Illness/Sickness: Freguent gill flicking

[Daryna]

Hi everyone

I just noticed that one of my axolotls is flicking it's gills a lot and by that I mean roughly once every 5 seconds or so. Is that normal or should I be freaking out??? She also hasn't eaten in a few days so I put her in the fridge she threw up after an hour but its been 48 hours since then and she's still refusing all food.

 

[keiko]

They usually flick their gills just to move the water to get fresh water and oxygen to their gills. Does she go up for air a lot? When you noticed this, had she been active or stressed so she would need more oxygen than normally? If it has been going on for a while I'd consider if there's enough oxygen in the water. If there's some movement on the water surface then more oxygen will dissolve in the water.

Is she still in the fridge? If yes, then she most likely won't eat in the fridge because her metabolism is slower in the cold temperatures (that's also why they throw up or poop most of their stomach content when you put them in there). Adult axies don't need to eat everyday so she might just not be hungry. Some people only feed their adults once or twice a week.

As long as there's nothing else wrong with her or the tank and the water parameters, I'd just keep an eye on it for a few days to see how it goes.

 

[AquaAmphib]

Hi my axie been going up for air and flicking his gills every 8 seconds. This all started after I did a 100% water change and took the sand out. Does this mean all I have to do it put in some more oxygen with an air pump and hill be ok?

 

[Se]

I don't know a ton about axolotls, but as far as I know this sounds fine to me.

I noticed with my axies, (whether they were in the same tank or different tanks) they all flick their gills at different rates. My youngest is about where yours is, every 8 seconds or so. But my 1 year old female does it much more often than that, probably every 4-6 seconds. But my other male probably takes 10-12 seconds between flicks. Just estimates ofc. I never timed it or anything.

I used to worry a ton that their water wasn't oxygenated enough, but they never were surfacing a lot for air or showing any other signs of bad health. As far as I know, gill flicking isn't something that indicates the water doesn't have enough oxygen necessarily; it's more likely that if the water lacks oxygen they will go to the surface to gulp down air a lot. (Some do this once or twice a day normally though.)

So basically just saying I agree with Keiko and try not to worry too much. Your axie might just like to flick his gills a fair bit. Just keep an eye on the water parameters.

And an air pump might help, but too much moving water can cause stress on an axolotl, so either way you want to keep an eye on your little one.

 

[Cacique]

Whenever you see any odd behavior, test the water to rule anything out. If the water quality is good, then chances are your axie is just being an axie.