making weird noises

[souplady89]

Hi.

I've recently taken home an adult axolotl for summer vacation from my Biology teacher. He's doing well in his new environment and eating regularly. However, I've noticed at night he swims to the surface and, sticking his head out, makes a "sucking noise"???? I know his gills are located on the sides of his head so he couldn't be breathing, right? Is this normal?

 

[carlos]

hi, im new at this, so i dont know if sucking is normal or not, but they have lungs as well as gills so will swim to the top to take a breath to fill the lungs every so often. hope this helps a little:wacko:

 

[kapo]

Does it sound like a sort of popping sound? Two of ours will occasionally, at night, swim to the surface and it sounds like a popping sound when they gulp. We tend to test the water for ammonia, nitrites or nitrates when any of ours do that just to err on the side of caution.

How long has this tank been setup and how long has s/he been in it? Is it cycled? see http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

 

[Bellabelloo]

Mine have taken to doing that , I suspect in my case its because the water is creeping closer to 20 degrees so I am adding the bottles of iced water to knock it back a little ( in the process of trying to create a cooling device! plus an aeroplane for nursery ))

 

[ianclick]

Kia Ora Ashley.

Our adult axie hendrix likes to float alot and he is always gulping air to aid his bouyancy. He makes a weird noise when his lips smack together. This can be a bit freaky if its late and quiet.

It freaked me out at first but now I know its just part of what he does it doesn't worry me.

Ian

 

[Kaysie]

In addition to having gills, axolotls are equipped with rudimentary lungs. If an axolotl was ever to metamorph, these lungs would develop further. But they're still somewhat functional in normal axolotls. As others have stated, they will use these when dissolved oxygen levels are low, and gulp air from the surface.

 

[niajetze]

Nobody else has mentioned this (from what I can see) but mine tend to do this when they think there is something yummy on the surface encouraged perhaps by me teasing them come feed time. It definatly increases closer to food time (and if its summer when there are more little flies about) I know it can be lack of air too but if you are confident this is not the case (like me) then they might just be hunting.

also if you have a plant that has leaves that float on the surface they could be snapping at these too.

 

[juliedaniels]

Our two axies take gulps from the surface regularly. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with water quality, dissolved oxygen, or anything bad at all. They just like it.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[mc malachy]

I agree, I think its to do with hunting. My two have done it for years, sometimes at night, but most often it happens during of just after someone has popped their head over the tank. The axies will look up, and then one of them will go and gulp some air. My water levels are normal, I have always assumed they were trying to catch whatever was near their home.