Illness/Sickness: My Black Axolotl has white skin patches? Please help :(

[ffriday]

My axolotl aquarium contains two axolotls, one white (Milly), and one black (Apathy). Since i got apathy (my first axolotl) a few months ago, he has had recurring illnesses. A few weeks ago i treated him with salt baths for what i believe to have been fungus on his gills (white, fluffy balls attached to his gills), it kept coming back, though i believe it to be treated it (6grams of salt per litre of water was used in a bucket). I have been doing frequent water changes, about a 50% water change every week for the last 3 weeks in conjunction with bi-weekly 20% water changes.

Recently (last few days) he has gotten seemingly random, white/milky patches all over his body. At first i thought perhaps his skin was shedding, or his slime coat? though im concerned that its the fungus back, or perhaps this http://images.google.com.au/imgres?...=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&sa%

"White skin patches"

I am skeptical to try tea baths. What benefits would they have for an axoltol? Im worried it will stress him further.

I have ordered ammonia/nitrite/nitrate tester that should be here in a few days. The tank flow/current is minimal and i usually feed them prawns or liver. The tank temperature ranges from 13 - 14 'C

Could Apathy's ailment be fatal?

Any help is appreciated Im really quite attached to the little guy:sad:

 

[Jacquie]

Hi Ffriday,

Is there any chance you could post a photo of Apathy?

Fungus can be caused by temperature issues, stress, or water quality issues.

Without test kits it's hard to say if the water quality is the problem - when the tester arrives if you could post your water readings that will help ascertain if it is the water.

If you could advise also on the tank size that would be helpful.

When you were giving salt bath treatments, it would have been best to give these in conjunction with fridging. Fridging aids the axie to relax and heal while providing a hostile environment for the fungus to aid killing it. Giving the salt baths in a bucket at room temperature would have allowed the fungus to survive and keep coming back.

It's advised to give salt baths two to three times a day and to continue treatment for a week after the fungus seems gone to ensure that it is and doesn't reassert itself.

For now:

I would isolate Apathy and place him in the fridge. Set the fridge for at least 5C - no lower than this. This will buy you some time to work out if there are any problems in the tank and to prevent passing any illness to your other axie.

While in the fridge, you will need to change his water 100% each day. Keep bottles of dechlorinated water in the fridge as well, these will be used for water changes to ensure the axie does not suffer from changed temperature shocks.

Prawns and Liver is not very nutricious as a staple diet for axolotls, liver should only really be fed as an occasional treat. I would try earthworm or salmon pellets to provide more nutricion in the diet. This article gives a good rundown on the variety of food available for axies: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

Tea baths are said to be a more gentle treatment than salt baths - perhaps someone can advise further on this.

Keep us posted. Cheers Jacq.

 

[ffriday]

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, hopefully the water test kit will be here monday, though i did a 50% water change yesterday. It could be a tank problem, as i believe that the tank is cycling (though its almost 3 months in).

I cannot separate them until tomorrow, as there is no room in my fridge so ill have to set up the spare fridge, though my tank temperature is about 13'C anyway.

Can you please tell me where i would find salmon pellets in Aus? they refuse to eat regular pellets and they just soil the water.

Can you please tell me how i would go about kepping him in an icecream container and conducting 100% water changes?

His eating is quite healthy. Im going to try and take a photo now, though i have been having camera trouble lately.

Thanks guys

P.S The tank is about 1m long probably 30ish gallon, also the petstore advised me to add 1/2 cup of aquarium salt to improve water quality...is this a bad idea?

 

[ffriday]

The fungus is back on his gills, (white fully balls). I have set the fridge up to 6'C, and ill give him a salt bath today before i put him in.

Would anyone advise a teabath over a saltbath? would this still be effective in treating fungus?

Thanks guys

 

[Jacquie]

Would anyone advise a teabath over a saltbath? would this still be effective in treating fungus? Thanks guys

I would use salt baths, I don't think tea baths are designed to treat fungus - someone may correct me if I am wrong on this.

Prepare a container of dechlorinated water. Dissolve 2-3 teaspoons of salt per litre of water. Leave axolotl in salt bath for about 10 minutes, no longer than 15 minutes. If you have a steady hand, you can gently probe the fungus with a cotton bud and see if it can be plucked off - don't force it though!

Prepare another container of dechlorinated water and use this to house the axie in the fridge.

Refridgerate some bottles of dechlorinated water as these will be used for the 100% daily water changes and for the salt bath - the idea is to keep the axie at a constant temperature so he does not suffer from temperature shock.

 

[ffriday]

I set the fridge to 6'C, but my thermometer reads 4'C, is this too cold?

He appears worse after being in the fridge. His skin is all wrinkly and white, and the fungus appears worse. I gave him a salt bath and tried to clean him up a bit with a cotton wool bud, though his skin still looks awful!

6'C is the warmest you can set the fridge ('Min'), could my thermometer be inaccurate?

Should i take him out of the fridge, as he appears to be deteriorating.

I know they dont need to eat at that temperature, but should i try and catch him a worm anyway?

 

[Jacquie]

I set the fridge to 6'C, but my thermometer reads 4'C, is this too cold?

In all honesty I don't know. I've always been advised to set the temperature no lower than 5 degrees celcius when fridging. But I've heard on other threads of axies living well during winter in outside ponds when the pond's surface is frozen over.

He appears worse after being in the fridge. His skin is all wrinkly and white, and the fungus appears worse. I gave him a salt bath and tried to clean him up a bit with a cotton wool bud, though his skin still looks awful!

6'C is the warmest you can set the fridge ('Min'), could my thermometer be inaccurate?

Should i take him out of the fridge, as he appears to be deteriorating.

I know they dont need to eat at that temperature, but should i try and catch him a worm anyway?

While in the fridge the axolotl's appearance will alter - the skin will change hue, the gills will shrink and the axolotl will be less active.

Shedding skin can appear as white stringy substance.

When salt bathing him, are you leaving him in for 10-15 minutes only? If more than 15 minutes, the salt will start to damage the skin and gills.

I would try him with food each day, the cold slows the metabolism right down so he may not be inclined to eat but this is fine as the weight loss is also slowed right down.

If you could take a few photos of the axie, this will give us more to go on.

 

[ffriday]

My test results are as follows:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 1
Nitrate: 20

I really hate keeping him in the fridge, i have to keep turning it off which defeats the purpose of stabilizing his temperature. I turned it off all night, and on in the morning, and when i got home it was 1'C (even though i set it to 6'C) which really horrified me, so turned off the fridge so the temp would rise very slowly. he is still alive and moving, but not eating (not surprisingly)

I cant see any fungus, though there was a lot of white flaky stuff in the water (more skin, fungus?)

When is it safe to take him out of the fridge? im so worried about him. I feel awful and i really dont want him to die.

 

[Jacquie]

My test results are as follows:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 1
Nitrate: 20.

Looks like the cycle is on schedule and looking good. Keep up with the 20% daily water changes and once the nitrite and nitrate read at a consistant '0' and the Nitrate is between 10-60 the cylce will be complete. Once complete, you will only need to do 10-20% water changes about once per week.

I really hate keeping him in the fridge, i have to keep turning it off which defeats the purpose of stabilizing his temperature. I turned it off all night, and on in the morning, and when i got home it was 1'C (even though i set it to 6'C) which really horrified me, so turned off the fridge so the temp would rise very slowly. he is still alive and moving, but not eating (not surprisingly).

The fluctuating temperatures will be doing the axolotl no favours. I would keep him isolated in a tub and place somewhere cool.

I cant see any fungus, though there was a lot of white flaky stuff in the water (more skin, fungus?).

Sounds like skin shedding.

While axie is living in a tub in isolation, keep up with the salt baths for a week to ensure fungus is truly gone.

When is it safe to take him out of the fridge? im so worried about him. I feel awful and i really dont want him to die.

Axies can happily live in the fridge for a few months. But if you can't keep the temperature in the fridge constant, it's not an asset as the fluctuating temps will stress the axie and stress contributes to fungus.

 

[ffriday]

Here are the pictures....i hope

He looks awful

 

[ffriday]

Apathy passed away today. He was dead when i got home. I did everything i could :'(

 

[Jacquie]

Oh Sam, I'm so sorry. You did everything you could for him. :sad:

RIP Apathy.

 

[sherylbobbins]

Poor little bugger. It's true, you did all that you could. At least he's in axolotl heaven gorging himself on the worms that he used to eat. RIP little dude

 

[pixiegriff]

So sorry to hear you lost your little friend. Sometimes there are bigger hands than ours helping to take care of things when they turn bad. At least there is no suffering now, just your sadness to heal.