Illness/Sickness: My Axolotl died, can you please help me work out what was wrong with her.

[Swincebomb]

Hi all,
Very sadly my Axolotl Frankie died today. I had both my axies in separate tubs in the fridge.
Originally my other Axolotl was in the fringe because Frankie bit her gills and she was bleeding.
The weather was then predicted to get warmer for the week so I also put Frankie into a tub too.
Over the last year or so (maybe more) I have noticed Frankie has gotten really chunky. Especially in her torso.
She had a couple of growths on her head and back but she’s had them for years and has been ok.
The past few days in the fridge she’s seemed lethargic and the last day or so I’ve noticed a red patch on her side that was swollen.
I changed the water with fresh dechlorinated water daily. This morning I noticed she was really struggling, losing her colour, her usual flourishing gills were pale and nowhere near as full, she was lethargic, not interested in food, not even blood worms, and she’s usually very food motivated. I thought I better get her to a vet of some sort if still no improvement tonight. When I got home she was floating in the tub, lifeless. I was shocked. I knew she was unwell, but didn’t realise how bad.
When I’ve actually turned her over her belly was red all the way under and bulging almost like there’s a growth in there. I realised that she was much sicker than I had known or realised.
She seemed fine in the tank but went downhill after several days of fridging. My other axie is fine, although now I’m scared to put her back in the tank.
Do you think it’s a growth, a tumour, an obstruction that’s become infected, septicaemia? I’ve also done some reading and wondering if it’s red legs or Columnaris that made her sick?
I feel terrible, I saved her and her tank mate from a sad situation 5 years ago and they’ve had a happy life. I feel like I’ve failed her not realising how unwell she was.
Pictures are quite graphic.

 

[wolfen]

autopsy by a vet is needed for a definite cause of death.
here are a few causes of death which are a possibility..
organ problems caused by fridging, due to the slowing of the metabolism fridging carry's the risk of organ failure.
ammonia poisoning due to small amount of water and lack of filtration, even though changes done daily ammonia can still build up fast.
bacterial infection, this can even be caused by bacteria growth on plastics, use glass pyrex or ceramic if possible, if using plastics make sure to scrub clean.
anaemia due to incorrect water chemistry, edema due to osmosis.
like I put at the beginning without a vet autopsy you will never know for sure what happened or whether it was even preventable.

 

[Swincebomb]

autopsy by a vet is needed for a definite cause of death.
here are a few causes of death which are a possibility..
organ problems caused by fridging, due to the slowing of the metabolism fridging carry's the risk of organ failure.
ammonia poisoning due to small amount of water and lack of filtration, even though changes done daily ammonia can still build up fast.
bacterial infection, this can even be caused by bacteria growth on plastics, use glass pyrex or ceramic if possible, if using plastics make sure to scrub clean.
anaemia due to incorrect water chemistry, edema due to osmosis.
like I put at the beginning without a vet autopsy you will never know for sure what happened or whether it was even preventable.

Thank you. Appreciate your suggestions. I still feel terrible about it. I thought fridging would help her with keeping cool like I’ve done in other years during very hot weather. I never thought it could end up contributing to her death.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

autopsy by a vet is needed for a definite cause of death.
here are a few causes of death which are a possibility..
organ problems caused by fridging, due to the slowing of the metabolism fridging carry's the risk of organ failure.
ammonia poisoning due to small amount of water and lack of filtration, even though changes done daily ammonia can still build up fast.
bacterial infection, this can even be caused by bacteria growth on plastics, use glass pyrex or ceramic if possible, if using plastics make sure to scrub clean.
anaemia due to incorrect water chemistry, edema due to osmosis.
like I put at the beginning without a vet autopsy you will never know for sure what happened or whether it was even preventable.

I'm leaning toward bacteria due to the skin peeling and red marks.