Hey pplz
My gf has a mexican walking fish which will not eat and as a result continues to get skinnier each day.
We have tried different things like adding salt, melafix, heater etc which we were informed to do by our lfs but nothing seems to help.
Does ne 1 have ne idea what the problem may be?
He is in the tank with two other mexicans, 1m 1f and both are doing fine so it cant be the water quality.
What should i do to help this skinny guy?
Ur help will be much appreciated.
thank you
mick
hey,
maybe the male and female are giving him a hard time. try moving him to a different tank if you can.
Aquaman69
Sorry mate.
Unless you want to force feed it something with a syringe it is a goner.
It is the most common death for Axolotyls.
They get sick and just stop eating.
My wife has lost heaps this way, while others are fine. No idea of the cause or cure if there is one. Maybe some with a lot more experience with them has more answers.
One thing to remember. They are an amphibian NOT a fish.
If you have gravel for substrate on the bottom of your axolotol's tank thats big enough to fit in its mouth, this most probably is your problem (as explained further below), and is a very common problem with in-experienced axolotol keepers.
An Axolotol is an amphibian that lives and breeds its whole life in its larval stage (i.e this would be similar if a frog stayed a tadpole it's whole life), axolotols are NOT Salamanders and will not turn into a lizard like creature EVER. No matter how hard you try. They also have very poor eye sight and detect food sources via smell. Axolotols are found in certain aquatic habitat's in central america at high altitudes, which means they prefer cooler water temperatures, which means they need to be kept at temp's between 20-25 degrees C, i wouldn't risk it above 28, especially for extended periods of time.
Have you noticed that when your axolotols do eat they tend to 'snap' at the bottom of the tank in the general direction they smell the food? When they do this, not only do they swallow food, but they also swallow whatever else they gulp up in that mouth full including gravel.
What happens then is the gravel cant pass through their gut, so it sits there and blocks up their bowels, hence your axolotol wont eat and will eventually die. There is nothing you can do. Although i have heard stories of a vet actually operating on one and the gravel was supposedly removed and the axolotol lived on, although i dont know how true this story was.... or if you'd find a vet willing to operate on an axolotol! Or if you'd be willing to pay the outrageous $$$ such an operation would possibly cost!
If you do have gravel for substrate, my suggestion would be to remove it all completely. Either have a bare bottomed glass tank, or use very very fine sand for substrate (fine enough to pass through their gut if ingested), or use large pebbles bigger than the size of the axolotol's head.
If you intend on breeding axolotols only keep the young in a bare bottomed tank, because even the finest sand may not pass through their tiny intestines. A bare bottomed tank would also be easier to clean and catch the babies if necessary. Also, as they are growing, always seperate the larger faster growing ones out from the smaller ones, else all you'll end up with is the larger ones!
I hope this helps, and that your axolotol hasn't eaten anything it shouldn't have. Hope he gets well and powers on.
Aaron