Illness/Sickness: Possible gas bubble disease

[LilithBlueFire]

Hello. My roomie and I got some axolotls at an expo the beginning of October. They're all young juveniles and currently kept in small sperate containers 3 of them are doing great. They receive daily water changes with water treated with Prime. Making good growth. However our pink albino is struggling. It's growing well and has quite the appitite but for the last few weeks it's been had a growing bubble slowly pushing its organs down and filling its chest cavity. It passes feces just fine. I first noticed when it was having balance issues specifically when trying to grab the food. I tried fridging and keeping the water level low for a while which seemed to help slow the growth of the bubble. I reached out to the breeder for advice as she also rescues axies. She said vibration treatment would help (10mins twice a day next to a water pump to vibrate the container). However, I've been doing that and it's not working. I've been making sure the water has sat out long enough uncapped to de-gas. Not sure what to do at this point. Thinking I'm going to start fridging it again until I can get it into a vet. Here are some pictures:

Bubbles have gotten bigger since these pictures were taken.. It's becoming more listless and losing energy at this point and I am very concerned. I am trying to find a vet. But I'm looking for advice until we can find one.

 

[wolfen]

when water is de-gassed it is done to remove chlorine, the water needs as much dissolved oxygen in it as possible to prevent surface gulping which causes air build up.
cooling the water down will help in reducing bubble size but wont help release the air until it is absorbed or expelled, it isn't uncommon for young/juvenile axolotls to get air build up and most recover, instead of dechlorinating the water with a dechlorinator put a tub of water in the fridge for 24hrs then allow the water to get up to 15°c before putting your axolotl in the water, do this daily to change the water, the reason for this method is because the majority of dechlorinators reduce the oxygen in the water so by fridging an open tub of tap water the chlorine gets vented of with a reduced amount of oxygen vented.
I would normally suggest using an air stone in the water but this may encourage your axolotl swallow the air bubbles, although you could put an air stone in until the water gets to temperature then remove before placing your axolotl in.

 

[LilithBlueFire]

when water is de-gassed it is done to remove chlorine, the water needs as much dissolved oxygen in it as possible to prevent surface gulping which causes air build up.
cooling the water down will help in reducing bubble size but wont help release the air until it is absorbed or expelled, it isn't uncommon for young/juvenile axolotls to get air build up and most recover, instead of dechlorinating the water with a dechlorinator put a tub of water in the fridge for 24hrs then allow the water to get up to 15°c before putting your axolotl in the water, do this daily to change the water, the reason for this method is because the majority of dechlorinators reduce the oxygen in the water so by fridging an open tub of tap water the chlorine gets vented of with a reduced amount of oxygen vented.
I would normally suggest using an air stone in the water but this may encourage your axolotl swallow the air bubbles, although you could put an air stone in until the water gets to temperature then remove before placing your axolotl in.

OK. I will try that thank you. That would explain why fridging helped as much as it did. Any ideas on how to help dissolve the bubbles?

 

[wolfen]

removing/dissolving the bubbles forcefully may be more harmful/stressful then just letting nature take its course.

 

[LilithBlueFire]

removing/dissolving the bubbles forcefully may be more harmful/stressful then just letting nature take its course.

I get that. Just wanted to know if there was anything that might encourage that process.

 

[wolfen]

because of the age there isn't much apart from keeping water shallow enough to stay upright and cold.

 

[LilithBlueFire]

Update: the bubbles are shrinking fairly rapidly. Axolotl is having an easier time staying upright and righting itself if it gets turned. Appetite is still a little low and it is still a little lethargic but improving. Will continue fridging with water open to the air. Thanks for all your help!