Illness/Sickness: Not eating for weeks.

[Squirrelgirl]

My little girl is about 6 years old. She’s always been a good eater. Mostly eats pellets. I gave her a piece of cooked shrimp about 4 weeks ago as a treat. She loved it, played with it in her mouth like a worm- tossing her head around etc. After that she tried to play with her pellets (which didn’t work out!). Now, she spits her pellets out. I’ve tried shrimp again - she played with it but ended up spitting it out. Tried worms- same thing. She’s lost weight (thankfully she had extra to start with). I’ve done water changes, run a fan over her water, use ice bottles to keep it cool, and even refrigerated her for a few hours. No change. The only other strange thing is that her toenails have been black for way longer than usual. The last few times she ingested any food, I found it in the tank the next day. Once, a whole piece of shrimp was there- undigested. I bought new, smaller pellets- she spit them out. I don’t know what else to do. Could it be something to do with her ability to swallow the food or digest it? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[wolfen]

have you tried any frozen block foods ie.. krill, mysis, chopped mussel, chopped cockle, also bloodworm and brineshrimp.
toe wise do you use any type of substrate ie.. sand

 

[Squirrelgirl]

I haven't tried any other foods with her but will try one of the ones you suggested however I'm not sure how you actually feed them to the axie...could you please explain? I just drop the pellets down to her - have never actually 'fed' her.
There isn't any substrate in her tank, never has been.
Do you think I should refrigerate her for a longer period of time? I'm really getting concerned about this situation. She seems fine otherwise...

 

[wolfen]

because fridging carries the rest of organ shut down I would never recommend it unless as a last resort.
frozen food will float for a short period then sink to the bottom once defrosted, feed at night as that is when axolotls are active.