White worms in poop-all the parasites

[pinksmog]

Hey,

If anyone can give me any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm literally at a loss.

I got my first pair of lotls about 3 weeks ago, and one of them did not seem right. Wasn't eating, lethargic, lots of grasping for air. He developed two bumps, one on each side. Eventually one ripped open and it seemed like tiny threads came out. The axolotl group I joined said they were anchor worms. So for the past two weeks I've been treating him, he started to regain appetite and move more, but the wound is still open. Then yesterday, I saw little thin white worms in his tub after he pooped. Same thing this morning, again showing up after he pooped. Tonight it looks like his side opened more and a thread was popping out. (the threads are literally like hairs, not the small worms that I saw). After a salt bath I pulled out what looked like a black thread that was 6x longer than what was sticking out. It did not move, whatever it was.

So now I don't know what to do, or how to treat him. I've researched all the parasites I could and the only thing that looks like what I saw is roundworm. But that doesn't explain his side, or why the second bump never burst (bump is still there, tho not as pronounced). I'm not sure what he has, or if he has multiple parasites or what.

If anyone could give me any direction as to what this might be, or what to do, I really appreciate it. I'm a new owner and he has improved, but now is declining again.

Thanks

 

[ophelia123]

If I were you I would do fridging and salt baths. Fridging can really only help. The cooler temperature might kill the parasite, as might the salt. They have great guides to friding and salt baths here on the site. It might not help, but I think it's worth a shot. Other than that, the only thing I think you could really do is take him a vet for medication.

Of course, make sure that his water is very, very clean, even if you decide not to fridge. Do more water changes than normal as his system is surely compromised.

 

[Tye]

Some photos of the worms might help, I'm not the best at identifying parasitic worms, but I can also show my professor who runs the parasitology lab at university.

Anyways, I suggest you separate the infected one and watch the others very closely. They also could already be infected. Especially if they were bought from the same breeder and housed in the same tank.

 

[pinksmog]

Ophelia - Thanks, I will look into fridging. I've heard of it, but was not aware it was useful for parasites. It might come down to going to a vet, I'm afraid. Thank you so much for the advice, I appreciate it so much! Really, thank you.

Tye -

Thank you for responding. I apologize for the low quality pictures, but I had to zoom all the way to be visible. The first photo is a picture of the two bumps, one splitting open with a small thread coming out. The second is of 3 worms (with his hand for size reference). Please know I had to adjust exposure to get the worms to show up, but they are completely white IRL. Please pass it on to your professor if you feel they could shed some light on the situation. I so so so appreciate it, I just want the little guy to get better, but am unsure how.


http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pinksmog/Facetune_30-10-2018-05-59-23_zpso8p6nffq.jpg

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pinksmog/Facetune_30-10-2018-06-21-33_zpsnbgufm6l.jpg

 

[Hayleyy]

Wow, I would say a vet trip would be worth it 100%. Whatever treatment they give may be necessary for your other axies as a precaution. Interested to see what these might be!
If you do a salt bath watch your axies behaviour. I have no idea how effective they can be with parasites but if the axolotl has an open wound it may cause a lot of irritation.

 

[Tye]

My prof thinks the white worm could possibly be a nematode of some kind. It's hard to tell without looking at it under a microscope. He didn't have any ideas on what the thinner thread like ones could be.

Our best guess was that they were infected before you got them, and suggest quarantine for the one you know for sure is infected and a possible single tank quarantine for the others. Keep removing the poop from the quarantined one as soon as you spot it. I'm not sure at what life cycle stage the infection happens at, its possible they might just work through the axolotl's system as long as you keep the quarantine tank clean.

A vet might be able to tell you what worm you're dealing with if you can save a specimen for them to look at under the scope. I hesitate on anti-parasitic drugs since I'm not sure how many are safe for amphibian use, but you might have to risk it if they don't clear up or the others turn out infected too.

Best of luck to you!