Help me i think my axolotl is dying!

H

hayley

Guest
my poor baby had bloated up and has like a balloon in his tummy, his feathers are coming off and the flesh is coming off of his feet! his bones are sticking out! does anyone know what could be wrong!?
 
Sounds like bad water. . Any thing new in tank. Is it cycle? What is the temp. Dose he have wite fluffy stuff coming off him? Can you post a picture? How long have you had him? How old is he? Can you test the water?
 
Take him out of the tank and put him in a container of dechlorinated water enough to cover him but so his feet rest on the bottom and he doesn't float. Put a lid on the container and wrap with a teatowel and put him in the fridge. Also put a bottle, or another container with dechlorinated water in it and also put in fridge at same time. This will be used to when you do the 100% daily waterchanges.

if unable to put in the fridge then as long as he is in a clean container/bucket of dechlorinated water that is below 18 degrees in temperature. Change this 100% daily.

Get your tankwater tested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. If you don't have water test kits take a sample to the petshop and get them to test and give you the results. (only takes 5 minutes)
 
ive got a photo here of his tummy, am going to put him in the fridge now ... if anyone has an axy with a bloated tummy like this and knows what it is please tell me!
76185.jpg
 
tas is 6 months to a year old, his tank is at 22 degrees, there is no white fluffy stuff, i am testing the water now.
 
water test shows that my nitrate is 160 ppm!my ph is 7.2, nitrite is 0 and amonia is 0. ive got a bag to treat the nitrate and im gonna get it into his filter now ... again if anyone knows anything about this being linked to his swollen tummy please let me know asap!
 
wow your nitrate is high! I think another english girl had the same problem. If you put live plants in the tank I think that takes care of the nitrate problem. Test your water for the next few days to see how it goes with the bag you added.
 
ok he has just done the most monumental poo ... its really dark green ... is that normal? normally his poos are brown.
 
not gonna put live plants in as they carry snails and other bugs into his tank ... am adding the bag now and taking him to see an axy vet tomorrow
 
sorry no idea, unless its a piece of gravel.
 
it looks like his tummy is full of liquid ... infection maybe. i can normally see where his organs are through his skin but at the moment its just all pink.well i'll get back to you all tomorrow once the vet has seen him. thanks for your advice
 
High nitrate is cause by not-enough water changes. And high nitrate is cured by doing MORE water changes. Plants and the "bag" stuff are NOT very effective! Right now, do at least a 25% water change, then repeat this every couple of days until the nitrate comes down to 50 or less. After that, change 10-20% per week.

The photo doesn't look too bad, but it may not show the belly very well. It could be caused by ingesting gravel or bad food, but more likely it is bloat. See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/bloatEDK.shtml
 
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