Gills falling off!!

B

belinda

Guest
My little girls has been sick for a couple of weeks now and I think she is getting worse.
Originally she was getting white patches on her body that were starting to spread. I did salt baths for three days and put her in the fridge, but she seemed to get worse and had white fluffy stuff on her gills, so I stopped the baths and kept her in the fridge (daily water changes). Now it seems the white fluffy stuff on her gills is going away but the last couple of days when I have changed her water I have noticed the tips off her gills have fallen off and are floating in the water :-(

Any advice or help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
 
Sounds like an axolotl that had been suffering from stress for quite a while before you started treating it. In all likelihood it has an infection throughout its system and is probably beyond saving. Has the temperature been over 24 degrees Celsius for long periods of time in your home lately? Or perhaps there have been severe temperature fluctuations?

The gills starting to fall off is a sign that the gill branches are dying, probably due to infection. If it were caused by the salt bath (if you left the axolotl in the salt water too long or used too high a concentration of salt), they would have bled first.

I honestly think right now you're prolonging the inevitable death of the axolotl. The only hope that animals so far along have is treatment with antibiotics and a lot of luck.

If you know an axolotl-savvy vet, is your only hope.

Good luck Belinda.
 
I have recently had a simular situation. I bought my axie from a pet store that IMO was a bit <font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font>, i thought the axie looked ok. When i got him it had been really hot for ages and the shop i got him from had no aircon. As soon as i got him his gills started to be eaten away by some kind of bacteria (so i'm told). I treated him with tetracycline and a very dilute amount of malechite green. He seemed to improve, but when i went away for a week, he became sick again (it looked like his gills were starting to grow back), he got bloat and sadly died. I hope your axie can make it, maybe you could find some antibiotics to treat her. I believe if my axie didnt get bloat he would have lived through his gill eating bacteria.
 
Hi guys, my axolotl has white fluff on it and its gills and is not eating. He is also losing gills...WHAT SHOULD I DO?

from stef

(Message approved by ed)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
     +1
    Unlike
  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
     +1
    Unlike
  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
     +1
    Unlike
  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
     +1
    Unlike
    Clareclare: Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus... +1
    Back
    Top