EmJ
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- Jul 26, 2010
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I really hope someone on here may be able to offer me some advice as I am seriously concerned about my axolotl. I have recently moved house and have moved my axolotl in with me as she had previously been at my parents house. Unfortunately during this time the tank was frequently too warm and the water parameters unfavourable. The back end floating has been an ongoing issue for months, well before I moved her in with me just over a week ago. She can now return herself to the ground and can lie/stand and move normally without floating. The tank temperature is now stable and below 20 degrees, 16 degrees approx. she has a very good appetite and will accept food readily however I have not seen her poop the whole time she has been moved in with me, coming up to two weeks. I know I shall be scolded but I don't have a proper water testing kit here currently only the test strips but everything appears well and I have been changing a third of the water frequently so as to help in maintaining the temperature. She was being fed earthworm pellets and my mum was feeding her too much, 4-5 pellets every other day. I am now feeding her an earthworm every 3-5 days. She has , as well as the floating butt,been exhibiting some signs of stress such as a curled tail and gills however I have reduced her temperature and she seems to have improved in that sense.
She has fine silica sand as a substrate and no objects that could have been swallowed. Her cloaca has lots of black dots around it, much like those that are found elsewhere on a leucistic axolotls body and seems to have become bumpy? I can't say for sure how long it has been like this. It is not red or swollen. I have looked at other threads where a darkened bumpy cloaca has been associated with parasites and every one I look at seems to have ended in fatalities. You can see the veins somewhat on her body so I also worry if its septicaemia or another kind of infection. She has always been large, her stomach just as large as her head and has got no wider that I can tell. She is 6 years old.
I am so very worried about her I wonder if anyone can offer any advice as I am reluctant to act too rashly in fridging her etc as I don't want to distress her more. I shall provide a photo when I can but she isn't floating at the minute so you can't see the area I am referring to. I hope that at least her eating is somewhat of a good sign. I am currently using ice packs and a fan to maintain the temperature and have recently added a new filter alongside my old one with a view to relaxing it however the issues existed prior to this. She does look well (I know this sounds ridiculous considering) please help!
She has fine silica sand as a substrate and no objects that could have been swallowed. Her cloaca has lots of black dots around it, much like those that are found elsewhere on a leucistic axolotls body and seems to have become bumpy? I can't say for sure how long it has been like this. It is not red or swollen. I have looked at other threads where a darkened bumpy cloaca has been associated with parasites and every one I look at seems to have ended in fatalities. You can see the veins somewhat on her body so I also worry if its septicaemia or another kind of infection. She has always been large, her stomach just as large as her head and has got no wider that I can tell. She is 6 years old.
I am so very worried about her I wonder if anyone can offer any advice as I am reluctant to act too rashly in fridging her etc as I don't want to distress her more. I shall provide a photo when I can but she isn't floating at the minute so you can't see the area I am referring to. I hope that at least her eating is somewhat of a good sign. I am currently using ice packs and a fan to maintain the temperature and have recently added a new filter alongside my old one with a view to relaxing it however the issues existed prior to this. She does look well (I know this sounds ridiculous considering) please help!
