Bloated Axolotl? Please help

Hello everyone,

It has been a long while single I have been here and sadly with bad news.
I have had two axies for 5 years now, a leucistic female Ningyo and a wildtype male Pachua.
I have been on a holiday for a week, I have fed them before leaving and then they where alone for a week.
On return Ningyo was floating on top of the tank (this was last friday) She looked terrible, all swollen up body limbs face and covered with small red veins. Pachua was fine.
I took her out and fridged her. In the fridge she is now not floating anymore but all the rest stays the same. She does not want to eat. I have a vet appointment tomorrow. Does any of this ring a bell to someone? I am very worried and have a feeling that this is not going to end Well. I don't want to loose her. Water parameters are fine, we had Some warm weather while we were gone so THE water temp could have risen to 25 degrees. Its allready down again for Pachua.
Below you can see Some pics, warning they are not nice. Don't mind her gills they have been like that for years while Pachua has normal nice gills.

Second picture

How is Pachua? What did the vet say?

25c for a whole week? That's is very high, that might be a heat stress . I have never seen it this bad before , I can't believe how could she survive for a week. I would recommending fridge for a few days maybe with Indian almond leaf or tea bath. Then see if you could low the temperature of your tank down to below 20c before putting her back. It's seems like thing usually going wrong when we are away . I hope you'll manage to save her somehow.

I am literally so shocked by those pictures. I've never seen anything like that in my life.
25 is very high but I understand the struggle all too well myself with keeping the temperature down. I've lost two Axies this summer due to temperature, my original two axolotls too, my two favourite. It's so stressful and horrible so I know what you're going through. Their tank fluxed between 19-26 degrees on these hot few days in the UK. We've just moved out and never had a problem before but our flat is very hot, third floor, with no big opening windows etc. Even with 4 clipped on fans etc it's still at 22 degrees. Our three new Axies are in big tubs on the floor and they get 100% water changes every 2 days to keep clean and keep temperature down even now that it's not so hot it's still a problem. Just forget the tanks for a bit and put them in big tubs on the floor as the floor is cooler and you can monitor everything better, I mean for your non-affected axie if you can't get your tanks below 20 like me.
Your sick axie I have no clue. I'd do some tea or almond leaf baths just to sooth the skin but other than that I really don't know. Fridging will help slow down whatever is ailing her but other than that I couldn't even begin to imagine what will restore her to her usual self.
Heat is a terrible thing for Axies as I've found out this summer ?


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It may have risen to 25 degrees but not sure that this was the case. However the tank parameters are fine now, chemistry wise and temperature wise. Ningyo (leucistic) is in THE fridge Pachua (wildtype) in the tank.
We have a very sweet vet that comes to out house so we don't have to stress her out by transporting her. She has been in a dextrose solution for two days now in order to have the swelling down but it is not helping. She is still in the same condition in the fridge. She is not worsening either. Next step is antibiotics.
I have put some catappa leaves in tank for Pachua. He is not 100% either since he refuses to eat. Also his chin seems a bit swollen as well. I have to say that I think his chin has been like this for a while, I thought this was normal. Can someone conform this? He is behaving normally otherwise.
Thanks for the replies so far! Anyone having other ideas about what to do?
I will add a pic of Pachua as well. Thanks in advance for helping us out.

I've never seen a chin like that.. I don't understand why the heads are swelling so much, usually heat can cause problems with kidneys etc and can result in the bloated look of the stomach where it ends up wider than the head. I've been on this site enough and on the internet in general looking at sick axolotls (I've had a few issues myself like I said as I lost 2 and end up spending hours reading through loads of threads about anything and everything illness wise). I've never really come across swelling in this way! I've seen a lot of axolotls that look like balloons but never anything like Ningyo or Pachuas chin. I wouldn't say the chin is a normal occurrence I'm afraid but I couldn't 100% guarantee its not. How long has his chin been like it? Since a juvenile? Or has it developed in adulthood and over how long? That'll give you some idea as to whether it's a natural occurrence that has happened rather than due to some water problems.
Also his front legs look kinda swollen like a very less severe version of Ningyo's legs? Have you noticed this or is it just camera angles? X
Please please keep us updated! I check this thread hourly lol! It's horrible when they're ill, if only they could speak!!! Xx


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Thanks Emdalliance for your kind replies. I also want to say that I am very sorry for your recent losses. It is very hard to see them struggle. Like you did i am reading a lot of topics regarding sick axies as well and I havent found anything like this either.
Ningyo, although not improving in the way she looks, seems to feel a little better. She is more alert and moves more ( not in a frantic way, just calm movements). It is probably the dextrose solution that is giving her more energy.
Pachua seems happy and is alert in a very normal way but he still doenst want to eat.
Regarding your questions about the chin. I took a ton of pictures of when they were up to one year old. They didn't have a head like that back then... After that I didn't take any pics anymore since they werent growing anymore or not a lot... So I hate to say this and I actually feel like a bad owner now: I don't now when this happened. I guess I have thought it was part of the maturing proces. It didn't happen overnight but gradually.
I think his feet are normal but I am starting to doubt everything. I don't have a normal axie to compare it to in real life.
Half an hour ago the vet was here and she took a swab of the cloaca to check for parasites.
I keep you posted. Thanks for the support!

This is Pachua in a front view

Top down ( cant upload more than 1 pic at a time on my phone)

It could just be my inexperience... since I just got my babies and they are still babies... but he looks bloated/swollen too to me.

Anyone else ?
Ningyo is in a metronidazol solution now since the swab showed a lot of slow moving protozoan. This morning there was also a mucus jelly like solution in her container.


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I'd definitely say he's suffering the same condition that Ningyo is 99%. He looks very swollen too, especially tell from above. I'll show you my wildtype from above so you can compare.


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Sorry it's not the best picture ?


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See how your Axies neck sort of swells into his body? There's no slender neck area? His head and neck and belly seem all to be the same width? It looks definitely like he's suffering from a lesser version of whatever Ningyo has ?


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All the mucus on skin problem that I know so far came from heat stress , everything's else only point to it , however As for the crazy swollen part are still unknown , I will have to do some more research.

The non-eating is definitely a sign of heat stress, all mine that died started by refusing food. Mine are all in huge tubs on the floor, one tub each and they each have a fan directing over their surface of their tub. Even in the tub it can get up to 23 degrees on a hot day like this hence I've now added the fans. Change their water every two days or three max so they are cooler more often. My actual tanks have a reading of 26/27 degrees (they're empty of life). So being on the floor in a tub each makes a noticeable 3/4 degree difference (now plus the added lowering of temp with the fans).
The first thing that made me think Pachua has the same thing is the texture of his skin. It's all like bubbly and lumpy? Like tiny tiny lumps.. And the fat legs and neck. Like I noticed it immediately. It's weird that the big chin and thickness has happened gradually with Pachua but over a week with Ningyo? Or did Ningyo at one point look like Pachua?


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It's odd that a bacterial infection would make them so huge and lumpy.. But at least you know they do have something wrong like a bacterial infection and you have the right stuff to get rid of the bacteria! Wishing you luck. Just be careful, Axies and medicine aren't always a great mix.. But I've seen BALLOONS of axolotls recover with antibiotics xx praying for your Axies


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tipnatee said:

All the mucus on skin problem that I know so far came from heat stress , everything's else only point to it , however As for the crazy swollen part are still unknown , I will have to do some more research.

Click to expand...

I actually think that the jelly stuff came out of her cloaca. It seems more like she tried to go to the toilet but since she hasnt eaten for a while this was all there was. I think this because there were other little dirtbits as well. If you find something about the swollen face please let me know. I found Some topics on here that described the same thing but in these cases the axies died soon without knowing the cause or the story was not finished. So I cant do anything with these...


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emdalliance said:

. It's weird that the big chin and thickness has happened gradually with Pachua but over a week with Ningyo? Or did Ningyo at one point look like Pachua?


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Click to expand...

Ningyo looked like how Pachua is looking now, her face is far more extreme than his now...

Thanks for the goed vibes you are sending, we can use them now! Ningyo seems to handle the medicine well. She is in there since this morning and is still going strong. The vet was here today again and we all think that she looks a little better. But still miles away from recovering.

The picture of your wildtype, is he an adult? Mine are 5 years old and they really never had a slim neck like that (only when they were a year or less) they did have a slimmer neck than now ...




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