Help please!! Skin Peeling

H

hailz

Guest
Please help, I went home for lunch today to feed my baby axies and change the water etc, when i noticed my adult male's skin looked as if a layer of it was peeling off.(he is black and the patches of skin are a light greyish colour) its not furry or anything and its in patches (on his head, down the middle of his back and a little bit on his tummy) he doesnt seem sick or worried by it. He still eats like a pig and moves around like a looney. it looks kind of like when human skin is sunburnt and it peels off? and when he moves it flakes of in little bits and floats off. Im worried about salt baths and want to avoid them because ive never given one and im afraid ill do it wrong and cause him more damage. Ive noticed the skin stuff on him before and it just went away after about a day and now its come back more. im not sure if my female has the same thing as she is an albino and i cant see it properly, but i dont think she does. yeah im just not sure what to do, i dont want it to get worse. Any advise would be great.Thanks
 
I think that has to do with water quality. Test your pH, nitrite, ammonia and nitrates and post back.
 
Im not sure how to test that sort of thing, as stupid as im going sound, i dont really care, i just wanna make them better?, is there someway i can improve the water quality? Ive had them for a few months now with no trouble but the white axie is now peeling 2.They seem to be peeling more, but by the time i get home it all gone.
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So u dont think it is a fungus? i've never had anything like this happen before, and they are moving and eating ok. Im just so confused..and i dont want them to be sick.
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Most aquarium shops will test your water for you if you bring in a sample of your tank water. i would say that ammonia, nitrite or nitrate is burning your axolotls skin and causing it to peel off. if they are eating that is a good sign. i dont know what you can do to improve the water quality because i dont know whether there is any thing wrong with it in the first place. i would get the water tested asap and post back the results.
 
"i dont really care, i just wanna make them better? "

Without knowing the levels of chemical in the water, we can't re-balance it. You need to care, the water is the most important thing in looking after an axolotl. And until I get those figures, there's no point me posting any further help.
 
im sorry,i wrote that wrong
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, i didnt mean it that way, i mean i dont really care if people think im stupid cause i dont know. i do care, i wouldnt be asking for help if i didnt. and i will try and get a sample to a pet shop asap and let you know how i go. Thanks for you advice, if i do reasonably big water change do u think that could help?
 
Well it depends what stage of a cycle your tank is at. Get reading first and then we'll see what we'll see.

BTW - I'm having a crappy day and I lashed out. Sorry about that.
 
Hailz - You need to take a sample of your aquarium water to a pet store and ask them to test it for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. If your ammonia or nitrite is high (over zero) your water is causing the damage to your axolotls skin. Please let us know what the readings for each is.

You should buy a test kit that will allow you to test the above mentioned parameters so you can monitor your water quality. Poor water quality leads to illness and even death.

Please read this article on tank cycling http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

As for the peeling skin - I would recommend you remove your axolotls from the aquarium and put them in individual food safe (like ice cream buckets) containers in clean fresh declorinated water. If you can not keep them below 20C in your house then put them in the fridge.

You will need to start giving them salt baths twice a day. To do this mix 2 teaspoons of salt with 2 liters of water until dissolved. Soak the axolotl for 10 min twice a day in the salt water solution.

If you put your axolotls in the fridge then also put some spare water in the fridge to mix the salt bath water with so you are using water that is the same temperature as the axolotls water.
 
ok, i will try that at lunch when i go home to check on them, can i just use normal table salt? or will i have to get some sort of special stuff from a pet shop? Sorry about all the questions, im a little worried about it, ive never done one and im afraid ill do it wrong and cause them damage. do i just use water out of the tap? and they should be ok out of the fridge, our back room does'nt get much sun and its tiled so its pretty cool in there. i did change a bit of the water last night and they didnt seem as bad this morning. i will get to the pet shop tomorrow cause i have the day off. and they did eat again last night so i guess thats a good thing. ill let u know how i get on with the salt baths, thanks guys
 
Aquarium salt is the best thing to use but can be expensive. If using table salt, make sure it's non iodised and fully dissolved in the water before you bathe the axolotl. Stagger the baths so they're about 12 hrs apart - like morning and evening. Yes, use water from the tap, dechlorinated.
 
i had the exact same problem, i tested the water and it was wayy too acidic, i balanced it and it fixed up imediately, get a PH tester
 
me too,same prob but caught it fast, testing it every week prevents alot cause you can see it coming. upmarket aquarium have test kits for 45 bucks, they are in melbourne but prob do mail order.its a full ph, ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,gh an kh test kit. just type upmaret aquarium+vic market into google. send them an e-mail and they will let you know if they can oxoxox hope they get better soon. (my prob was the ph acidic to.
 
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