Floaty, constipated (?) Axolotl, help!

[TriniBini]

Hi all,

We have had our lovely albino axolotl Luna (we don't know their gender but use she/her pronouns for ease) since May 2019 so she is just over three years old. For the last 8 months approx. she has had a lot of issues with floating, sometimes her abdomen is extremely bloated and causes her to float on her side. If you see black fingertips, that's just from black sand!
At other times she looks very normal except for the floating. I know floating is a common issue for axolotls but we have tried almost everything to help and nothing much seems to work so I thought I'd ask everyone here.

Here you can see photos -

https://imgur.com/a/CWrpP9H

Here are some video clips -

Extra info-
We test the water chemistry regularly and it is as good as is possible (eg. the pH is a little off but we cannot do much to change that).
Her gills are not super full and fluffy but they still look okay most of the time and will flush bright pink/red when she swims etc.
She still eats fine and has not lost her appetite, eating both axolotl pellets and frozen bloodworms
The tank temperature gets a little warm in summer but the problems were just as pronounced in winter when it was a very good temp for her
There are live and plastic plants in the tank, hiding places for her and fine sand that passes straight through her (ie. we don't think she has a compaction)
We have tried fridging - for small and longer time periods we have fridged Luna with daily water changes. This does help her poop but does not seem to help the floating
We do weekly water changes of 1/3 - 1/2 water in the tank and try to keep it nice and clean

Please let me know if you need any additional information and thank you for any advice you can give!

All the best,

Katrina

 

[Autistic Catholic]

He looks agitated by something (I believe your axie is a man).

Do you know the exact water parameters?

It's possible that it could be something neurological too

 

[TriniBini]

He looks agitated by something (I believe your axie is a man).

Do you know the exact water parameters?

It's possible that it could be something neurological too

Hi,

Thank you! I will test them tomorrow when I have daylight to see colours etc. properly.

Katrina

 

[wolfen]

it's a girl, what is the temperature etc..
by the looks of it she is opting to stay at the top, there is no back end float or chest float which would mean trapped gas. it could be food related but the way her head is more raised then the rest of the body it seams to be more of choice.
bad temperature and or water parameters can cause her to stay near the surface.
change food types, pellets are known to cause issues with floating.
reduce the temperature to as cool as possible.
what is the ph, you mention it being off.

 

[TriniBini]

it's a girl, what is the temperature etc..
by the looks of it she is opting to stay at the top, there is no back end float or chest float which would mean trapped gas. it could be food related but the way her head is more raised then the rest of the body it seams to be more of choice.
bad temperature and or water parameters can cause her to stay near the surface.
change food types, pellets are known to cause issues with floating.
reduce the temperature to as cool as possible.
what is the ph, you mention it being off.

Hi,

The temp is currently around 22 degrees celsius which is quite warm as the weather here has been unusually hot lately. We have a fan that we try to use in the heat but haven't got it out for the summer yet! I will try to cool the water down ASAP. As I said, even during/after fridging the floating never fully stopped so I don't think that's the only cause.
She does struggle to stay down a lot of the time which makes me think it is not a choice to be up the top.
I have struggled to find larger worms (not blood worms) where I live as that would obviously be ideal. I'll try again to find some!
As I said above, I will do a test tomorrow and let you know.

Thank you so much,
Katrina

 

[TriniBini]

He looks agitated by something (I believe your axie is a man).

Do you know the exact water parameters?

It's possible that it could be something neurological too

Hi,

I measured today and the water is pH 7.5 - 8, Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 too which has been the case for a while now. The temperature is quite high, around 20-22 degrees celsius so that could be bothering her but she was like this most of the winter as well when the water was much cooler !

Thanks again,

Katrina

 

[TriniBini]

it's a girl, what is the temperature etc..
by the looks of it she is opting to stay at the top, there is no back end float or chest float which would mean trapped gas. it could be food related but the way her head is more raised then the rest of the body it seams to be more of choice.
bad temperature and or water parameters can cause her to stay near the surface.
change food types, pellets are known to cause issues with floating.
reduce the temperature to as cool as possible.
what is the ph, you mention it being off.

Hi,

As stated above, I measured today and the water is pH 7.5 - 8 (quite good for our water), Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 too which has been the case for a while now.
I have stopped giving pellets and will stick to blood worms and some lean meat occasionally.

Thanks again,

Katrina