Strange behaviour, sick axo

[sam]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anybody has any experience with this sort of behaviour from an axolotl. Albie is a white albino, and recently has developed red spots all over his body. Gave him a week in the fridge with salt baths, and he seems to be a lot happier, though he still won't eat. His gills are looking better, though he's still spotty - I'll have to track down some sort of medication for him I think.

Anyway, before putting him in the fridge I noticed some strange behaviour. He was moving to the surface to gulp air more often than usual, and while I had my hand in the tank to feed our other axo, he climbed up on top of it, out of the water, took a huge gulp of air, then went back into the water. He seemed perfectly happy in the shallow container I had him in in the fridge, but now that he's back in the main tank, he still likes to get right out of the water - he climbed back up my hand again just now, didn't gulp but just sat there for a bit, then moved off and swam away.

Any thoughts? Apart from the red spots on him he seems happy enough, apart from this behaviour.

 

[cynthia]

Sam - Before you buy medication please consult this list of axolotl safe medications. It is at the bottom of this page http://axolotl.org/health.htm

Going to the surface more frequently can mean your water quality is bad. You need a test kit so you can test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.

How long has your tank been set up? Was it cycled before you put the axolotl in?

I would keep him out of the tank and in the fridge for now. If his damage is a result of poor water quality you don't want to put him back in the tank until the problem has been corrected.

 

[sam]

Hi Cynthia, thanks for posting.

Water quality is good, tested it before I put Albie back in. I had floated his container in the tank to equalise temperature but he escaped himself, so I can only assume that he was doing okay at that point. He's sitting normally at the bottom of the tank now.

I'll keep an eye on him for the next couple of days and see how he goes back in his tank. The other axo Nero has calmed down a lot since Albie has gone back in (whoever said they're not social is nuts - Nero went berserk when Albie was taken out and didn't settle down until he went back in) and Albie seems pretty comfortable at the moment. I'll keep you posted.