Axolotl Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

[InsanityAxolotl]

Chirple the main tank is cycled, I'm feeding him crickets atm, what do you suggest to get him to put on more weight? 2 crickets a day maybe?

 

[Chirple]

Crickets are not a good source of food for them and two a day is definitely not enough to put on weight/grow!

You need to be feeling something like live earthworms or blackworms. Something soft-bodied and nutritious.

You will have to go slowly at first so you don't hurt him by suddenly feeding much more, but you may start with maybe one inch of earthworm a day and work up to am entire worm every other day - then cut back once he's stopped growing and is at a healthy weight. My adult eats one whole worm a week plus a few carnivore pellets on off days, but he ate more while growing.

Don't take this too harshly, many places don't do a good job with care info.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mikaelataylor3]

I agree with chirple and the others here, don't worry so much about what you're adding to the water and focus on just leaving it be. it will take some time to heal, this isn't something that can be fixed overnight or with some of this and some of that. stick to the qtank, colder water, and feed him earthworms.
also as a side note, axies tend to not like change in their water params. i'd advise against raising the pH to 8. 7 is suggested anyways.
best of luck to you and your adorable and hopefully flake-less axie

 

[InsanityAxolotl]

Just an update, He seems to not be shedding anymore, I've been buying black worms and feeding him those and hes starting to put on a bit of weight already..
As far as the skin goes its either 1 of 2 things and or both,
Seachem prime, or Seachem neutral regulator, ive bought some crushed coral and keeping the ph stable at 7.5 naturally and not using the regulators anymore, i think that was the problem, not the prime, atm im gonna stick to using stress coat+ for a while and see how i go, after all i dont need the prime if the tank is cycled properly anyway,
so as far as the big tank im gonna completely empty it and start with fresh water to get rid of the high phosphates from the regulator and get rid of any traces of anything that was making him shed, and keep him in the qtank till the big tank is up and stable again, If i do get a mini cycle i can wait it out, I have a whole lot of cycled media that i can use and am using it with a HOB filter with the qtank atm on low, doing 100% changes every day still and will see how we go,

thanks for everyones help, i geuss my problem here was fixating too much on ph.

 

[snuggly time]

Glad it's sorted :happy:

 

[Theaxolotlsocial]

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

This is what one Axolotl supplier had to say on the matter:

My Water Dragon (axolotl) skin is peeling off / shedding off. What should I do?
This is normal for a Water Dragon (axolotl) peeling off / shedding off their skin. Put your Water Dragon in a 2 1/2 Gallon tank and do water changes every day. You need to maintain the best possible water quality; Cold Clean Water every day. Remove any uneaten food and waste after 12 hours so that your Water Dragon will not eat food that is contaminated with bacteria. During this time feed your Water Dragon (axolotl) frozen bloodworms until the skin has peeled off / shed off is completely.

So essentially it's a hospital jobbie. I suppose it's because the fresh new skin underneath will be extra sensitive.

I don't mean to offend you, but could it be fungal if it's not just plain old shedding?

The symptoms include:

If your axolotl:
- Looks skinny
- has a filmy cloudy slime covering their body
- the top part of the tail that runs their back is missing
- wont eat
- looks uncomfortable

OR

- has white salty spots (ick)

If they have this they recommend a salt bath, but I really think a tea bath would be kinder, especially given their exposed new skin.

Hope this helps and that he gets better soon

your axolotl:
- Looks skinny
- has a filmy cloudy slime covering their body
- the top part of the tail that runs their back is missing
- wont eat
- looks uncomfortable

My black Mel has all of these except he will eat but he's not being an aggressive eater. My 2 others axies in separate tanks are fine ..we use all the same water. I'm keeping his tank very cool amd the room dark. What would I do for a tea bath that would be most effective for him. His gills seem floppy and he seems smaller compared to his friend we got at the same time