Why has she stopped eating?

[chris]

I am in a bit of bother. One of my female axies has recently had a batch of eggs, she got disturbed mid way and for want of a better term 'got p'd off' and stopped laying. We turned the lights to the tank out and it put the rest of the tank to sleep. Ever since then she has not eaten and shows no interest in food (worms, crickets, bloodworm etc) We had 2 of our other female axies die from the same thing when they were disturbed laying their eggs. Is there anything that can be done to save her and from this problem re-occuring in the future? when we lost the other two they lost all their colouring and went pure white even their pink gills went white. All of our axies are kept in chilled tanks with sand substrate and are hand fed on crickets and worms, occasional steak. Any one have any ideas?

 

[joan]

How long has it been since she ate last?

 

[chris]

Its been just over a week but I know the signs of them giving up eating totaly. They start to sit at the top of the tank for most of the time, their gills just keep losing colour till they turn white, as i said in my other post this has happened twice before and im getting all the same symptoms as the ones before. This axie would eat and eat and eat and was always first in line and was one of the healthiest I had. I have also noticed that they will shy away from me when I put my hand in the tank, normaly they all come and attack me, it seems like after laying eggs some axies just give up living sit in a corner and wait to die. I really dont want this to happen and have no idea what to do with her. I have moved her into another tank that only has 2 other females in, was thinking of maybe putting her in a tank on her own but i dont see how that would really help all that much ...any ideas on saving her will be much appreciated

 

[kapo]

I don't know much about the egg laying part; but regarding the white gills and loss of colour two of ours, Brodie and Fifi, were like that early on when we first got them. Very active and always first to eat, then gradual loss of colour and "shyness" or lack of energy to do anything.

We placed both in the fridge and researched all over the place trying to find out why they could be "anorexic" looking. The other 2 tankmates were fine and nothing wrong with water as it was regularly checked, weekly then every 2 days once we noticed their colour loss.

We gave daily saltbaths, as Brodie had been swimming round in circles chasing her tail.

After two weeks we took them out of the fridge, continued with the saltbaths for another 2 weeks, but kept them in the containers doing the daily waterchanges and trying to feed them. Brodies gills started getting a bit of colour back in and started to eat a little. Fifi took a bit longer to recover. By the fifth week Brodie was able to be returned to her tank. Fifi was put back in the tank 2 weeks following.

I'm not sure if its any help, but hope your axies get better.

 

[chris]

Thanks for the post, im a little lost when it comes to salt baths, could you tell me water to salt content please. Im going to give this ago as she seems very unresponsive to anything else I try. If you could let me know I would be very greatfull.

 

[kapo]

2-3 teaspoons of salt per litre or pint of water. Bathe for 10-15mins max.

I hope she improves

 

[chris]

Thanks for that, Im going to be thick again, what type of salt should I use? Is table salt ok or should I use sea salt? Also what temp should she be kept at if she is fridged and for about how long? I also have Melafix which I use for my fish, would it be ok to give her a salt bath one day and a melafix (mild dose) the next? Also, what type of food would be best for her? heart, steak something like that or just stick with the cricket and worm? sorry for going on but I realy do want to save her or give it my best shot for her sake. Thanks again for all every ones help

 

[joan]

Go to a pet shop and pick up aquarium salt. Sea salt or kosher salt are also good options.

The fridge should be above 5C. You should do this for about a week. Make sure you keep a large jug of treated water in the fridge too, so you can do water changes without a large change in temperature. You don't want to shock the little thing. I usually keep the salt bath water in one jug, and the water changing water in another, and put them on either side of the axie tub.

Don't mix the salt and the melafix. This could be too harsh on the delicate skin.

She probably won't eat while in the fridge. You can offer bits of food, but don't be worried if she doesn't eat.