Help - constipation or diarreha or both

[yoshiko]

Hello, I need help with an albino axolotl, s/he's about 25cm long, fat, three years old, in a nice big tank with moderate flow and good temperature control, although the water's not hard but soft (I'm in Japan). This morning we found her water all brown and gunky, it was like she had diarrhea or threw up, and wiggled around and spread the stuff around all night. We cleaned the tank and put her in new water, and there was blood coming out of the gills when we put her in new water. That stopped and she looks OK (not floating or anything) but the gills are paler then usual (the flully part especially). We noticed before that she has days where she thrashes around more than usual, and that seemed to coincide with the days she defecates, which is very rarely (eats every three days or so, defecates more than one week apart). Is my axolotl constipated? Is this a common problem?? I couldn't find any threads. We feed her mostly frozen (dead) bloodworms (but I thaw them first) and some raw fish (yep, sushi remains) like tuna. We tried some pelletted catfish food for a while before this happened (but she got tired of it), but there isn't really anything new that happened that we could pinpoint as a cause and we're totally worried. Any help will be appreciated, thank you.

 

[joan]

First you should rearrange the filters so there is very little flow. Flow is stressful to axolotls. You should also look in an aquarium shop and see if you can find aquarium salt or sea salt to make your water harder. Axolotls thrive in hard water. If you notice any sores or more bleeding, I suggest doing a salt bath (there are articles on www.caudata.org/cc about salt baths). My axolotls don't defecate that much either. I think once or twice a week is normal for adults. With the feces, I find the best way to clean them up between substrate vacuums is with a suction bulb. You should clean the substrate on a weekly basis, with an accompanying water change. Food wise, it sounds fairly healthy. Good luck!

 

[brian]

Coral sand would be better than salt to raise water hardness. Salt increases salinity, which can lead to other problems, since axies are freshwater animals. Putting a little coral sand in the filter will increase your water hardness. Just keep an eye on it.

 

[yoshiko]

Hi, thanks for the posts. My axie just died yesterday. I guess I won't try again for a while...

 

[cynthia]

Sorry to hear that Yoshiko.