Axalotl not feeding.?

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Tracy Proctor

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Hi, I have 3 axalotls all in same tank. We have had them for about 6 years now. There are 2 males and 1 female. Recently the female has not been eating. Males still got a good appetite. Did water check and nitrates were bit higher than expected but nothing extreme. Doing water changes every other day to try correct this and pump cleaned regularly. She is still not eating and it is getting close to 2 weeks. Any advice as to what else to try?
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Can you post some pictures of the Axo?

Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
How much water do you change?
What sort of filter do you have and how do you clean it?

What are you feeding the Axos and how often do you feed them?
 
Hi. I use sand in the tank. I use a net to clean and move it every weekly change and use a cleaning Hoover syphon too. I tend to change around 1/2 to 2/3 every week. Doing it every other day at the moment.
Filter ..have been thinking of changing it but getting overwhelmed by all the different options. I clean filter weekly in tank water I take out.
Fed on worms. They get 1 every day.
Thanks for replying.
 

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There's no need to change the filter.

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Does she have cream/ grey patches on her head and front leg or is that something to do with the picture?

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Do you have a worm farm that you collect the worms from or do you get them from the garden?
If you get them from the garden, has anyone done any work in the garden or used any herbicide, pesticide, etc, in the last few weeks?

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Have you tried them on any other foods?

Axolotls will eat anything meat based and if it moves, that's even better. You can buy glass/ ghost shrimp from some pet shops or collect your own from local freshwater creeks. The shops sell them as feeder shrimp and Axos will eat them.

If you don't like feeding live foods like shrimp, you can buy some raw or cooked shrimp/ prawns from a fishing shop (bait section), or from a supermarket. Keep the prawns frozen and take one out, defrost it and remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in the body), and throw these bits away. Use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into bite size pieces and offer them 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let them eat until full and remove uneaten food after feeding.

Cut the pieces a bit smaller for the female so she doesn't have as much trouble eating them. If you cut them into strips (about an inch long x 1/8 inch wide) it will easy for her to swallow them if she tries them. They will also resemble the worms she has been fed on.

You can feed them on raw or cooked fish too. White bait and blue sardines are available from fishing stores and you keep them in the freezer. Take one out and defrost it then cut into small pieces for the Axos to eat.

Axolotls will eat red meat too, however it is harder for them to digest but it can provide some variation in their diet if fed once every couple of weeks. You can cut a small piece of steak or lamb into bite size pieces and offer a few bits at a time. Use raw steak or lamb and try to avoid meat with fat on.

Frozen (but defrosted) bloodworms and brineshrimp are usually accepted, as are live brineshrimp.

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If you try different foods and she still doesn't eat, the only other thing you can try is to put her in a different tank and treat her for an internal infection. However, that should be a last resort and I am hoping she will start eating if offered different foods.
 
We have a worm farm so no changes there. No cream patches must be the photo.
I will try some different food. Thanks for your time.
 

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