Growing gills.

A

adelle

Guest
I looked at the axies i left behind in the shop today and they all look pretty much the same - no gills. except for one with little gills. one of them was so thin its head was sticking out away from its body if you know what i mean...kinda like bones would.
Anyway, one of mine still has weird gills but is fine, and the other one seems to be growing his gills. they are filling out nicely. they look quite out of place on such as small thing. lol.
does this mean anything good?
 
I just looked again, and on the big one his gills seem to be growing longer (this is the one with hardly any gills) but theres what looks like a little white bump on one of them. Looks a little like fungus. But it may just be his gills growing? I dont think it was there yesterday. But I couldnt tell cos hes always at the back. what do i do? how can i tell if its getting worse?
i know you talk about fridge stuff and treatment. But the only thing i got in the way of treatment or testing is that aquasafe stuff and I havnt got a container i dont think to put him in the fridge or for a salt bath.

I dont think i can post any pics.
 
I just fed them and they are both eating. They were very ferocious with their food. What i did was let the frozen bloodworm float (after turning the filter off) until the worms started to seperate and then used the chopsticks. It was alot easier. I will still get the tongs if i can use metal ones though. They are hoovering off the floor now so I will turn the filter on when i see theyve finished later. At least the big one is eating.
Did i read somewhere here that when they flick or rub themselves across the sand they are itchy from parasites? Thats what the big one was doing. I thought fish did this anyway and so axolotls would?
 
Adelle, fungus would look 'fuzzy', rather than just a lump.

Growing gills is a good sign.

Flicking is a way of moving fresh water over gills. Fresh water has more oxygen. Instead of actually moving to fresh water, they just flick.

Rubbing is a way of removing irritants, which come from many sources. Sometimes they just itch. It's not a 'telltale' sign of parasites.

For the fridge, the best container to use is a small bowl with a lid. This works well with salt baths as well. There's no need for a fancy container.
 
I've heard that a lot of gilled sals rub their gills if they are irritated, my mudpuppy does this.

Kaysie i'm not "dragging" this post back to mudpuppies, I'm just relating.
 
Thanks. It looks abit fuzzy and Wisp looks like he got a fuzzy bit too. Its hard to tell though cos theyre never close enough and never stay still long enough. Theyre very active especially Wisp.
 
Adelle, try to get a good look. Sneak up on them when they're sleeping.

When they're young, they're a lot more active than adults.

If you do think there's fungus, do some salt baths (if you need directions, let me know), pop them in the fridge for a few days (again, if you need directions), and see if that helps.
 
Thankyou. I will try and take alot of sneak peeks tonight. They seem alot more active in the day than the night which is strange cos they are nocturnal arnt they?
I do need instructions on both please. Step by step, and what to use and which type of whatever. Just in case. I will do this tomorrow if I decide tonight its fungus. If im wrong though will the salt bath hurt them as long as they are not in longer than 15mins? And when its over shall I take them out with a net? Will the salt still be on their skin? And when they have a salt bath or put in the fridge can they go in together? I only have normal table salt and rock salt.
 
For salt baths:

Take 2-3 teaspoons per liter of either a) aquarium salt or seasalt (either of these should be easily found at a local fish shop, and are fairly cheap), or b) non-iodized table salt with no caking agents. I usually make up a big bucket of solution, as you'll be using lots of it.

Take a small tub and put the salt solution in it. Take your axolotl out of the tank and put him in the salt solution for 10 minutes twice a day. Try not to exceed this, as it can be irritating to their gills.


For fridge treatment, make sure you have treated water that is the same temperature as the axolotl. That is, make sure you have jugs of treated water in the fridge. Put the axolotl in a bowl big enough to stretch out, but with a lid. Axolotls can jump! Change the water daily. If your fridge is over 10C or so, they may continue to eat.

If you do the fridge and the salt baths together, you have to be sure to refrigerate your salt solution, so it's all the same temperature.
 
Thankyou. I will try to find the right things i need asap. Could I try leaving them in the tank inbetween salt baths and see how they go before resorting to fridge treatment. I checked the fridge and im pretty sure its on 10c.
Can I give them their salt baths or fridge treatment in the same tub together?
 
Do axolotls develop white lumps when their gills are growing back?
 
It may be my imagination but the lump looks bigger, but it looks more like its been chewed off...you know kinda when you are eating chicken? its hard to explain. maybe there was an accident at feeding time cos they were rather close to each other but then im still more inclined to beleive its fungus.
I been watching him more and hes going up for air quite alot. Normally he just goes for air now and then and sits there all day and night, now hes scrawling about, and flicking his side on the sand etc. I am off to bed now but will check on him first thing tomorrow. I do hope he'll be ok.
 
Have you tested your water at all for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, as this could be related to your tank which is currently cycling.
 
No. I have been trying to get hold of the kits. I keep asking the shop to tell me when they have some in cos i know they sell them. I know they shouldnt go into an uncycled tank, but I thought I was doing them a favour by rescuing them from there cos they said they wouldnt be able to keep them much longer. I guess I was wrong. There were three there still yesterday but one was so thin its head was actually sticking out from the rest of its body as bones would on a person. it was horrible. But apart from the fungus my two especiaslly Wisp are looking great. Wisp has massive gills.
 
my mum had a look at Slinky and she said it looks like his gills are growing back and it doesnt really look fluffy. so i will keep an eye on him for a while longer.
 
As long as you do partial daily 20-30% waterchanges then this should keep it safe enough for them to reside in. Ask the petshop if they will test a sample of tankwater and ask them to write the results down, thereafter just get them to test once a week and record the results; and keep up the partial daily waterchanges.

(Message edited by kapo on April 20, 2007)

ps: Sometimes rescuing animals you may have good intentions but invariably you are adding to the problem and/or giving yourself a lot more work. For instance, since you "rescued" 2 of them, it will just give the petshop the idea that they could get more in, people will rescue buy them. And if they're sick/sick, have fungus, missing limbs then you have to be ensure they are cared for properly to ensure they get back to health, if needbe fridging them if it means it will give them the best possible chance of recovery/care; and in your case daily partial waterchanges to ensure the cycling levels don't harm your axies anymore than when they resided in the petshop tanks.

(Edited by kapo on April 20, 2007)

(Message edited by kapo on April 20, 2007)
 
Thankyou. I just looked at Slinky and its gone! The fungus or skin or whatever it is is gone! In its place is a rather odd looking gill thats longer than the other stubbs. No frills yet, but im hoping its a good sign and they will appear soon. Wisp has a little white spot on the back of his gills now, it looks a little fluffy so ill take a closer look. but would it disappear like that the same day it arrived if it was fungus? It was almost like he was shedding his skin or something.
 
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