Axolotl acting very strange and sick please help

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nerdybirds73

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Hello so my axolotl has been sick for a few weeks, at first she was just not eating or moving so I decided to tub her and now she is back in her tank and is moving and eating but there seems to be something much worse happening with her. I will attach a few videos that I have been able to get of her but she is extremely off balance and sometimes i find her on her side or back. All of this is happening on the bottom of her tank, she is not floating on the top. I have checked her water levels and every thing is normal same with her temperature so im not sure whats bothering her. I think it might be something irritating her skin because sometimes she will try and bite her tail. She is also very constipated and im afraid to fridge her but i think it will come to that very soon. Im going to tub her for a few weeks and closely monitor her but i am going back to school soon so i wont be able to watch her as closely. Im looking for some advice because our local vet has no clue whats causing this.
Some extra information is that she is a little over a year and a half old. I have a 20 gallon tank with a very small filter and air bubbler. I dont have any substrate and she has two hides in her tank along with some silk plants. I feed her blood worms when she was little and slowly switched to night crawlers but recently switched back to blood worms to try and get her to eat. Please help me if you have any idea of what to do

 
Get her tubbed ASAP in coldest water out of your tap. Treat with only Prime. change twice daily. Cold water helps constipation.
You only want enough water to fully cover her body fully not deeper so she isnt flipping and stressing as much.

For food Live Blackworms, thawed raw salmon/shrimp or repashy grub pie these also help get things moving

It looks neurological or something weird. YOu may need to find a vet/
 
Calgarycoppers said:
Get her tubbed ASAP in coldest water out of your tap. Treat with only Prime. change twice daily. Cold water helps constipation.
You only want enough water to fully cover her body fully not deeper so she isnt flipping and stressing as much.

For food Live Blackworms, thawed raw salmon/shrimp or repashy grub pie these also help get things moving

It looks neurological or something weird. YOu may need to find a vet/
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the advice. My plan was to tub her today and help her with her constipation. My vet didnt think that this was an issue so i dont really have any vets to go to, because the next closest vet is many hours away. But are you sure blood worms and night crawlers wouldn't be ok? also i do have prime and i will change the water constantly. Any other things i could do to help her? Do you have any advice on how to keep the water cold but not freezing? ive herd of some different way but most of them just seem like they would freeze the water.
 
Bloodworms is like feeding potato chips - only 6-9% protein and not much fat or other nutrition.
Nightcrawlers are okay for a not constipated lotl but not 1 with issues.

You need to increase the fat drastically to get things moving thats why the suggestions I made.

Its supportive care - get her pooping

put her tub directly in front of a fan with the air moving across the top of the water.

In the tank fans blowing across the water or frozen prime water in pop bottles and rotate

nerdybirds73 said:
Thank you so much for the advice. My plan was to tub her today and help her with her constipation. My vet didnt think that this was an issue so i dont really have any vets to go to, because the next closest vet is many hours away. But are you sure blood worms and night crawlers wouldn't be ok? also i do have prime and i will change the water constantly. Any other things i could do to help her? Do you have any advice on how to keep the water cold but not freezing? ive herd of some different way but most of them just seem like they would freeze the water.
Click to expand...
 
Calgarycoppers said:
Bloodworms is like feeding potato chips - only 6-9% protein and not much fat or other nutrition.
Nightcrawlers are okay for a not constipated lotl but not 1 with issues.

You need to increase the fat drastically to get things moving thats why the suggestions I made.

Its supportive care - get her pooping

put her tub directly in front of a fan with the air moving across the top of the water.

In the tank fans blowing across the water or frozen prime water in pop bottles and rotate
Click to expand...
Thanks for your advice again and im gonna switch up her diet but i tubed her lats night and this morning she is looking better and i finally got her to poop.
 
nerdybirds73 said:
Hello so my axolotl has been sick for a few weeks, at first she was just not eating or moving so I decided to tub her and now she is back in her tank and is moving and eating but there seems to be something much worse happening with her. I will attach a few videos that I have been able to get of her but she is extremely off balance and sometimes i find her on her side or back. All of this is happening on the bottom of her tank, she is not floating on the top. I have checked her water levels and every thing is normal same with her temperature so im not sure whats bothering her. I think it might be something irritating her skin because sometimes she will try and bite her tail. She is also very constipated and im afraid to fridge her but i think it will come to that very soon. Im going to tub her for a few weeks and closely monitor her but i am going back to school soon so i wont be able to watch her as closely. Im looking for some advice because our local vet has no clue whats causing this.
Some extra information is that she is a little over a year and a half old. I have a 20 gallon tank with a very small filter and air bubbler. I dont have any substrate and she has two hides in her tank along with some silk plants. I feed her blood worms when she was little and slowly switched to night crawlers but recently switched back to blood worms to try and get her to eat. Please help me if you have any idea of what to do
View attachment 85042
View attachment 85041
Click to expand...
I’m late, but I agree with Calgary it looks like something neurological. Kind of like Spider Ball Pythonish
 
Last edited:
Binditheaxolotl said:
I’m late, but I agree with Calgary it looks like something neurological. Kind of like Spider Ball Pythonish
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the help and at the moment she is still tubbed. The first few days where good, i got her to poop twice and eat a little bit but she also threw up a few times and im not really sure why. Also if it is something neurological what could i do to help? Ive looked on a bunch of websites but none really tell me what i could do.
 
I'm hoping once you get eating and pooping figured out it solves alot of issues. Your axolotl may always need an easy palatable diet high in fat. Worms may be an occassional versus a staple.

If its truly neurological its supportive care only nothing you can do would fix it.

nerdybirds73 said:
Thanks for all the help and at the moment she is still tubbed. The first few days where good, i got her to poop twice and eat a little bit but she also threw up a few times and im not really sure why. Also if it is something neurological what could i do to help? Ive looked on a bunch of websites but none really tell me what i could do.
Click to expand...
 
Her balance has gotten a lot better since we last tubbed her but now she is refusing to eat and i have tried for weeks to get her to eat but she wont eat anything she wont even bite at it. I have tried blood worms, earthworms, and wax worms but she still wont eat. Im not sure what to do because she is starting to get very skinny but im afraid of force feeding. Any advice on getting them to eat? At the moment she is tubbed and she is no longer constipated so her temp is back to normal.
 
nerdybirds73 said:
Her balance has gotten a lot better since we last tubbed her but now she is refusing to eat and i have tried for weeks to get her to eat but she wont eat anything she wont even bite at it. I have tried blood worms, earthworms, and wax worms but she still wont eat. Im not sure what to do because she is starting to get very skinny but im afraid of force feeding. Any advice on getting them to eat? At the moment she is tubbed and she is no longer constipated so her temp is back to normal.
Click to expand...
I would get the water as cold as you can, above 58. Repashy grub pie has worked, as well as black worms. Repashy is easier to get though. Repashy apparently tastes amazing to them, and is more appetizing then worms.
 
nerdybirds73 said:
Her balance has gotten a lot better since we last tubbed her but now she is refusing to eat and i have tried for weeks to get her to eat but she wont eat anything she wont even bite at it. I have tried blood worms, earthworms, and wax worms but she still wont eat. Im not sure what to do because she is starting to get very skinny but im afraid of force feeding. Any advice on getting them to eat? At the moment she is tubbed and she is no longer constipated so her temp is back to normal.
Click to expand...
How did it end?
 
WooperLooperJPN said:
How did it end?
Click to expand...
We managed to fix her balance, she is still a bit wobbly but nothing too concerning. She has been tubbed a very long time and we are still having trouble feeding but i think that she will be good enough to go back to her normal tank by at least next month. The only problem we have now is a bit of gill fungus but its almost gone.
 
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