10 year old axolotl very red and veiny

[ToothlessTheAxi]

Hello all !

My axolotl, Toothless, is 10 years old. He has been in the care of my sister for the last 2 years because I had to go over-sees for veterinary school (I'm a vet student with an interest in exotics but I mostly know about dog/cat medicine lol). I wasn't aware until now - but, apparently the house got very hot over the summer and that caused Toothless' water to also be really warm. His tank was also in the living room, where it was in direct sunlight. This often caused algae to grow in the tank. When my sister showed me Toothless over the phone, I noticed he had progressively been getting more red and veiny. I have attached photos. My sister has since moved Toothless to the basement under my instruction, where the water has been cooler and his tank is not exposed to direct sunlight. After moving him, I gave instructions to my sister to perform black tea baths for 3 days (Sat, Sun, Mon) in a hospital tank to try and soothe his skin.

I wonder what has caused him to become so veiny? It's my understanding that warm water has less dissolved oxygen, and possibly his skin became more perfused to help absorb oxygen with the lower concentration? He was also probably really stressed under the conditions I've explained. Hopefully the move to the basement will help. His gills were also looking quite sad and also have large veins growing through the filaments. My sister said he likes to hang out over the bubbling sponge filter and air stone. He has a great appetite, and poops are fine. He eats every 2-3 days depending on how he feels, he eats night crawlers (earth worms). I used to try to feed him pellets, but it was a waste because he refused to eat them. He gets blood worms as a treat on occasion. He lives in a fully cycled 20 gallon long aquarium with a sponge filter and air stone.

Water parameters:
pH - 8, Ammonia - 0ppm, Nitrite - 0ppm, Nitrate - 0ppm. Tank water was last changed 4 days ago when he was moved to the basement. 100% of the water was changed, since the tank had to be drained to be able to move it.

If anyone has any ideas about this, please let me know your thoughts/opinions. My sister and I really care about him and my sister is trying to do her best for him while I'm away! I know Toothless is a bit of an older guy/girl but I feel like he still has some years left in him I hope!

 

[wolfen]

like most creatures axolotls get flushed when warm/hot (most noticeable in leucistic and albino) also axolotls do absorb some oxygen through skin like most amphibians.
try to also feed him eyed food as well as annelids so he is getting a balanced diet.
might be worthwhile putting some almond/catappa leaves in the tank, almond leaves tend to be less acidic than black tea.

 

[ToothlessTheAxi]

like most creatures axolotls get flushed when warm/hot (most noticeable in leucistic and albino) also axolotls do absorb some oxygen through skin like most amphibians.
try to also feed him eyed food as well as annelids so he is getting a balanced diet.
might be worthwhile putting some almond/catappa leaves in the tank, almond leaves tend to be less acidic than black tea.

Thanks for your response! I’ll let my sister know about the food and almond leaves. So you don’t think the veins are anything to be concerned about? Someone told me he could have a bacterial infection, but other than appearance, his behaviour and attitude are great.

 

[wolfen]

due to the vibrancy of his gill filaments the flushed appearance is more likely cause by heat rather than bacteria, external bacteria infection would have symptoms such as slime coat sloth, lethargy, fungus patches, internal bacteria infection would cause lethargy, food regurgitation, issues defecating, either infection would show symptoms of stress.
something to be aware of is because the tank had 100% water change the filtration's bacteria may not be at 100%, this means that water changes may need to be done more frequently as well as testing until it is back to normal.

 

[ToothlessTheAxi]

due to the vibrancy of his gill filaments the flushed appearance is more likely cause by heat rather than bacteria, external bacteria infection would have symptoms such as slime coat sloth, lethargy, fungus patches, internal bacteria infection would cause lethargy, food regurgitation, issues defecating, either infection would show symptoms of stress.
something to be aware of is because the tank had 100% water change the filtration's bacteria may not be at 100%, this means that water changes may need to be done more frequently as well as testing until it is back to normal.

Okay, that makes sense! He seems to already be doing much better after the move. Eating fine and everything. Thank you again for your help!

 

[melfly]

Age makes them veiny too. I have an old man who has visible veins compared to his much younger tank mates