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My axolotls have anchor worms

Lorena

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Hi everyone, I'm fairly new to owning axolotls and really need some help.

About 6 months ago I was given an axolotl that was in a really bad way. She had no gills and I'm pretty sure she would have died if I hadn't stepped in. Anyway she was fine until my husband decided to get her a friend for her tank and a gold spot pleco to try and keep the mess down in the tank. Pleco is gone now because I caught it munching on her gills again. Her gills are taking forever to grow back and I have noticed that they both have anchor worms. My original axie is happy to have the salt baths I've been giving them but the new one seems to get very stressed. Can anyone recommend a way to get rid of the parasites without putting any further stress on them?
 

Lorena

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Thanks for your reply and the threads. I've had a look through them and am going to start fridgeing them too. Might sound like a dumb question but can anyone tell me how I know if they are gone? I mean do they die and have to be removed or do they fall off? Just so i can tell if my axies are cured or not.
 

Bette

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I'm really not sure how you tell they are cleared completely. I have heard that you aren't supposed to remove them, because you can injure the animal. I would be very thorough and use extra sanitizing precautions, and quarantine for a good six months after treatment.
These little nightmares are incredibly hard to get rid of from what I've heard.

Just today, I observed a fancy goldfish covered in anchor worms at a local petco. I informed the staff.... ** note to self.... Don't buy fish from this petco!!**
I cannot stress enough the importance of quarantine!

Please update us on how it's going.
 

Lorena

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I've been giving them salt baths and had them in the fridge since my last post. The other day i noticed that the parasites had changed colour and after doing a bit more research decided to try and remove them. THE MOST TRAUMATIC THING I HAVE EXPERIENCED IN AGES. Seriously do not recommend doing this. Managed to get 9 off my original axie smaug and about the same amount off Sammy all fine but then when removing another one off poor Sammy it must have been in a vein or artery because it started spurting blood. I cried for about 2 hrs afterwards and couldn't sleep that night because i felt so awful. Sammy still has a couple in her gills but I am just going to leave them and see what happens. They are both looking a lot better now though which I'm extremely happy (and relieved) about. I've been trying to upload some pictures but being completely computer illiterate have not succeeded in doing yet. Will keep everyone posted on how it goes just in case someone else has to go through the same thing. They are horrible little critters and i wouldn't wish them on anybody.
 
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