Cloudy eye.

[Kwags]

Hello,
I just noticed my little axolotls eye seems to have fungus. I will attach a photo. I am tubbing him now, was fine last night and ate this morning. I noticed he wasn’t as active like like he normally is. Should I give him a salt bath? He is only 4 -1/2 months old.

I know it’s early to tell if it’s male or female. I just started calling it a he. - Kirby is his name.

Just checked water and all levels are Good temp is 63.6 F

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Which eye is the one that's the issue? Their left eye, the one facing closer in the foreground looks good. It has their reflective camouflage thing going on. I can't tell with the other eye, is that the one with the issue?

What did you use to check his water levels, like the quality, stats. And the temp is good, so it can't be that. He's young, so maybe he's just kinda changing. As they age, they get spots and stuff, could be something like that. When you say Kirby isn't acting right, what do you mean? Lethargic? Or scratching at his face, or even swimming erratically. My axolotl got spooked one day, she must have been asleep and something spooked her, causing her to swim at top speed, smacking her nose on the glass. She had a bloody nose, healed up in a bit but I was heartbroken. Perhaps your little guy has an injury, not a disease.

Also, a wise member of the forums told me to hold off the salt baths as a last resort because it is very painful for the axolotl to endure. While it would kill any fungus or whatever on them, it will always hurt. My axolotl had gill fungus for a few weeks and I never did a salt bath, I used some remedies that other forum members have used and my little girl's fungus went away and her damage gill stalk is about 1/3rd done regenerating its filaments.

Though Kirby is such a good little honk. Love the long gills he....she, whatever, love the long gills!

 

[Bri the axolotl mom]

I agree. Some axolotls have a silver looking ring around the eyes and some just have black eyes.
Mine had the silver than kinda went away and i think i sometimes see it silver on one eye also.
I don't see any white stuff fuzzy looking thing on it.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

Thats just iridophores which are completely normal.

I dont see any signs of fungus on your axolotl, it looks gorgeous and healthy

 

[Kwags]

hello!
Thank you everyone, I just moved him into the bin with clean de-chlorinated water and the fogginess I saw was cleared up with in a few hours. I also find myself super paranoid when it comes to him/her. I Recently added another lotl into the fam, A wild type named Hoover. They are in a separate tub do to quarantining and making sure he/her is healthy. How long should I keep Hoover quarentined? and What is the best way to introduce Kirby and Hoover to each other?

 

[EasternRomioi3]

@Kwags

I too, worry about my axolotl a lot, so I sympathize. Your new buddy, how old is he? From what I've heard and please wait till someone more experienced replies to that question, I HEARD that you should only introduce fully grown adult axolotls to each other because if one is older, it will harass and injure the younger, smaller one.

 

[Kwags]

@Kwags

I too, worry about my axolotl a lot, so I sympathize. Your new buddy, how old is he? From what I've heard and please wait till someone more experienced replies to that question, I HEARD that you should only introduce fully grown adult axolotls to each other because if one is older, it will harass and injure the younger, smaller one.

They are around the same age, they are still young- I believe that they are 4 1/2 months.

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Yeah, I think you should wait till they're fully grown but check with someone more experienced. I only have the one and only ever had one.

 

[Murk]

As long as they're the same size they can share a tank - size matters much more than age.

However, what matters even more is sex.
At 4 1/2 months, they'll be too young to know which sex they are. There's a decent chance that in a few months you'll find out you have one male and one female, at which point they'll have to be separated again.
It's probably safer to separate them before you can definitively tell their sex, because by then you might be too late.

Quarantining depends on who and where you got them from. To spot parasites or diseases, two months would be more than enough, if you have the patience.

Getting axolotls together isn't very complicated. They generally are not territorial. If you have enough hides, they'll get along well enough.
Since they naturally hunt by motion, it can always happen they snap at each other every now and then. This is not aggression, just a reflex. If your tank is large enough and has plenty of hiding spots, it shouldn't happen too often - and if they're of the same size and healthy adults it won't do much damage either.

Again though, don't keep males and females together continuously. She would be laying eggs pretty much non-stop, which is draining and unhealthy.

 

[Kwags]

As long as they're the same size they can share a tank - size matters much more than age.

However, what matters even more is sex.
At 4 1/2 months, they'll be too young to know which sex they are. There's a decent chance that in a few months you'll find out you have one male and one female, at which point they'll have to be separated again.
It's probably safer to separate them before you can definitively tell their sex, because by then you might be too late.

Quarantining depends on who and where you got them from. To spot parasites or diseases, two months would be more than enough, if you have the patience.

Getting axolotls together isn't very complicated. They generally are not territorial. If you have enough hides, they'll get along well enough.
Since they naturally hunt by motion, it can always happen they snap at each other every now and then. This is not aggression, just a reflex. If your tank is large enough and has plenty of hiding spots, it shouldn't happen too often - and if they're of the same size and healthy adults it won't do much damage either.

Again though, don't keep males and females together continuously. She would be laying eggs pretty much non-stop, which is draining and unhealthy.

Thank you, is it typically between 6 months and 12 months that you can determine the sex? I May just keep them separated to be safe.

 

[Murk]

Yes, that's about right.

How quickly (and often) a pair will breed depends on the axolotls, I think. I know of people whose axolotls have clear "breeding seasons" depending on temperature and light - but I've also seen axolotls who jump at it the moment they're introduced.

I guess you could get them together now and if they turn out to be of opposite sex, separate them in due time. You risk getting a batch of eggs, but that's not necessarily a problem.