Floating...

A

a.

Guest
My axolotl has been floating around the top the the tank for around 45 minutes now. I have also noticed a tuff of white coming out of the bumps behind his rear legs, does this mean mating season or something and does it have anything to do with the floating?
 
Here is a pic.

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floating isn't a problem in itself, sometimes an axy will stay near the surface if it's having trouble getting oxygen from the water - is he gulping at the air? otherwise, he could have just swallowed some air. he'll hang around til he burps and should float back down again then
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as for the white, i'm no expert on the mating habits of axies, but as far as i'm aware the males will plant a dollop of sperm at the bottom of the tank and lead a female axy over it so her eggs are fertilised. this would only happen if there is a sexually mature female in the tank with him. it's probably just fecal matter, wait and see if it passes.

anyone else got ideas on the white stuff?
 
Well that good to hear, he was taking some gulps before but no he is just floating there.There are two other axolotls in the tank with it, I think they are bother female, im not 100% sure. I'll get some pics up right away.
 
I brought this one with the male at the same time, and the guy said it was female. (on the bottom)
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Im not to sure about this one though, its the first one I brought about one month before I got the other two.
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it's a bit difficult to see their sexy bits in those shots, but from what i can make out in the third photo, i'd guess they were female. again i could be wrong, cuz it's kinda hard to see from that angle. i suppose just watch out for eggs and you'll know for sure!
 
Guessing that the white stuff is a bit of faecal matter and hasn't passed out propery the white stuff would be fungus in this event.

He/She should take a dump again in a daya or so if it eat regularly and that should expel it. Otherwise try a bit of fungus treatment in water.

Ok when the lad gets excited and is ready to start leaving spermatophores all over the shop. He does get quite excitable pushing and bullying all the others in the tank. His cloaca will swell even further than normal and open up. Sometimes it will be dragged across any flat surfaces. Believe me when he's feeling it's time to drag out Luther Vandross and Barry White record collection you'll know. Plus he'll sing a little song..just like Chef from South Park
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Hi Al,
Lots of time when they spend time at the top it's a sign of distress. It could be something brought on by ammonia in the water. A pink looking tail in a white axolotl is also a sign of stress. Some axolotls spend a lot of time at the top. Some white axolotls look a little pinkish all of the time.
A good tank cleaning couldn't hurt. Sometimes we justt get hints that they might be sick.
 
He is the only one up at the top.
He came down last night but when I came home this afternoon he was back at the top. He has been swimming around the top a lot in the past few days. I plan to clean the tank this sunday, but until then, can I do anything? I've been changing around 1/2 the water once a week since I cleaned the tank 3 weeks ago.
 
As everyone else said it's a bit hard to see exactly whats going on from the photo's, but i don't think it would be a fungal infection, also ive never had an axi laying spermatophores in mid air (water) like that, normally they do it on a rock or somthin flat on th bottom, you've got some good rocks there, im sure if he was getting a bit frisky then he would use them. Probably just some fecal matter. I should mention though, that if you want them to bred and he is ready (females too) you should put some sort of aquatic plants in there so she can lay her eggs on/in them. Plastic plants are fine to use.
 
my leceustic axy elizabeth has a pink tail does that mean she is stressed? cos she is rather miserable and just hides away all the time and she wont really eat if i try hand feed her only if i drop the food in front of her. i dont think she likes me. harriet isnt like that though shes all bouncy bouncy around the tank and follows my finger wen i tap on the glass slightly. elizabeth wont make babies with harriet either even though his balls are bulging and harriets real fat.

i dont have a plant in there yet though does that make a difference? theres a really good one in pets at home thats like a big long draping thing for a tenner and it looks really good my bf has one in his fish tank. im really worried about elizabeth though any suggestions to make him happier? or is it just his personality? also it was elizabeth who battered lil oswold, harriet was fine with him. should i think about finding liz a new home? actually no i couldnt do that.
 
Thanks all, but he (I think)is now dead. I came home and found him covered in fungus. This was not there lastnight.
 
Are you sure he's dead? I'm so sorry, it's sad when you loose a pet. Give the tank a good clean out for the sake of the other two, to make sure it doesn't happen to them.
 
Yeah, he was dead. When I had wrapped him up in a cloth he started bleeding? I cleaned the tank straight away.
 
Oh, that's sad, i hope the other two will be ok. How long did you have him for?
 
the fist axy i got like 3 years ago died as a baby and i only just got 2 more recently cos it was a bit like omg i killed it i cant get another one! but theyre so cute! and im older and more responsible now :D anyways..when it died the water wen black..what is this black stuff??
 
Ah, it's a pity I didn't read this until now because I could have told you straight off what it was. Any axolotl which has such receded finage (look at the back - zero fin) is definitely in a bad way. The cloaca does have hair-like structures in it but you shouldn't be able to see them in a photo like that, so that's fungus.

If it's any consolation to you, there's no way you could have saved it at that stage. Just make sure you remove whatever caused the stress so that it doesn't happen to the other axolotl.
 
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