Illness/Sickness: axolotl floating upside down!

[alt118]

hi, since yesterday my axolotl has been floating upside down, on his back. he is like fat and floating so much that his tummy is all out of the water. i change his water a few days ago.
now i put him in a bowl with ice and tripaflavina just in case, they give me this once in the pet shop and every time something happens this fix it. but now my axolot is almost dead, he is not moving and almost not breathing, he sometimes tries hard so catch air and stay right but then turns again upside down
i don't know what to do
what can it be? there's nothing that he can eat in the fish tank.

 

[gr33neyes]

Hi there, he doesn't sound good. Firstly I would prepare a fresh container with dechlorinated water and nothing else. You only need enough water to slightly cover your axolotls back and this should stop the floating. Place him in the container the right way up and because of the lower water he shouldn't be able to turn upside down.
Is there anyway you can put your axolotl in the fridge. Putting ice in the container may cause temperature fluctuations and this won't help him.
Do you test your tank water? You would be testing for nitrAtes, nitrItes and ammonia. How often do you carry out water changes and how much do you remove each time?

 

[Kal El]

G'day,

First of all, could you please post a photo of your axolotl? This will (hopefully) make it easier to figure out what's wrong with your axolotl.

he is like fat and floating so much that his tummy is all out of the water

You might be mistaking this for a bloat, which can be the result of: bacterial infection, kidney damage, or ingestion of gravel. In any case, it's best if you post a photo and also follow Becky's instructions to reduce the amount of stress imposed on your axolotl.

now i put him in a bowl with ice and tripaflavina just in case, they give me this once in the pet shop and every time something happens this fix it.

I can't say that I've ever heard of this treatment before. But after doing a 'Google' search (with a great deal of translation into English), I discovered that it is used as an antiseptic to treat bacterial infections. Because you don't know what you're dealing with just as yet, it's best that you stop giving this medication. You could be exacerbating the situation. One thing you must bear in mind is that most pet stores will sell you any product, and sometimes without your pet's best interest at heart. Other searches on this medication also mentioned that this medication contains soap agents (i.e. deodorants), you're going to want to avoid this.

Jay.

 

[alt118]

well, i went out and came back and i think he has a 1% of life. i put him in less water and now i very very full of air, and the tail very little, i think he is almost dead.
i post a picture
i really don't know what happened, this was sudden, from one day to another and he was eating good and such.
i don't he will survive but i would like to know why this happened, to avoid it other time if i ever have another pet again.
it's so sad.

pic: http://www.alt118.com.ar/IMG_6419.JPG

thank you all

 

[alt118]

he is dead
i think he is so fat because he drowned

 

[drmunroe]

how sad...what a sad looking pic!...hope u find out what happened...

 

[Kal El]

Sorry about your loss... I've had a couple of axolotls die on me in the past, so I guess I can empathise to some extent.

You said that the death was sudden; this kind of makes me wonder if perhaps a chemical was accidentally introduced into the tank? Or did you recently introduce foreign tank mates without quarantining them first? It may have also been a genetically determined disease, i.e. your axolotl was predisposed with an illness that would result in its death. These are the only things that I can think of. Somebody else might be able to give you a better answer.

i put him in less water and now i very very full of air, and the tail very little, i think he is almost dead.

Also, by looking at the posted photo, is that all the water you had covering it leading up to its death? Because that definitely isn't enough. When Becky said that you should lower the water level, she meant that the axolotl should still be completely immersed in water but only enough to cover its back. Perhaps it's just the photo angle, but it looks like half of the axolotl's body is out of the water. Axolotls only have rudimentary lungs and, thus, analogous to a fish, it won't last very long when taken out of the water. Your axolotl may have died from a combination of the illness and asphyxiation.

Jay.

 

[gr33neyes]

Thats a shame I'm sorry to hear that. From the way you described it I doubt there was much you could have done for him.
Try to steer clear of so called 'medications' pet shops give you as they often make it worse rather then better. If in doubt get caudata to check it out for you or consult a vet.

If you want to try and work out why he died you would need to detail quite a bit about your axolotl, its tank, water conditions and foods. Do that and we might be able to have a guess at why he died. Once again I am sorry and I hope it hasn't put you off keeping another.

 

[kira]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss

 

[Jevhaunnnn]

Hi, I have recently seen my axolotl start floating on it's side this afternoon. He is a baby so I am in the process of tubbing it. As soon as I seen him like this I immediately changed the water in the tub and got to doing research. I seen that there could only be three things, constipation, bad water quality in the tub, or air bubbles. I think he was constipated because I tried doing the fridge method that was recommended with these problems and he pooed a lot out after he was in there for a couple of minutes but still kept struggling to stay up.

His body was forcing him to float to the top against his will and this time he was going up on his back and floating. I let him stay in the fridge for about 11 hours and he seems to be doing good, he isn't floating anymore and is laying quiet still on the bottom of the tub, he wont move unless I shake the tub back and forth. I hope he will be alright, I just wanted to know who has any tip on this and will my axle be ok?? I am leaving him in the fridge for the night am see how he is in the morning, someone please let me know if I'm doing everything correctly

 

[YanaBannana]

dang, sorry for ur loss. How old was your axolotl? And i have a similar problem. This morning it was floating upside down. It hasn't been eating for a month, which is actually really concerning. Also, maybe check how often you fed it. It might of had some digestion problems.