Question: I just got given this axolotl

[Rissa1980]

I have just been given this female albino axolotl after her tank mate died. she has hardly any gills, shes not to thin, not really eating and she has lots of tiny black dots on her cloaca. she did a poo and it had a stone in it. also she was in a tank with no filter or air stone. can someone please help me?

 

[Linus]

Wow she's in rough shape. Looks like she's starting to morph.. she needs some TLC. Are you familiar with keeping axolotls?

I see you got the ice pack in there that's a good start. Keep her cool. Might want to offer a turtle dock or some type of land refuge as it looks like she may finish morphing.

 

[Bellabelloo]

I would keep her in cool clean dechlorinated water and feed her earthworms. Remove any stones as they pass through so she doesn't try to eat them again. Keep us posted if anything changes.:happy:

 

[Rissa1980]

Wow she's in rough shape. Looks like she's starting to morph.. she needs some TLC. Are you familiar with keeping axolotls?

I see you got the ice pack in there that's a good start. Keep her cool. Might want to offer a turtle dock or some type of land refuge as it looks like she may finish morphing.

I thought that if they where morphine there heads got smaller. If she is is there any way to stop her or is it to late. What makes them morph. They previous owner was feed her stake for bout 2 years. I've had axolotls for 5 months and had 2 of my females lay eggs within a month of having them. I have the water level low. It's bout 4-5 inches high and she's in a 1.5ft tank. I put the ice pack in there cause when I got her the water was 26•c, and she was going for air all the time and she was obly in an inch of water in the tank sje was brought in to me, so the first thing I done was put an ice pack in there then put the bubble bar in there. Thanks for you help Linus

 

[Rissa1980]

I would keep her in cool clean dechlorinated water and feed her earthworms. Remove any stones as they pass through so she doesn't try to eat them again. Keep us posted if anything changes.:happy:

Is dechlorinated water like distiller water. I hear about it all the time. I have her in a tank with no stones. Just a filter and a bubble bar. Thanks for your comment

 

[satyrlike]

Bellabelloo, do you think that it's morphing or stress? I'm thinking that the axxie needs to be fridged so she has a chance to pass whatever aquarium gravel she seems to have ingested. Daily water changes, etc...

 

[Coastal Groovin]

Sounds and looks like its from the stress of poor living conditions. Feeding him and keeping him with clean water and a proper temp may let the gills re-grow some. If its going to morph there will be no stopping it now. You might slow it by friging but as small as the gills are that won't stop it. Its a waiting game now to see what happens. Just treat it well and cross your fingers.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Bellabelloo, do you think that it's morphing or stress? I'm thinking that the axxie needs to be fridged so she has a chance to pass whatever aquarium gravel she seems to have ingested. Daily water changes, etc...

I think the poor animal has been kept appallingly. Now it has appropriate water conditions and hopefully earthworms it may recover. I don't think it is morphing, but if it does there is nothing that you can do to stop it. I do however worry what the long term effects may be .

 

[Rissa1980]

Sounds and looks like its from the stress of poor living conditions. Feeding him and keeping him with clean water and a proper temp may let the gills re-grow some. If its going to morph there will be no stopping it now. You might slow it by friging but as small as the gills are that won't stop it. Its a waiting game now to see what happens. Just treat it well and cross your fingers.

i just found out today that is it 7 years old. i think it did have poor living conditions. she doesnt go up for air much, dont know if that means anything or not. im not sure about friging. ive only had axolotls for 5 month. i got some meal worms today to see if she will eat them. im going to try and get either earthworms or red wriggles. do bait shops sell them. hopefully she is not morphing, i will keep you all update on the progress of whats going on.

 

[Rissa1980]

I think the poor animal has been kept appallingly. Now it has appropriate water conditions and hopefully earthworms it may recover. I don't think it is morphing, but if it does there is nothing that you can do to stop it. I do however worry what the long term effects may be .

yes i think it was with no filter system or air in the tank. plus they keep changing it from the pond back into the tank all the time. so are earthworms better than red wrigglers. i worry to about it. i check on it every morning when i get up to make sure it hasnt died. i know its not out of the woods yet, but hopefully i can get it healthy again. thanks for your advise everyone

 

[satyrlike]

Rissa, I wouldn't use the mealworms as there may be some issues with the axxie passing the chitin. Earthworms are far better than red wigglers, seems as if red wigglers have a slime coating that axxies do not care for. Earthworms should be availble at pretty much any bait store. Here's a link to making your own worm bin. I did this and have never had to purchase worms for my axxies again. Cheap and Easy Worm Bin!

 

[Rissa1980]

Rissa, I wouldn't use the mealworms as there may be some issues with the axxie passing the chitin. Earthworms are far better than red wigglers, seems as if red wigglers have a slime coating that axxies do not care for. Earthworms should be availble at pretty much any bait store. Here's a link to making your own worm bin. I did this and have never had to purchase worms for my axxies again. Cheap and Easy Worm Bin!

Thanks you satyrlike for your advise. I will try and get some earthworms tomorrow. Do I have to cut them when I feed them to the axxies. She had been on a diet of steak from when the previous owners had her. I don't know if this has done any harm. Will I need to do complete water changes or just half the water.

 

[satyrlike]

Depending on the size of the axxie and the size of the worm. My axxies are under 10" and I feed them a full worm at a time. Wait a bit and then feed them another if they are interested. Earthworms are the perfect food for them, not that you can't give them the occasional "treat" of blood worms, guppies, chicken, etc... If you are going to keep her in a filtered tank, then 20% water changes once per week should be fine. If you are fridging her I do 2x complete water changes every day. If you are keeping her in an unfiltered tank then i would do 20% water change daily but that depends on the size of the tank. If it's a plastic shoebox I would do 100% water change daily. Don't forget to use decholrinated water for the water changes.

Thanks you satyrlike for your advise. I will try and get some earthworms tomorrow. Do I have to cut them when I feed them to the axxies. She had been on a diet of steak from when the previous owners had her. I don't know if this has done any harm. Will I need to do complete water changes or just half the water.

 

[Kaysie]

She probably isn't coming up for air because your water is cold and you have an airstone. That's providing her all the oxygen she needs, so she doesn't need to use her rudimentary lungs.

Be wary about using artificial ice packs. They could leak, but more importantly, in such a small tank they can cause wild swings in temperatures, which can be more stressful than being too warm.

I don't think fridging is needed here, nor is she morphing. The picture you posted clearly shows no bulging in the eyes, which is one of the first signs of morphing. Just give her some cool, clean water, and lots of bites of worm, and she should be okay.

 

[Rissa1980]

She probably isn't coming up for air because your water is cold and you have an airstone. That's providing her all the oxygen she needs, so she doesn't need to use her rudimentary lungs.

Be wary about using artificial ice packs. They could leak, but more importantly, in such a small tank they can cause wild swings in temperatures, which can be more stressful than being too warm.

I don't think fridging is needed here, nor is she morphing. The picture you posted clearly shows no bulging in the eyes, which is one of the first signs of morphing. Just give her some cool, clean water, and lots of bites of worm, and she should be okay.

thanks for you advise kaysie. i only had that artificial ice pack in there because the day i got her her tank temp was up near the 30*c and she was going up for air every 15-20 seconds. as soon as i put her in nice cold fresh water she stopped going up for air so often. im off to get some earthworms today. are tiger worms the same thing. im glad you say shes not morphing.

 

[Kaysie]

Tiger worms are akin to red wigglers. Some axies will eat them, but they ooze a noxious fluid that some axies don't like. If you can get nightcrawlers, those are generally the most palatable.

 

[Rissa1980]

good news this morning. she ate 4 pieces of beef heart i was really happy bout that. im hoping she will start eating more. i hope she will eat the worms when i get them aswell. also since i have had my smallest male in with her he has been eating more which is great aswell and he was starting to get on the skinny side. i hand feed all my axolotls. i dont like leaving food in the bottom of the tank. the beef heart i feed her is from the butcher, i dont like the frozen stuff for the pet shops

 

[Kaysie]

That's good to hear!

In the future, you should consider quarantining all new additions for at least 30 days to minimize the risk of transferring diseases to your already existing animals.

You should also be wary of putting a male in. If they were to breed, it would be pretty detrimental to her health to lay eggs when she's already in such a bad way.

 

[Rissa1980]

That's good to hear!

In the future, you should consider quarantining all new additions for at least 30 days to minimize the risk of transferring diseases to your already existing animals.

You should also be wary of putting a male in. If they were to breed, it would be pretty detrimental to her health to lay eggs when she's already in such a bad way.

yeah i will. i only put my male in there cause he was smaller than the rest and i thought maybe if she had company she might pick up with eating, she has done another poo but no stones this time. she ate 2 earthworms today so im happy she is eating, im going to up load some more photos i took today. i reacon she is looking better

 

[Rissa1980]

hear are some update photos i took of her today. ive had her for 5 days, and i think she is looking better