Weird looking dark and white spots under the skin

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Piliete

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Good day all,

So this is my first Axolotl.
And I noticed that he has some weird looking dark spots under the skin. Read through forums that it might be from the bumps on objects, but the white ones kind of scared me :(

I feed the axolot every second day or if i see that he is looking at me and reacting if someone is near- every day with meat. He is active and eats well, I make water change every few days and I also use :
Easy Balance Aquarium Water Conditioner 250ml | Pets At Home

As the aquarium is quite new.
Please advice what should i do or treat or it is normal? And I attached the image...
 

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Could be some sort of infection, the dark patch seems to be internal organs.

What kind of meat do you feed?

I would try checking for vets in your area that deal with amphibians so that you are prepared to get him checked ASAP.

I take it your tank is not cycled, are you aware of the nitrogen cycle ??
 
Hey,

I feed him sliced chicken hearts (lean beef) as this is the food what he ate during his "childhood" - i've got him from local breeder and that is what he was given.
I didn't found any vets here that would be specialist with axolotls, but i also reached the university zoology department, waiting for their opinion :D
My tank does have a filter, i know about nitrogen cycle, but i see that my amonia is a bit up, so i change 20% of water every few days as this aquarium is runing only a month (it has a live plant and plastical one that i do not scrub for the bacteria to live in)
Btw the white and those dark spots are only on one side
 
BTW, I have another aquarium with fishes. I check the water parameters - they are good! Maybe I should add a little water from that tank to my axolotl or it's not a good idea?
 
Purely meat isn't really the best staple diet, it's not a natural food source and can cause obesity.

If your ammonia is rising your tank is most likely not fully cycled, your aiming for readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 10+ppm nitrAte.

Don't let the ammonia get high since your Axolotl is in the tank. Better to remove the Axolotl and transfer to a separate container with daily water changes. Finish your cycle with a different source of ammonia.

Tank water will not aid the cycle, but ornaments or rinsing filter media from an established tank into your Axolotl tanks filter using tank water could help speed up the cycle.

Will have to wait for opinion of the zoology department or another experienced keeper. I believe there are some active caudate vets on this forum.
 
Piliete said:
Hey,

I feed him sliced chicken hearts (lean beef) as this is the food what he ate during his "childhood" - i've got him from local breeder and that is what he was given.
I didn't found any vets here that would be specialist with axolotls, but i also reached the university zoology department, waiting for their opinion :D
My tank does have a filter, i know about nitrogen cycle, but i see that my amonia is a bit up, so i change 20% of water every few days as this aquarium is runing only a month (it has a live plant and plastical one that i do not scrub for the bacteria to live in)
Btw the white and those dark spots are only on one side
Click to expand...

Hi

I have to say that in the picture it looks very much like an internal organ (liver?) with small abscesses on it, but it shouldn't normally be that clearly visible. I'd be very interested to see the opinion of an expert who actually examines the animal.

Seconded that raw meat alone is not a good diet - deficient in minerals and vitamins.

Hope this helps,

Bruce
 
Godo day,

I received from one amphibian phD that this is normal for my axolotl, it is important how the animal behaves- if he is interested in food is active -everything is fine as skin sometimes can be seen through.
I am still waiting for the opinion from one parasitologists from Nature research departments so I'll keep updated :)
Thanks for the help folks!
I am still working on the water paramerters as the NO3 and NO2 are a bit high :|
 
Leucistic Axolotls are generally more transparent that other colours of Axolotls, but the image you posted shows very clearly internal organs with white dots close to the surface of the skin, which I have never seen on an Axolotl. I'm not convinced that it is healthy.

You'd be better off getting a vet that can actually examine your Axolotl.
 
So i attached the photo how he looks today.
Nh4- as i have visual test, so something in between 0 and 0,5 mg/l (the color is a little bit lighter than 0,5 indicator, but darker than 0 color)
N03 - 50 mg/l
NO2- 5 mg/m
 

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You should do a water change to bring down the No3. The White dots have increased and it's looking darker under the skin by the front legs and towards the underbelly. Definitely find a vet to see your Axolotl ASAP.
 
Hey, thanks, yes, I do water change. Looking for profesional vet as not many work with amphibians here, thanks! I\ll write how it goes :)
 
Hey all, so today i went to vet in exotic pet. She observed the axolotl and..... this is not normal case of fungal infection or any deseases that usually axolotl gets because the white spots are in the parenchimial tissues so she needed to consult someone and will call me back as it is, as she told not critical case as he eats, is active and she advised at least not to hange usuall routine for him as excessive and unnecessary stress is not good for him. Plus it's not cancer as the pet is young. So.... waiting for the reply.
 
Excellent that you saw a vet, hopefully all will be okay. Your Axolotl looks very healthy minus the current issue!
 
Well, the vet called today so..... she suspects two things - stress or nutrition due that sometimes they may be storing some materials on parenchimal tissues (liver etc). So i am changing the diet, checking water regular (all paremeters are 0 or good to go) and looking for the change. In some salamanders it can be bacterial infection (in rare cases) so she advised me firstly to observe with a lottle change :)
 
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