Mudpuppy with white warms????

[stephane]

I recently got 2 Mudpuppy's while ice fishing, I decided to keep them as pets. I've had them for about 1 week now and noticed little white things on them... at first I only saw it in their gills but now I can clearly see they are little warms and they are moving on their skin as well as their gills.

I read that a salt bath could help with some external parasites?? but what about these little warms? and will my mud puppy's still be able to breath in salted water?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[ryan]

There was another thread about the same problem with a mudpuppy. I couldn't find it but you can look around.

 

[abrahm]

Here is the thread that Ryan was speaking of.

Looks like the best idea is to use a medicine dropper or a pipette to remove the worms and then dispose of them. If you use the salt solution make sure to read this article on salt baths first.

You don't want to use table salt!

 

[jennifer]

A short bath in salty water will not hurt the mudpuppy. Also, there is a medication that has been used to remove parasites (anchor worm) from axolotls. I don't know the name of the medicine, but it's sold for treating anchor worm on pond fish. I would recommend trying the salt bath first, though.

 

[stephane]

I was able to remove most of the warm with a pipette.. but still couldn’t get to those under the gills. I gave them a good 10 minutes concentrated salt bath yesterday evening, I think it almost killed the mud puppies because they both completely stopped moving and ejected a bunch of slime from their skin... I was able to revive them once they were put back in normal water but now their limbs have turned yellow in color. They still move around with their limbs, but I can tell they are not as active as before.

Is there any condition out there that would cause their limbs to go yellow???

at least...... all the warms seem to have died or detached themselves.

 

[stephane]

Never mind what I said about the yellow limbs. I had them in a white pot and I guess with the light and pot collor the legs appeared more yello then usual.

I just put both of them in a 20 gallon aquarium and they seem back to normal.

I don't see any warms what so ever, it seems like the salted bath really worked!

Thanks guys!

 

[ryan]

Both in a 20 gallon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats much to small for two. Its fine for one but you either need to get another tank or release one back where you found it. They will almost definitely fight. If they're not fighting now that doesn't mean that they wont fight in the future.

 

[stephane]

Yeah... I know, I read the profile on mud puppies on this web site and read that they are very territorial. The reason I kept two is because I was worried one or both of them would die because the fish hook caught them really deep, and even though I was as careful as possible to take it out, they both bled. I've had them both in a 10 gallon aquarium for the first week. They have never shown any sign of aggression towards each other, and tend to lay beside each other more then anything, even in the 20 gallon aquarium. I'm not sure what this means exactly, but if I see any sign of aggression I'll try to release one... but its honestly hard being that I don't go ice fishing every weekend.

I do have another 10 gallon aquarium, I know its not much space, but it will have to do if things get aggressive..... maybe I can try looking for a bigger aquarium hmmmmmmmm

 

[ryan]

Yeah you really should because you might not see them fight, you might wake up one morning and one or both would be dead.

 

[jennifer]

Another option would be to keep them in the 2 separate tanks. One in a 10-gallon tank would probably be OK. You should test the water for ammonia, especially during the first month or so while the tank is still getting established.

What salt concentration did you use? A really concentrated salt solution could certainly kill them.

 

[abrahm]

Releasing either of these mudpuppies back into the wild is not a good idea either. It is possible they have been exposed to a pathogen in the food you have fed them or from the tank that you placed them in that they could bring back into the wild with devastating consequences. Releasing an animal after it has been brought into captivity is not a good plan and it is illegal in many states.

I would agree with Jennifer that you can separate the two if necessary by placing one in the 10 gallon and the other in the 20 gallon. If you can't house both in separate tanks you could try to trade it to a friend or give it to someone else on the classified forum here. Please don't release the mudpuppy though.

 

[stephane]

Thanks for the help, its really appreciated.

I won't let any of them go back in wild, and they really seem both fine the 20 gallon aquarium, if I have any issues I'll put one in the 10 gallon aquarium or I'll buy a bigger aquarium.

I've had fish aquariums since I was a kid and never had any issues keeping my fish alive, but I never used one of those PH kits before, I'll buy one next week to make sure things are well. If my PH levels are to high, what should I do to bring it back to a safe level?

When I first setup the 20 gallon tank I used a water stabilizer to remove the chlorine and chloramines as well as heavy metals, and also used a bit of aquarium salt, half the recommended dosage to setup a new aquarium.

I'm also using one of those power filters which are supposed to help maintain a healthy amount of "good" bacteria to keep the ammonia levels low,(I know the bacteria has to build up over the course of a few weeks), I also have an air pump with two tubes/rocks pumping air in the aquarium...

When I was younger I used to change some of the water every 2 or 3 weeks and would do a full water change every 2 or 3 months... is this a good idea? and should I threat the water with the water stabilizer and salt first before adding it to the tank?

The salt concentration I used was 20 to 25 grams per ltr, and I left the mud puppies in the water solution for aprox 10 to 15 minutes... and took them out because they completly stopped moving.

Any way’s, these mud puppies really seem like resilient creatures and you guys really seem to know your stuff.



(Message edited by thestef on February 18, 2007)

 

[abrahm]

pH tests and adding salt shouldn't be necessary for maintaining your mudpuppy. pH is rather difficult to change and messing with it can often cause more problems than it solves. Most salamanders and newts can adapt to a wide variety of pH and hardness conditions.

The Ammonia test that Jennifer mentioned would be an excellent thing to have. While you are building up your good bacteria and even afterwards you can have issues that cause your ammonia to spike upwards. Having an ammonia (and nitrite and nitrate) test on hand is also useful for troubleshooting problems with your aquarium. I would recommend the liquid tests over the strip as they are both cheaper and more accurate. Strip tests tend to expire quickly.

I would try to do weekly partial water changes of 25%-50%. With two mudpuppies in a 20 gallon aquarium you are going to have a lot of waste being produced. Doing water changes will help to reduce waste products and keep the water clean. Just make sure to treat your water with a dechlorinator before you adding it. Also, I wouldn't ever do a complete water change. This can be a shock to the mudpuppy's system and also can harm your good bacteria.

 

[ryan]

I know this is an old thread but how is the pup doing? Stephane hasn't logged in for almost a month so I doubt that I will get an answer.

(Message edited by i_love_necturus on March 18, 2007)