolotls (about 15 cm long) in a 50 gallon tank. One is male, the other is female. The female is a bit fat and very energetic. However, the male is very very thin and seems disoriented. In the tank he has been very lethargic and when he does move he turns over on his side. He also seems very stressed with his gills up a lot of the time, but the female has none of these symptoms. Alos, his skin looks fine and he doesn't have any visible external parasites, fungus, etc. He has been fridged for two days, but he spends a lot of time swimming in circles on his side. Their tank is very warm right now (22C) but I try to keep a fan on to keep temperatures down. I really, really appreciate any suggestions :)
 
I think we need more information. What are your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates readings? What do you feed them? What sort of substrate is in the tank (ie what is on the floor)? Is there a strong current in the tank from the filter? A pic would also help.
 
Unfortunately I dont have a test kit. I know this is problematic but so far I've only found pH kits :( However, they get a 30% water change very 10 days or so. They don't have any substrate and they have an internal filter that rund 200 lt/hr. They had one for 400 but I changed it because the flow was too strong. I feed them a mix of tubifex worms and turtle pellets, and live fish once in a while (Chirostoma sp.) I will post pics in a while and hurry to find a test kit!
 
This is their home, it's a 200 litre tank but I keep it at about 175 litres. His tankmate Chalchiutecutli is swimming in the corner:
20140511_1226341_zps0d1020d7.jpg



The picture below is little Xolotl. This is his thrid day in the fridge with 100% water changes. Today he seems less disoriented, he isnt' swimming completely on his side but just a bit lopsided.
20140511_122741_zps2792779c.jpg
 
Can you get earthworms to feed your lotls? If so, they are the best nutrition for adult axies. And the water test kit really is essential - the API Freshwater Master Kit (one that is recommended by many people on this site), for example, can be cheaply obtained online ($15 to $25). Without a test kit, you are essentially guessing about water quality a lot of the time. Good to see an empty tank bottom! Oh, and did you quarantine the fish before feeding them to the axolotl?
 
He looks a little on the skinny side. The female also looks a little skinny. As Sweetie suggests, offer earthworms if you can. They are much more nutritional and will help them to gain a healthier weight.

A test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is essential and the API Freshwater Masterkit as Sweetie suggested is easy to use and reliable. Avoid test strip water tests as they are known to be inaccurate. In the meantime, you may want to conduct water changes more often in case the cause is something to do with water quality.

It is best to keep them below 20C. You may need to look at other ways as well as fans to bring the temperature down. A chiller is the best option however I understand these are very expensive and not always an affordable option for everyone. You could try insulating the tank a little with the fan going. I have a car windscreen cover around the back (on the outside) of the tank to help insulate the tank. It is a tad ugly but it is more important to keep the axolotls in good conditions than focus on the aesthetic value of the tank. You may get creative and think of other ways you could insulate the tank or other ways to cool the tank. Some people use ice bottles but you need to be diligent in changing them over to new frozen bottles as soon as they melt as fluctuations in temperature can be stressful. You would need to have many frozen bottles available whilst the melted ones re-freeze. I don't use this method as I am not at home enough to ensure I can change the bottles over and prevent any fluctuations in temperature. If you do use this method though, it is best to use dechlorinated water in the bottles just in case of a leak.

Keep going with keeping him in a tub of clean dechlorinated water with 100% daily water changes. You may find in the fridge, his appetite will decrease as the cold temperature slows down their metabolism.
 
Thank you very much for the replies :) I'm going to take some water samples down to the pet store for testing and I'm working on finding a kit. Xolotl has been in the fridge for 3 days. Would it be advisable to take him out? I have a 40 litre tank and was thinking of isolating him there until he gets better. He still seems disoriented and isn't eating, although he is still at a very low temperature.
 
If you are able to keep Xolotl at a safe temperature in a tub I don't think fridging is necessary in this case. It would be good to get him to eat and he may be more likely to out of the fridge. Remember you will need to acclimatise him as the temperature change from the fridge to the tank could be a shock. Also you will still need to conduct 100% daily water changes in the tub/tank Xolotl is in.
 
Hi everyone,
I finally got a test kit and these are the parameters:

pH: 8
Nitrite: 0.3 mg/L (yikes!)
Nitrate: 50 mg/L
Ammonia: 0
Temperature: 19-21C

I performed a 30% water change on the tank and added 50 mL of nitrifying bacteria (Nutrafin Cycle). Meanwhile, Xolotl is in a 40 L quarantine tank. He is less disoriented, but he still hasn't eaten. Is it ok to feed him earthworms from the garden? I've tried looking in pet shops hoping they will come from a clean source but haven't found any yet. Meanwhile I'm still trying to feed him sinking reptile pellets and freeze-dried tubifex worms with no luck.
 
If you don't use pesticides and chemicals in or around your garden it should be fine, but may run the chance of carrying something as it's hard to quarantine earthworms lol.
 
Everything's organic. There's lot of rain now so they should be easy to dig up :)
 
If you mash some potatoes/sweet potatoes or pumpkin up after boiling them & cooling them, they're quite easy to catch. Place the mash on the floor and cover with damp/wet newspaper or cardboard and return in a few hours.
 
I dug a nice, chubby earthworm out of the garden and just placed it in the tank. So far he hasn't paid it any attention and is quite lethargic :( I'm a bit worried. Should I try to force feed him? I really don't want to because of the stress it might cause, but I'm willing to do so if necessary.
 
Hey, how long has your axie gone without food?
I have one similar to yours. 2weeks ago i got a pair but one didnt take the move well. He is also skinny and not eating. He was disorientated and when he tried to turn around he would roll onto his back instead. It lasted about 4 days but still wont eat. Im not sure if its stress or illness??? Yesterday and today he took a few bites but spits it back out!!
 
I noticed it about 4 days ago. However, after about half an hour or so he devoured the worm :D He also stopped rolling around although he's still a bit lethargic. I'm not sure if it's stress or illness but he seems to have responded well to fridging and I hope he can gain some weight soon.
 
Thats great news!! Once he starts eating he should fatten up nicely!! My golden penny, is nice and fat now haha. Poor freckles is so skinny:(
 
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