A concern that comes up a lot, especially with new owners,is misinterpreting signs of stress or sickness.By all means, express concern if you are worried, it is better to be safe than sorry, but many of the symptoms of a sick or stressed axolotl sound like normal axolotl behaviour.

 

A couple:

Floating

Coming up for air often

Swimming frantically

 

All of these, in general, are normal axolotl behaviour. It is easy to see it do one thing, and think “Shit, he’s sick!”, and panic. I know, I did it many times. Especially among younger axolotls, movement is very usual. They have a lot more energy, and aren’t weighed down by their big fat bodies. Sometimes adults can be quite active too. A peculiarly active female might be preparing to lay eggs. Unless they are hooning around, constantly “freaking out” and trying to leap out of the water, they are most likely fine. But if they seem very restless and they aren’t laying, it might be worth doing a water quality check, in case their are high levels of ammonia.

 

Going up for air also isn’t that unusual. The oxygen flow in the tank could possibly be a little low, but they have a set of lungs for a reason (a somewhat pointless reason these days, but it doesn’t hurt them to use them) They are capable of getting oxygen themselves. If they flick their gills way more than usual, and go up for air a lot, perhaps just add a bubbler, or increase the oxygen getting into your tank. (Make sure your filter output disturbs/breaks the waters surface and makes little bubbles)

 

Lastly, floating. Axolotls will float just for fun, and often swallow air, and are unable to come down for a while. This can easily be mistaken for constipation. I like to check this by blowing on my floating lotl, to give them a wee fright, and they swim back down. If they can’t stay down, then you can keep an eye on them. They may float a lot, and it is easy to get worried, but sometimes they just like it, especially if the water flow from your filter is low. If you see them constantly unable to stay down, and their back legs keep floating upwards, they might be constipated, and you can try a trip to the fridge if you are worried! Don’t ever feel silly if you have worried about these things, I have. Once you get to know your axolotls, you can start to figure out what is normal silly axolotl behaviour, and what might lead to sickness or stress. Just always keep an eye on your pets :)

 

The two main signs of a stressed axolotl are gills curved forward, and a curled round tail tip. Especially among young axolotls, the gills can curve forward because the water flow is too strong. As the axolotl grows, it won't be so affected by it, but you want to have a nice gentle current in your tank, as axolotls do not like water disturbances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A curled tail tip is a lot more worrying sign, especially when paired with curled forward gills. This probably means your axolotl is quite sick and you need to examine it, and check your water quality. A good thing to do with a sick axolotl is put it in the fridge. A guide to fridging can be found here.