Question: Peeling incident

Hi everyone and anyone

Just have a few things

did a full 6 water cycle the other day as water perimetres were extreme, and now they are all fine! as my axies were floating and the bigger axie was not eating but now they are happily walking around without floating

Though, the bigger axie (leevi) she isn't eating and today i went to force feed her to get back onto food tablets and pellets!

as i got her out of her big home, she jumped and scurried across the wall, took her tail off on the very end ( i know it will grow back) and landed back into the tank.

now i took her out into the bucket and force fed her, and now she is taking a bit of notice to my hand in the tank to signal food (just testing her)

but now her skin is peeling and i am a bit worried as she wasn't out of the tank long... also she looks to be huffing a lot into the sand and her mouth is a tiny bit open, but not swollen? I've had her for about a year and really worried

any suggestions if this is dangerous to her? She is fine at the moment, just skin peeling slowly

P.S i force fed her from the bucket by putting a wet face Towel around her so she couldn't squirm and gently squeezed food into her mouth with a small medicine syringe (clean and unused from packaging) then safely popped her into the tank again with her mate toothless

Re: Peeling insident

Keep them in clean cool water. Try doing water changes 2-3 times a week.

Re: Peeling insident

Yeah i usually do a water change every 1-2 weeks for either 20% or 50% of the water in the tank as it's 150L

but i just want to know if leevi will be alright, she's acting normal now. She isn't aggressively swimming around, just occasionally coming up for a gulp of air, then sitting at the bottom of the tank and walking around

Last time i had an axolotl jump out of a tank he hurt his back, and peeled aggressively and died a week later!

i just don;t want this to happen again

Re: Peeling insident

The most important thing to do is make sure the water is cool and clean. You can also try adding a couple of indian almond leaves in the tank, they can help soothe the skin.

What do you mean by "did a full 6 water cycle the other day"?

How long was it since she had last eaten? Healthy adult axies can go weeks with out eating so force feeding isn't often necessary and will only cause more stress and possibly damage the slime coat or skin. It should really only be done when absolutely necessary.

Re: Peeling insident

I did 1 water cycle every hour to fix the Nitrite, Nitrate, ammonia levels in the tank, that's what i mean, the water hadn't been changed for quite a few weeks and i was worried about the water levels (50% water changes every hour, not sure if if can do that, and if it's safe.)

she hadn't eaten for about a week and a half and wouldn't even recognize food, so i thought it could be something to do with the water being bad (as Leevi and toothless was floating around which doesn't usually happen with leevi at all)

Re: Peeling insident

I will say though, after a night her gills have flourished abit on one side where they looked like they were shrinking and now are growing back
She doesn't seem stressed at all, and she is moving around the tank fine and is abit more active, and her coat is still peeling but she looks darker and i felt her skin softly and seems to be getting her coat back
(i out some Stress coat in the tank for her through the filter)

I'm afraid I might be no help here, but I figure I'd throw my two cents in because I'm not seeing a ton of replies for you. But I'm no expert so take it with a grain of salt/other feedback.

I'm not sure if all amphibians shed/moult/whatever you wish to call it, but I know axolotls do. And at least with mine, they do seem to go into small shed phases, but it's not enough for them to look different, simply to notice in the water. So I wouldn't say that peeling in and of itself is bad, as the shed/moulting might be needed for new, healthy growth to come back.

I remember a thread on here a while back, of an axolotl that got out for something like an estimated 12 hours while the owner was at work. The axolotl looked fuzzy from how much she had peeled, lost almost all her gills, and was shedding like crazy for a month or so. But it settled down and the axolotl recovered due to excellent care from the owner, especially in keeping a clean tank.

Frankly I think the biggest indicator of your axie's health will be if they are eating and pooping, how their gills and tail look, and behavior wise. Also remember that axolotls can go a while without food if they are adults, and Leevi may just not be eating due to being too stressed out right now. Force feeding in and of itself is stressful to any animal, so I would use that more as an emergency/wait and see if she resumes eating on her own in a week or two (assuming she is an adult). When I first got my axies, one of them didn't eat for about a week and a half, and despite being so young, didn't show any signs of ill health from it, and did start eating on his own. I believe adult axolotls can go a whole month without eating and be all right, but I'm not 100% sure on the exact time range or where it goes from safe to dangerous.

I believe trying to keep a nice, stable and cool tank temperature and clean environment and water chemical levels will go a long way to help your axolotl continue to recover. I would also suggest trying to stay on top of any peeling that comes off, maybe run a fine mesh net through the water to pick it up between water changes if you notice large bits floating around.

Again, I might be wrong here, but I feel bad with the few replies here so I thought I'd at least try and help. But I'd definitely say the biggest thing is to make sure to keep the tank clean and temperature/ph/nitrate/etc balanced as much as possible.

To avoid escapes in the future, you might want to transfer your axolotls to tubberware when doing major tank cleanings. You can either poke holes in the plastic lid or leave it as is; they are fine like that for a couple hours and I've even transported them in tubberware for 2-3 hours without issue.

Have you taken Leevi to the vet? I would take her to a vet that understands axolotls before doing any medical proceedures or force feeding. When you take her, tell the vet everything you did so far. In fact, write it all down so you don't forget anything.

As for the water testing, high nitrite levels are usually not related to skin shedding, from what I understand. My research has told me that the axolotl will appear to be gasping for air and/or have rapid gill movement if there is nitrite or ammonia poisoning. Again, refer to a qualified veterinarian before taking anyone's advice--including my own.

Have you ever transported an axolotl? Just in case you haven't, I suggest you have someone hold the container Leevi is in. Tell the person to hold it up--NOT ON THEIR LAP. Any bumps you hit in the road will be better absorbed if Leevi is up in the air. If Leevi's container is on the person's lap, or directly on the car seat, she will get the full brunt of those bumps. If you are alone, then don't stress it; just drive slower than normal. I put my hazard lights on (both left and righ blinkers) and drive slowly. People know something's up and will drive around me instead of honking their horns, etc. Don't know the rules of the road in your country, but that's what I do in the States.

Please keep us all posted, ok?

Axolotls do shed but they don't slough off large pieces like many other species, if the shed is noticeable something is wrong. An adult axolotl not eating for a couple of weeks may not be indicative of a problem and the force feeding you did may actually have caused the shedding. Just keep the axolotl in cool clean water, add almond leaves as a fungal preventative.