Illness/Sickness: Sick Axolotl. Advice?

[BoonMar]

Unfortunately this will be my first post within the community. I was hoping to post when both of my axolotls reach the same size and would be moved into a 40 gallon. I have run into some complications though, the younger of the two axolotls has what I believe to be a fungus infection, but I am unsure and was looking for advice. It appeared two days ago and his smallest gill on the right side of his head had shriveled and look like it had a fuzzy coating. I immediately preformed a water to change to see if that would help a little. The gill has only gotten worse it is now basically gone, the next gill up has shriveled up as well and a wound is starting form at the base of the first gill. I have read that a salt bath with 100% Holtfreter's solution can be used or one can use a teaspoon of salt in 2 litres of water as a substitute once every three days will help make sure it doesn't become infected, but other wise the wound will just need time to heal on its own (if there is a more effective option please inform me). I'm anxious to hear some advice, since this is the first time I have had to treat an axolotl for anything and want to make sure I'm doing it.

 

[Wysper]

Are you certain of a fuzzy fungus? That looks more like it was bitten off to me.

If it is bleeding, with an open wound, I would not do a salt bath.... pour salt on your own open wound and see how you feel about it. >.>

I would suggest moving him/her to the fridge and doing daily 100% water changes of cold clean de-chlorinated water. If it is just a wound, then you just have to wait until it clears up on it's own.

 

[BoonMar]

Both of My Axolotls live separately in two ten gallon tanks, and while I'm not totally 100% sure it was a fuzzy fungus, I do however know for 100% that it wasn't bitten off I have been watching the issue progress for three days now. Would the salt being poured on the open wound have any different affects? I understand that it would help keep everything from being infected, but would it hurt the axolotl and would it be alright to put him back in the tank after putting salt in its wound or would I still need to fridge him?

 

[Wysper]

I have not done a salt bath for an axolotl, so I can't give advise or anything for that.

I do know, that they do freak out a bit with a salt bath. As in putting them in a container with salt water, not putting the salt IN the wound..

I would try cold clean water and the fridge as well, it can't hurt to start with that until someone else gives advise.

 

[BoonMar]

Crystal thank you for your advice. I have heeded your advice and have not done a salt bath, I instead looked up the axolotl fridging guide on caudata.org and have gone from there. Unfortunately my little guy's injury appears as if it has gotten worse and I still not too sure what is the cause is..... Is that bone in the center?

 

[Wysper]

It looks like it is healing slowly, at least to me. It's not as red and irritated as it was last week in the pictures.

How is his behavior otherwise? Eating a little bit? Still active and moving some? I know the fridge slows down their metabolism, so he won't eat as much (if at all) or really be as active as in his tank.

Could he have caught his gill on something IN the tank, and struggled so hard to get free he actually ripped it off himself?

 

[BoonMar]

He did slow down a bit, but I think that is due more to the fact that he has been the fridge and his metabolism is slowing down. Otherwise overall he seems normal.

 

[Donna001]

I agree with Crystal, clean water is always the best thing to go for to start with as it is what the axolotl is used to, it's not an irritant, but perfectly clean water also ensures that no other bacteria, fungus or infections are introduced.
When a problem isn't too bad it is quite common for clean water to allow an axolotl time to heal itself rather than introduce medications/salt baths/etc.
I'm not a hugely experienced keeper, but your axolotl is already starting to look a little better, which is good. I also think its a good idea to check the tank for anything your axie could have got caught on.
If you want to give your axie a treatment bath I would suggest perhaps not a salt bath, because that can be a bit harsh. People often suggest a bath in untreated water, i.e. water without dechlorinator as the chlorine/chloramine is a disinfectant, but not as harsh as a salt bath. No more than 10-15 minutes though, then back into the dechlorinated water.
Still worth getting more advice from the more experienced keepers though. :happy:
Best of luck, and please keep us posted on progress.

 

[aliya23kk]

I would also suggest for putting Melafix to help with open wounds, etc. it helps a lot.

 

[BoonMar]

Thank you both for your suggestions. I have been waiting till I felt a bit more better to post about this, unfortunately my little guy passed away. I was also waiting and hoping to post a timeline of his recovery. I added some photos from the day I got and did a size comparison with my leucistic axolotl Gilbert.