Axolotl Gills facing forward, front legs not used and mouth slightly open

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AxoBoy

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Hi I need some help with my poor Axolotls! She is around one and a half years old and was a very lively creature who would always be swimming around and coming to see me. In the past fortnight everything stopped. Her mouth was slightly open and she didn't move through out the whole day. Her gills face forwards and she drags herself forward using only her hind legs! Urgent help needed!
 
Here is a photo of her slightly open mouth
 

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No picture - it would really help.
As would giving us your water parameters, temperature, axie diet.

The open mouth is what worries me - it's often a sign of serious illness.
 
Notice her front legs are limp (you can't tell from this angle but I have seen that they are identical).
 

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Sure so she usually eats pellets and earthworms but as of recent events she has started to spit out the pellets but she still eats the earth worms
 
Nitrate and nitrites are slightly above level, no chlorine hardness is good carbonate hardness is slightly above but the test shows there is loads of co2 in the water despite there being a huge air stone in the tank... Also my ammonia reader says the water is clear
 
The temperature of the water is room temp so around 20 degrees c during water changes I add cold water around 3 degrees c, to keep it cooler. Also why is it that you cannot see the attached thumbnails?
 
I highly recommend a trip to the vet. If I recall correctly from a post a few months back an axolotl had an infection causing the mouth to swell. Infections need to be treated by prescription antibiotics. The limp arms are more concerning though...

What are the actual numbers associated with your water parameters? Typically the only ones of use are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. How are you measuring these? Do you use a water conditioner/dechloriator to get rid of chlorine before adding to the tank? Where do you get your worms? If you dig them up yourself there could be toxins from chemicals or parasites and bacteria I believe are also possible.
 
Oh no! That's very worrying. Well I buy the worms from a company, so they should be fine I guess. I also decholronate the water every time befor pouring it into the tank. I also use tetra aquatics test strips, which say there is no chlorine in the tank. Nitrate is 75 ppm and nitrite is 0.68ppm. There is a little ammonia reader on the side of the tank which changes colour according to ammonia levels. ATM it says the levels are safe so... There is also another axl in the tank who doesn't seem to have been affected.
 
Last edited:
AxoBoy said:
Nitrate and nitrites are slightly above level, no chlorine hardness is good carbonate hardness is slightly above but the test shows there is loads of co2 in the water despite there being a huge air stone in the tank... Also my ammonia reader says the water is clear
Click to expand...


What testing kit do you use?

What do you mean by slightly above level?

If there are readings of Nitrite then your tank may not be cycled. There should only be readings of NitrAte. Since the Nitrogen cycle filters the Ammonia and Nitrites into NitrAte, at which point you perform water changed to keep the NitrAte bellow 40ppm.
 
The nitrates and nitrites are too high if those numbers are correct. Do a water change to bring them down. Nitrates should be at least below 40 ppm. Test strips are notorious for being inaccurate. Liquid testing kits are much more reliable and even though they are more expensive up front they last much longer and are cheaper in the long run.

While I doubt the bad water quality is the cause for this axolotl's problems (again a vet trip is probably needed) your tank isn't cycled properly. This site will give you a good over view of what a cycle is and what parameters you should shoot for. Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
 
AxolotlChris said:
What testing kit do you use?

What do you mean by slightly above level?

If there are readings of Nitrite then your tank may not be cycled. There should only be readings of NitrAte. Since the Nitrogen cycle filters the Ammonia and Nitrites into NitrAte, at which point you perform water changed to keep the NitrAte bellow 40ppm.
Click to expand...

Sorry I made the above post, but it wasn't showing your post where you mentioned what type of kit you use and what the readings were, so I wasn't aware! ignore me!
 
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