Axolotl not eating?

[avaw.987]

I'm pretty sure my axolotl isn't eating. He's about 4 years old and has always been pretty small, he was 7cm long at 7 months old when I first got him and is now about 18cm. I have been trying to feed him an earthworm each day, usually I would do two but he hasn't been eating them so I don't want to waste food. He's gotten very skinny and his ribs are visible, his gills are very light pink most of the time. My 8 year old bearded dragon passed away a month ago and I am really really worried that my axolotl is going to as well. There is one exotic vet near me but they don't do any aquatic animals and I'm guessing even if they did it would be quite hard to examine and transport an axolotl anyway. When I give him worms I use feeding tongs and he always swims right up to them and grabs the worm, but after chewing on it for a few seconds he always without fail spits it out. I usually leave it in there and its gone when I come back but I'm not sure if hes actually eating them or if they're getting sucked up by the filter/ burrowing into the sand if they can do that. It is summer where I am and his tank is usually still a bit warm at 18ish degrees celcius even with his aquarium chiller but I dont really think its a heat problem as he always seems to be hungry when i offer him the food. It has been very hard to find earthworms in Australia and no petshops sell them anymore so i was feeding him small crickets for about a year which he ate but now without my bearded dragon I dont have any crickets, and since they're much harder for axolotls to digest I'd like to avoid crickets just so I don't cause any unnecessary problems. His pH is at 6 and the water hardness is around 240ppm. I have some photos of him but they arent very helpful. Anyone have any suggestions or answers about what might be wrong? He is only 4 years old but should i prepare myself incase he is about to die? I really just don't know what to do about it. He always seems so hungry but just won't swallow worms of any size, even if I cut the smallest baby worms in half. I have some frozen bloodworms that he ate when he was a baby but theyve been in the freezer for several years so I don't know if they're safe to feed him or not. Any suggestions are helpful, I really can't handle another pet dying and I'm willing to try anything

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Have you tried blanching the worms? Maybe the worms are too big? Try offering him different foods? What are the paramaters?
18C is ideal. It's not a temperature issue.
pH is too acidic. Hardness needs to be raised.

Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity

www.axolotl.org

Other than that, you need to check the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc.
Look into Holtfreter's.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

I believe these pellets are good for axolotls too. You need him eating something and I concur that the 4-yr-old bloodworms may not be the best.

https://www.amazon.com/Sinking-Carnivore-Pellets-2-61-Ounce-HIKARI/dp/B0112XPAB2/

 

[avaw.987]

Have you tried blanching the worms? Maybe the worms are too big? Try offering him different foods? What are the paramaters?
18C is ideal. It's not a temperature issue.
pH is too acidic. Hardness needs to be raised.

Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity

www.axolotl.org

Other than that, you need to check the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc.
Look into Holtfreter's.

to be honest i dont think its a parametres issue because he is always hungry and grabs the food but i will definitely try and increase hardness and decrease ph. Since he is grabbing food then spitting out i was wondering if it could be some kind of blockage in his mouth? do you know how i could go about checking that and fixing it if it were the problem? I will also get some fresh bloodworms and see if he wants them. Do you think maybe isolating him into a smaller tank to feed him could also help? he is in quite a large tank (35ish gallons) for such a small axolotl.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

If he's grabbing the food and spitting it out and it's only been worms you've been feeding him then maybe try and cut up the worms. That said, spitting up the food could also be a sign of early stress from parameters. Your pH should be increased too! It's at 6 which is acidic! Look at the link I gave you, it says what the proper pH range should be. Increasing the hardness will also help raise the alkalinity and the salt solutions provided on that link will help.

 

[wolfen]

the water hardness that you have is 240ppm/13°, because your ph is low it means that this is your gh not kh.
your kh can be increased using bicarbonate of soda which will also increase the ph.
using a modified holtfreters will help ie.. only salt and bicarbonate of soda, this is because according to the hardness test that has been done you have good levels of minerals.
could you do a test on the tap water and post results.
how often and how much water is changed during a water change.
could you post results for all parameters for the tank, especially the nitrates.
with the ph being so low it wouldn't be surprising for the cycle to crash, please monitor the ammonia.
your axolotl is displaying signs of stress, which means that sorting the water issues will help towards the feeding issues.
please get/use a freshwater liquid test kit as strips aren't known for accuracy, although kh gh has to be brought separately in most case, retesting the ph kh gh should be done.

 

[avaw.987]

the water hardness that you have is 240ppm/13°, because your ph is low it means that this is your gh not kh.
your kh can be increased using bicarbonate of soda which will also increase the ph.
using a modified holtfreters will help ie.. only salt and bicarbonate of soda, this is because according to the hardness test that has been done you have good levels of minerals.
could you do a test on the tap water and post results.
how often and how much water is changed during a water change.
could you post results for all parameters for the tank, especially the nitrates.
with the ph being so low it wouldn't be surprising for the cycle to crash, please monitor the ammonia.
your axolotl is displaying signs of stress, which means that sorting the water issues will help towards the feeding issues.
please get/use a freshwater liquid test kit as strips aren't known for accuracy, although kh gh has to be brought separately in most case, retesting the ph kh gh should be done.

I’ve added some pH up and I’ve gotten him some new bloodworms to see if he wants those, but I wasn’t able to get a liquid test kit because they didn’t have any in store. I’ve been using a liquid kit for pH but strips for everything else, but I’ll order a full liquid kit online. I was thinking of putting him into a small tank or large container with no filter just to feed him in so I can monitor if he’s actually eating or not. Would this be a bad idea? I don’t want to stress him out and cause him to not want to eat even more but I would also like to be sure that he’s not eating before I go and spend all my money on different foods and stuff

 

[wolfen]

although using a separate tub tub for feeding would make it easier to see/control feeding it would mean leaving him in the tub overnight, this is due to the fact that axolotls are more active at night and more likely to feed, he will also need feeding daily, at least two blocks per time.
what are your strip test readings?