Illness/Sickness: Help! My axie is doing very ill and I’m not sure why.

So I’ve recently moved back into my parents house where my avid lives. He’s not well. He has two growths on his back, his tail is very red and now he’s getting extremely bloated and not pooping or eating. Ive purchased an ammonia alert that sits in the tank and says ammonia is fine. I’ve checked the ph which was a little high but I’ve managed to reduce that to safe levels. I really don’t know what to do to help him. I’ve been doing regular partial water changes and I’ve been using API stress coat for the water. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Help! My axis is doing very ill and I’m not sure why.

I’m sorry for my horrible typos. It’s 2am and I’m very tired. Also a noob so not sure how to fix it.

Re: Help! My axis is doing very ill and I’m not sure why.

Lkw1991 said:

So I’ve recently moved back into my parents house where my avid lives. He’s not well. He has two growths on his back, his tail is very red and now he’s getting extremely bloated and not pooping or eating. Ive purchased an ammonia alert that sits in the tank and says ammonia is fine. I’ve checked the ph which was a little high but I’ve managed to reduce that to safe levels. I really don’t know what to do to help him. I’ve been doing regular partial water changes and I’ve been using API stress coat for the water. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Hello! I'm sorry to see your little guy going through this. I'm not a veterinarian or anything, so I'm not comfortably qualified to comment on the tail redness or the growths.

But I can tell you that I've read more than a few warnings about such ammonia alerts being either inaccurate/prone to being defective or not providing enough of a warning specifically for axolotls. That's not to say it's junk, but I would not rely that item alone. The API freshwater liquid testing kit comes highly recommended in the community for accurate ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings.

A lot of owners find success in treating bloat/constipation with a fridging regimen. If you search for "fridge axolotl" and constipation or bloat, I'm sure some potentially very helpful threads will be suggested to you.

I hope your little one recovers swiftly!
-smax

Re: Help! My axis is doing very ill and I’m not sure why.

smaxolotl said:

Hello! I'm sorry to see your little guy going through this. I'm not a veterinarian or anything, so I'm not comfortably qualified to comment on the tail redness or the growths.

But I can tell you that I've read more than a few warnings about such ammonia alerts being either inaccurate/prone to being defective or not providing enough of a warning specifically for axolotls. That's not to say it's junk, but I would not rely that item alone. The API freshwater liquid testing kit comes highly recommended in the community for accurate ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings.

A lot of owners find success in treating bloat/constipation with a fridging regimen. If you search for "fridge axolotl" and constipation or bloat, I'm sure some potentially very helpful threads will be suggested to you.

I hope your little one recovers swiftly!
-smax

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Thank you for taking the time to reply. I am going to fridge him today and I will get the correct water testing kits in the meantime. Thanks again!

Re: Help! My axis is doing very ill and I’m not sure why.

Have you always used the API stress coat? Some axolotls can have allergic reactions to it.
And you should show this to a vet asap...

Re: Help! My axis is doing very ill and I’m not sure why.

Redness usually means a bacterial infection?