Illness/Sickness: Fungus on the mouth

[Daryna]

Hey everyone

this is my three year old adopted female. She has been highly neglected by her previous owners. She has a broken/malformed leg, hardly any gills which are growing back but the worst is an injury she sustained on her mouth which is now covered with fungus. I have purchased some indian almond leaves but can you please tell me how to use them for her swiftest recovery.

Thank you.

 

[Bette]

Thank you for caring for this poor baby! With advanced fungus like that, I recommend that you do salt baths. Keep us updated and monitor her for possible infections that could occur in relation to this. Here is the link for the salt bath tutorial. Best of luck!

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...axolotl/72698-salt-bath-picture-tutorial.html

*By the way, you do not need to fridge the axolotl in conjunction with doing the salt baths. In fact, I recommend that you do the salt baths with water the same temp as her tank water (you can even just use some of the tank water!), and then to return her to her tank right after the bath.

 

[Daryna]

Yeah I just gave her a 10 minute salt bath (she was not happy about it) and the fungus just seemed to fall off revealing her injury it is bleeding a little bit as you can see on the picture. I have her in a separate tank with prestine water conditions and at a constant temperature of 17 degrees. Hopefully she'll recover quickly and finally meet her female tank mates

 

[Bette]

Ok, that's great. I noticed the white spots she has too... they look like they could be a type of fungus as well. Or perhaps just odd markings or slime coat issues of some sort. The salt should help.

 

[Daryna]

I was told that she had those markings all her life but again can't be 100% sure. They don't look like fungus and she has them all over her body. Do you think I should use some sort of antibiotics for the wound? Or are salt baths enough for this sort of wounds?

 

[Bette]

I was told that she had those markings all her life but again can't be 100% sure. They don't look like fungus and she has them all over her body. Do you think I should use some sort of antibiotics for the wound? Or are salt baths enough for this sort of wounds?

Some might disagree with me, but I would just closely monitor the wound for signs of infection like puss, swelling, etc. And treat if needed. Hopefully, the wound will now close up and start to heal.

 

[Daryna]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Im just currently really happy that she finally ate a tasty worm. I think the fungus was blocking her nostrils and she couldnt smell food that poor baby. Feeling quite positive about her might even breed her in a year or so. I just hate that people don't do proper research before getting these lovely animals. Out of my 7 axies (none of which were bought from the store) I have 3 which came to me with no gills and one which is still spitting out rocks after she has been with me for 2 months. Its just heartbreaking

 

[keiko]

You could add some indian almond leaves in her tank. They might help soothe the infected area a bit. They also have mildly antibacterial and antifungal properties. But also keep doing salt baths as needed.

 

[Daryna]

I have put 2 indian almond leaves in her tank and will monitor the pH levels. Another question I have is when axies get injured does the wound scab over?

 

[Bette]

I have put 2 indian almond leaves in her tank and will monitor the pH levels. Another question I have is when axies get injured does the wound scab over?

That's an interesting question.... I believe that the new soft tissue can be seen forming over the wound and growing back, but I do not remember ever seeing a scab exactly.

 

[Daryna]

Lol fair enough.