Whats wrong!?

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Ai

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My big axie is swimming frenetic with his body curved to the left. Like à dog shasing its tail. Up and down, around the akvarium. Sometimes he stops, but still with he's body curved. He can straightened hi's body but just does that for a short while then he curves up again.
Anyone knows anything about this behaviour???
 
Odd behavior such as this can sometimes be attributed to stress or discomfort. That being said, I have a few questions. What are your water parameters (nitrite, nitrate, pH, ammonia, etc.)? Are there any other axolotls in the tank? What is the temperature of the water? What kind of food do you feed your axolotl? Can you provide a picture of your axolotl?
 
Does he look as if he's scratching at his gills? If so it may be a water quality issue - either chlorine or ammonia.

If he's just thrashing it could be that he's got some digestive discomfort, maybe an obstruction/impaction or gas.

What do you feed him?
What are your water parameters and temperature?
What substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
And yes, a picture would help, or even a short video.
 
I've cleaned the tank and saw that one of the caves ( that is supposed to be for akvarium ) has lost almost all colour. So i just removed it. Cleaned everything and put the axl in à bucket with new colder water. now a few hours later he's beginning to Act normal. Even ate a worm, even though he spit it out later. Before he didn't respond to anything. So i'm getting my hopes up.

The cave is the only cause i can see, everything else seems normal.
I got thre axies in the tank but with a net in the middle to divide it. It's a 180cm wide tank.The sick one is big and the other two small. And they are fine. But the cave was on the big ones side. I'm feeding them with regular Worms.

Now he's just chilling so can't really take a picture of the behavior.
But tomorrow i'm going back to the store. God i'm mad!
 
And he was not scratching he's gills. Just swimming around wierd. He lookes fine otherwise :) he was fine when i got home, then suddenly just flipped. And i got him out right away so, hopefully it was fast enough.
 
Sounds like the flaking paint from the cave may have been irritating his skin. You did good taking him out when you did.
 
He's done his freak show again. But now laying in a corner. It's really wierd and scary. And i feel bad for him.
The guy i bought my axies from was here and had a look. We're worried he's poisioned? But i think he's more calm now, even though he just danced.

Answers to some of your questiones, i haven't had any kind of sand on the bottom yet. It's just the tank bottom and nothing else he could have swallowed.
And if it's gas or something, why is he only bending to the left? Odd.
And in Sweden we don't have mutch chlorine in the water, especially not here in the north so that's usually not a problem.

But i'll get some tests tomorrow to make sure nothing else is wrong, And test it regulary.
I really appretiate your answers, thanks :)
 
What kind of cave is it? Homemade or what brand if you know? It could possibly be poisoned but if this is the case then keeping all of them(to be safe) out of the tank in tubs with fresh dechlorinated water is your best bet. Poison or water quality(i guess that is still poisoning) can have a delay in symptomatic issues. Some axolotls are effected more severely then others, however they meet the same fate if kept in the poison.

Obviously this is precautionary. You dont know what the issue is. But if it were up to me id rather be safe then sorry :) 100%water changes daily in a tub will ensure it is not water quality)

If it is not impaction i am leaning towards the cave or water quality. Process of elimination will bring you to the cave if it were it.
 
Thank's, really interesting!
I've cleaned the entire tank and everything in it, filled it up and emptied it again, then filled it completely. worked all night. Moved the tank to darker room to. I'll do water changes everyday just to be sure. Found à pic of the cave on a website to, and judging by that colour - mine has lost a lot. But i'll check with the store to, in case they have different colour set. Lookes like a regular plastic cave you can buy in any pet store.

They're back in the clean tank today, they all spent yesterday and night in seperate tubs. and seems a lot better now. The big one is even swimming a little, but the body still slitghtly bent to the left when he stops. But he's calm laying on his favourite spot most of the time.

So more research today! And à close eye on the little guys
 
Ehm, i've compared the caves now and it seems like it hasn't lost any colour after all. Not mutch anyway. So i have no clue what can be the cause of this behavior.

Today he's been eating at least, a lot actually. BUT he has to struggle a lot with the worms and it wasn't untill i cut them into much smaller peaces that he actually could swallow them. So he's obviously not himself yet. He's not bending to the left any longer, but still leaning and hardly moves at all.

This just blows my mind ! Not knowing what was/is wrong and what to do about it. But this website helped me this far at least, i mean it seems like he's getting better. And i'm so thankful for that.

I'll still update if there's any changes, in case anyone get's an idea what it could be. I would really want to know the cause of this.
 
What are the water parameters?
 
As i've said i just changed all the water just in case. But i don't remember exactly what they where before that but nothing abnormal. Temperature was 21 Celsius, now it's 18C.

And i did 20% water changes every fourth day before this to. I've just had My axies for close to two weeks. The Guy i bought them from thinks it's highly unlikely that any regular water problem is the cause.
 
Well, for starters, since you're having to start the cycle all over again, you need to change 20-30% of the water EVERY day. Clean up any uneaten food, droppings, etc. every time you change the water.

Is your axolotl looking any better now?
 
Yes he's looking better, and eating, he's just very inactiv and has to struggle with the food. But he's not freaking out anymore.



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Just a couple of days with daily 30% water changes, My big Axie is moving around and behaving almost normal. He can eat big Worms' again without struggle.
I've tested the water with different tests and it's all perfect.
What got him sick is a mystery but it seems like we've solved it with help from this website. And i know a lot more about axolotls now to handle things in the future.
Many thanks!


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Hi!
He is mostly behaving normal, but is still freaking out sometimes. Today he launched for a worm, then ended upside down when he ate it and stayed like that until i poked him. Seems like he has problem knowing what's up and down sometimes. Like when he freaks.

I'm worried still


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My wild type axolotl sometimes immediately after eating a piece of cut up nightcrawler worm will do the same and curve to one side, tho he will also try to scratch at his gill. he eventually calms down, and this doesn't happen often but he never has any long-lasting side affects from it.
 
Okey, this one can just start doing it whenever. It's been going on off and on for a couple of weeks. I had to move him to a bucket again so he won't hurt himself. I'm wondering if it's something internal. If it's maybe a good idea to fridge him if it's something that needs to heal.


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