Axolotl skin infection i think

stephen · Dec 18, 2005

I am a relativley new owner , when i got my axolotl he had a bit of white discoloration on his tail, over the past 2 months i think it has been spreading as he now has these slight bits of white all over his skin. worse is the fact that there is a white thing hanging off his back i think it might be his skin peeling.

also of note is the fact that when i got him he was a much lighter color , he was a sort of albino yellow but now is more orangey

please help me

thanks

stephen

stipe · Dec 18, 2005

i think its natural colour. I have the same thing on my godlen axie and its nothingto worry about. Depends on how the spots look. Ive never seen a golden axie without it.

as for the white thing hanging of i have no idea.

sharn · Dec 18, 2005

do you have a picture of the thing hanging off his back? salt baths wouldnt hurt. i agree with stipe, golden albinos have the white pigmentation

stephen · Dec 18, 2005

it has come off his back, i fished it out of the tank, it was a whiteish mucusy sort of thing, there is a little bit more of it under his leg,

a few other things though,
he isnt eating, and hasn't since about thursday, thats about 4 days,
he spends a lot of his time hunched over like in this photo
and he isn't standing on his back legs

any suggestions?
what exactly does a salt bath entail? and what good does it do?

the conditions in the tank itself aren't too good unofurtunatly and i will try to rectify this as soon as possible. the water is quite cloudy and left over food gets caught under the rocks i have i will be making another post in another part of the forum about it

thanks a lot

stephen

sharn · Dec 18, 2005

you say the conditions in the tank arent that great. get him out of there then. put him a bucket with fresh dechlorinated water and change it all daily with the same temp water.

it sounds as though you may have high ammonia (just a guess cause you said your tank conditions werent great)? it can cause them to peel as it burns them.

salt baths are used to kill skin bugs and they work great on all types of problems. the ratio is 1 tablespoon of uniodised salt to one litre of water, just make sure its the same temp. leave your axie in there for no longer than 10 minutes as the salt can harm their gills and skin

jennifer · Dec 18, 2005

Is the skin simply shedding? The purpose of the salt bath is to get rid of any fungus or bacterial growth on the skin.

If the water is bad, I would suggest removing the axolotl to a separate container of clean water immediately. To get the tank into good water quality, it needs to be properly cycled. Do you need more information about this? Does the tank have a filter? Do you have a test kit for ammonia, pH, etc?

The animal is skinny. You need to get him eating ASAP. Try live earthworms or frozen bloodworms.

stephen · Dec 18, 2005

i have put him in a big ice cream container in the fridge, i hope it isnt't to cold, but i can't make it any warmer

the water i used was just plain tap water, should i put the special salts in it?

i have tried to get him to eat, but he is not interested in food

i dont have a testing kit at the moment but i am going to get one,

my guess is that he hasnt been eating most of his food (bloodworms) and they were getting trapped under rocks, which have lead to the bad water. if bananna man does get better i will make sure to keep half the tank free of anything and place all his food there.

any other suggestions?

how should i get him to eat?

thanks

stephen

cake · Dec 18, 2005

It sounds alot like a fungal-bacterial infection. You can wipe the area with a cotton bud and then put him in a clean container.

Check here for more info:
http://www.axolotl.org/faq.htm#43

cake · Dec 18, 2005

Oh yeah and about eating if you drop them in and he doesn't catch them try dangling them right infront of his nose. Any worms/food he doesn't eat, take out.

stephen · Dec 18, 2005

thanks a lot, and looking through the stories about the fridge, it does seem to work,

but do i need to put the hardening salts in the water in the fridge or will tap water be fine?

thanks

stipe · Dec 19, 2005

no you lvie in autralia, like me

, the water is fine, all you have to do i treat it with declornator. Cycling your tank befor you put him back in is the best way.

My axie (golden one) is liek yours as well. She always has a hunched back and is jsut a skinny, even skinnier than the male.

charles · Dec 19, 2005

yeah, mine is skinny too, but I think he's still pretty young - barely 10-12cm.
Funny thing is that his toes have gone black already. Gonna try to fatten him up a bit (flatmate will be feeding him while I'm away) and get him big enough that I can justify getting a bigger tank early next year

joan · Dec 19, 2005

Charles, I've noticed that when they're that small, the more you feed them, the longer they grow. I've found it hard to fatten juvies.

Cake, fungal infections are usually characterised by fluffy cottony growth. I doubt his axolotl has a fungal infection.

Good luck Charles.

cake · Dec 19, 2005

Ah ok then what would the white mucasy stuff be? I thought that's what it started at then grew cottony?

I try.

sharn · Dec 19, 2005

well we are assuming the white stuff is peeling skin at the moment. we dont have close up pics to be sure though.
it just starts out as little furry tufts and then gets bigger and spreads all over the place

stephen · Dec 19, 2005

he has spent a day in the fridge, i just changed his water, but the now there is some white stuff on his gill

what should i do?

stephen · Dec 20, 2005

any proper advice?

i'm going to put him in a salt bath if that does not help what should i do,

and cake once my fishy looks a bit better ive got some excellent kiwi jokes

cake · Dec 20, 2005

I would love to hear kiwi jokes. I hope your axie feels better after the salt bath. My vet told me that external infections are usually easier to treat than internal.

sharn · Dec 20, 2005

of course they are because you can see the progress.
keep up with the salt baths, you will find that cures all but the toughest problems. and remember perstance is the key, twice a day

stephen · Dec 20, 2005

oh well ill give it a go and tell and write in a few days

Axolotl skin infection i think

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