APD1
New member
Hello,
I am very worried about my axolotl. He/she is about 5 or 6 years old and albino. For over a week he has had a very swollen and infected looking cloaca region (I did not notice for this long as he is temporarily away from my house until I make space for him).
I have attached some images of the problem (he has had the yellow spots for a long time so they are unrelated, but I'm not sure what caused them either??).
His cloaca area looked to have white stringy stuff (possibly fungus) and black areas (possibly scabs?). Just yesterday it got so swollen that his back was arched and hind legs raised uncomfortably. He has started floating around a lot and is not very active. I think his gill filaments have deteriorated slightly also. I gave him a salt bath (3tsp to 1Litre water - sea salt, non-iodised) for 7-10mins last night and then put him in his freshly cleaned tank (45L). Some of the black parts fell off throughout this process and his posture seemed a bit better when I put him back in tank (the photos were taken before this process so the area looks a bit better now). I am unsure if this is bacterial, injury, blockage, infection etc. The salt bath seemed to distress him (maybe just stinging) but I'm not sure how often I should do this or if I need antibiotics etc.
The PH of his clean tank is about 7.4 - 7.6. I'm not sure about the water temperature but I don't have a heater in there.
His tank has had some small pebbles in it for many years and some large ones (too big to fit in mouth). I have now removed the small pebbles just in case.
I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.
I am very worried about my axolotl. He/she is about 5 or 6 years old and albino. For over a week he has had a very swollen and infected looking cloaca region (I did not notice for this long as he is temporarily away from my house until I make space for him).
I have attached some images of the problem (he has had the yellow spots for a long time so they are unrelated, but I'm not sure what caused them either??).
His cloaca area looked to have white stringy stuff (possibly fungus) and black areas (possibly scabs?). Just yesterday it got so swollen that his back was arched and hind legs raised uncomfortably. He has started floating around a lot and is not very active. I think his gill filaments have deteriorated slightly also. I gave him a salt bath (3tsp to 1Litre water - sea salt, non-iodised) for 7-10mins last night and then put him in his freshly cleaned tank (45L). Some of the black parts fell off throughout this process and his posture seemed a bit better when I put him back in tank (the photos were taken before this process so the area looks a bit better now). I am unsure if this is bacterial, injury, blockage, infection etc. The salt bath seemed to distress him (maybe just stinging) but I'm not sure how often I should do this or if I need antibiotics etc.
The PH of his clean tank is about 7.4 - 7.6. I'm not sure about the water temperature but I don't have a heater in there.
His tank has had some small pebbles in it for many years and some large ones (too big to fit in mouth). I have now removed the small pebbles just in case.
I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.