Sick Axolotl

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daddysofjames

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Hey guys. My partner and i have a fairly young Axolotl... about 3 months old i think. yesterday i looked into the tank and seen him lying upside down on the bottom. i feared the worst and thought he was dead. i waited until my partner came in from work before i removed him from the tank as James (the Axolotl) was a present to him from me. when i broke the news to Lee (my partner) he looked over and noticed him move. He wasn't dead after all. we panicked a little bit and put him into a fish bowl with fresh water until we knew what to do.

We both looked on here and read a thread about how if they are upside down it can be a gas bubble in there abdomen? we followed the advice from that thread (putting him in water that just covered him and placed him in the fridge) and he is no longer upside down as often. Last night i also noticed his feathers on his gills are no longer pink... they are almost the same color as he is (a white-ish grey) and he has also got what looks like a small wound on the very tip of his tail. he is also barely moving, infact he is completely motionless unless we slightly move him with feeding tweezers.

It is really worrying us both as we don't want James to die. if anyone could help with this it would be great as we are out of ideas.

thanks guys.
regards Kris
 
do you have water test kits? If you do you should post the results on here, water quality might help figure out whats going on. Is there anything James could have eaten in the tank like gravel, or rocks? Does it look like his abdomen is bulging out? if so check his throat and see if it is swollen as well. Make sure you do daily water changes of the fridge water, because it's a smaller container and will get dirty much quicker. Do you see anything fuzzy looking on him where you think there might be a wound, or on the gills? A picture might help as well if it's an injury thing
 
Hi Carson.
first and foremost, thank-you for the tips. There isn't really anything in his tank that he could of eaten other than maybe a small piece of gravel. other than that there is nothing else i can think of. there is no bulging on him at all. i will take some photos of him and upload them for you to have a look at to see what you think.

it is really concerning us. at the minute he is back in the fridge and is still alive as far as we can tell.
 
If gravel is his substrate there is a good chance he's eaten it. Axolotl's tend to eat anything in their tank, and a common problem is they eat the gravel in their substrate and cause impaction. If this is the case, which floating tends to be a symptom of impaction, then sticking him in the fridge was the right thing to do. The fact that there is no bulging is a good sign, you don't want a bloated axolotl. What is his usual diet, and do you happen to have a water testing kit?
 
yeah, gravel is the main substrate in his tank so i guess he could of swallowed a piece.

his normal diet is blood worms and a rare legless cricket as a treat for being too cute. lol.

we got him from a local pet store because we thought he was really cute and we had looked t them online so when we seen one in a pet store we didnt think twice about getting him. unfortunately they didnt tell us anything about how to look after them other than keeping them in cool water and feeding them blood worms. we weren't aware until now that we needed a water testing kit. would you be able to advise on the best testing kit to purchase?

here are the photos of james.
 

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James is very much on the skinny side. How often is he fed? Did the petshop advise you at all on how often an axolotl should be fed?
 
we put a blood worm cube in the tank every 2 - 3 days which is what the lady in the pet store advised us to do, he is around the same weight as he was when we bought him, how often should he be fed?
 
I have to agree that he looks extremly thin as well. I honestly don't know which water testing kit is the best, but I use api's and they work fine for me. I would start fattening him up if it is at all possible while he's in the fridge. I would wait till some more expereinced members chime in here, but taking him out of the fridge to get his metabolism up so he'll eat something might be the better idea, he is really skinny. Try to feed him while in the fridge for now, also most petstores test your water for free. But I think the main thing to do now is to change his water daily to make sure no waste's are in there with him, and to try and get him to eat. Has he been eating regularly?

edit: looks like we posted at the same time. I'd try to find some earthworms too feed him if it's possible, start feeding him every day until he's got some more weight on him. Blood worms are pretty small for an axolotl that size, but if it's all you have you should feed him those until you can find something better.
 
he is fed regularly but doesnt always eat what is put in to the tank. we have tried feeding him while being in the fridge with feeding tweezers but he isnt taking it. is there anything else that we should be feeding him that could help with building up his weight as this has made us more concerned! i have noticed that the shop no longer sells axolotls as my brother wanted one and they no longer supply them, im guessing this is because the know nothing about the species and cant advise anyone on how to look after them because so far everything that we have been told hasnt been right or hasnt been sufficient info and we really just want him to get better
 
edit: looks like we posted at the same time. I'd try to find some earthworms too feed him if it's possible, start feeding him every day until he's got some more weight on him. Blood worms are pretty small for an axolotl that size, but if it's all you have you should feed him those until you can find something better.
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Earthworms? im guessing you get them from the likes of a fishing tackle shop or something similar and not just ones from the ground as im sure they carry some horrible parasites
 
I also use API. =]

The tests you're looking for are ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph. All of which should come in a master test kit. Have you been using dechlorinator in the water you use for his tank?

An axolotl of that size I'd be trying to feed daily. How long is he in length? I can't quite work it out from the picture. If he's big enough it might be an idea to get him onto earthworms as aswell as bloodworm to chunk him out a little. =]

My concern now is that it may be water conditions as well as diet that have him as he is. Are the remaining bloodworms (if there are any) cleaned out of the tank after feeding? It sounds as though you (as well as many others often are) have sadly been misinformed, or at least not given enough information by the petshop. =[

Edit: wah sorry Carson! DaddysofJames you can get earthworms from fishing tackle shops and also websites. Let me dig up the place I use and I'll edit it back in here! =]

Okay I used wormsdirect.co.uk but also garden worms are fine as long as no chemicals have been used in the garden like pesticides and such! If you are unsure whether or not they have been go with online. =]
 
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Erzs said:
I also use API. =]

The tests you're looking for are ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph. All of which should come in a master test kit. Have you been using dechlorinator in the water you use for his tank?

An axolotl of that size I'd be trying to feed daily. How long is he in length? I can't quite work it out from the picture. If he's big enough it might be an idea to get him onto earthworms as aswell as bloodworm to chunk him out a little. =]

My concern now is that it may be water conditions as well as diet that have him as he is. Are the remaining bloodworms (if there are any) cleaned out of the tank after feeding? It sounds as though you (as well as many others often are) have sadly been misinformed, or at least not given enough information by the petshop. =[

Edit: wah sorry Carson! DaddysofJames you can get earthworms from fishing tackle shops and also websites. Let me dig up the place I use and I'll edit it back in here! =]
Click to expand...

Yet again, we werent told anything about a dechlorinator. im getting a lot more concerned now as it seems a little cruel that we have been going on for a few months the way we have thinking we were doing right but apparently have been doing the wrong thing. the remaining bloodworms when there are any are cleaned out

it appears that we havent been given enough information at all!
 
HI there, ok your axie is definately very skinny bless him and if he has been on gravel you can almost certainly say he has swallowed some but hopefully now that he is in the fridge he should pass them over time and maybe whilst he is in there you could clear his tank of gravel and replace it with sand or just leave it as a bare bottomed floor. Axies suck in anything that surrounds food they are very effective hoovers!

You can buy earthworms on the internet from ebay, worms direct, exotic reptiles etc but the quickest method is from your own back garden they will be fine as long as you dont use any chemicals out there :)

earthworms are the best and most staple diet for your axie and they love them!!! try and find some small ones to start with for James and pop one in his container and leave it there for an hour and see if he eats it. If he does then try putting another one in say morning and night if not take the worm out and try again later.

Earthworms tend to entice them into eating more as they wriggle around so much.

Am keeping fingers and toes crossed for James :happy:
 
we really appreciate the help you guys are giving us, seriously! thankyou all so much! we were wondering why he was so thin but we thought it was because he is still quite young. i just measured James there, he is roughly 3.5'' long. is this big enough for him to start eating earth worms?
 
Thats what we are here for and its great that you care so much for your axie!

Yes that is a fine size for a small earthworm, mine were about 3-4 inches when I first got them.

We all need to keep our fingers crossed for him, just remember to change the water in his fridge tub daily with dechlorinated water (I use nutrafin aqua plus) make sure you also have a spare bottle of dechlorinated water also in the fridge so its at the same temp for James when you change his water. Keep the lights off in the fridge or pop a tea towel over his tub.

Keep trying with the small worms when you get some as he needs to get his energy back and just leave them in his tub so he an eat it at his own leisure!

Focus on that for now and we can try and help sort your tank set up out in the next few days whilst James hopefully starts recovering.

Good luck!
 
thankyou. unfortunately we dont have any water de-chlorinator atm but we will get some asap to make sure his water is the way he needs it.

im really annoyed that we got pretty much no advice when we bought him now. we did ask the lady in the shop how to look after them and everything that we needed and all she said was that we needed a cold water tank and blood worms that is all. we have 4 other well fed animals so we didnt know that we werent feeding him right which is the upsetting thing so hopefully with all the help you guys have gave us and a little time James will be back to health in no time!
 
Believe me you're not the only ones!

Okay let's see what we can do for the basics.

In his tank there should be sand as substrate or nothing at all. The gravel I'm afraid will most likely have to go!

His filter should not be a harsh water flow as this can stress an axolotl out, as can bright lights so these are not recommended. You can tell if he's stressed by forward pointing gills and a curved tip of tail!

A hide is also needed for your little one. Such as a plant pot or piping… Anything he can sneak into and feel secure, or hide from daylight if it’s too bright!

His water needs to be dechlorinated to make it safe before being added to the tank, or for the moment his fridge house.

The temp of the water in his tank should not be too warm. I keep mine around 18degrees. If you don't have one, a thermometer will be handy. =]


You’ve already been informed about the test kit so I think that’s it for now!

Any other members please chip in if I miss anything out which I most likely have!

Oh I wrote this up before seeing the last posts I completely agree with Zoe in saying focus on getting James better and munching before worrying about anything else too much. =]

(And if the earthworms seem a bit big for him as horrible as it sounds you can chop them up to a better size if needed!)


Keep us updated on James! =]
 
There you go Erzs has sorted your tank out, looks like we are all typing at the same time lol! Anyway bed for me 2 sick kids to look after so will have a check in the morning on James progress will be on most of the day if you get stuck.

Fingers crossed you can find some nice juicy worms tomorrow and yes as Erzs said you can chop them (thankfully I never had to lol)!

Just please get come dechlorinator ASAP as the water chemicals will not be helping him.

Take care
 
thankyou all for your help. looks like james' home for the time being is the fridge! we shall let you know how we get on with the earthworms tomorrow.

thanks again guys
 
heres a little photo of James when he was a happier little axolotl
 

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