Whats wrong with my axie?

B

brendan

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One of my juvi axies has not been eating for about 2-3 weeks.

She has lost weight, spends alot of time around the top of the tank.


The water temp is fine.

The amonia, nitrate,nitrite and ph levels are all normal and fine.


Just noticed a small ammount of white fungus? on gills. I have isolated her and have treated her with anti-fungal liquid. However the fungus? has only just appeared.


Does anyone have any ideas of why she isnt eating?

I have tried, crickets, shrimp pellets, blood worm, carnivore pellets, and beef heart and she has not taken a bite of any...

Tomorrow i will try again, also i may try earthworms and maybe some prawn. But other then that like i said above any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
 
***UPDATE***

I found some frozen brine shrimp in the freezer so i've tried her with that and she has taken little and i mean little bites out of it but she is getting some into her mouth and eating it...

I will leave it in the container over night to see if she finishes it off.
 
Brendan - wasn't it you that had one of your axolotls with a similar problem not long after you got them?
 
Has your axie eaten before yesterday since you brought it home? Do you handfeed or just drop the food in? Was this axie in the tank with small gravel in it? Was it in a tank with other axies; or any of your axies that had problems?
In regards to the feeding, I am having problems with one of my new axies too. And am going through hell teaching him to hand feed. I forgot how much time it takes, but eventually they get it, if you be patient. (I have 5 other hand feeders...)
I find that pet stores in aus feed axies blood worms or sinking food of some sort. Therefor axies soon learn that their food comes from the bottom. And it can be tough getting that out of them. Sometimes I have to sit for 10 minutes with Lance, wriggling a little chunk of worm infront of his nose before even takes a nibble.
Raw prawns are great for a treat, or when axies are fussy because the axies can smell them. But earthworms are probably the best staple food you will find for axies in aus. Try and find "scrubworms" from a bait shop. You have to cut them up into bitesize chunks though. The little red ones (compost worms) always got spat out by my axies.
You mentioned she is in a seperate container. I would keep her that way until she is feeding properly, and the fungus problem clears up.

(Message edited by lisapie on July 12, 2005)
 
Ive had this axie for 7 months and since i got her she has been hand fed, blood worms, crickets, pellets. It's tank does have gravel in it small enought to swallow (perhaps this is the problem?).

Up until a few weeks ago she had been eating fine and was looking very healthy.

Yes cynthia. I originally had 3 juvi axies. 1 died a few months back, and symptoms are basically same as before.

Except i cant see WHY they are getting sick. Because all controlable variables are normal.. Unless the ones i gothad problems to start with.

And yeah she is a seperate container until i can get her eating again and the fungus problem has clear up.

I am just so annoyed that this is happening again. Like i said i have been doing everything right. All chemical readings are normal. Its not like i am neglecting them or anything... They are like friends to me i sit there and feed them and have talks to em lol... Maybe its the talking thats making her sick.
 
Brendan - How long has she been in a separate container and when was the last time poo'd?

I would put her in the fridge if you haven't already.
 
I would be suspecting the gravel, have a close look at her belly, see if you can see any colour or gravel which shouldn't be there - of course, not possible if its dark-coloured axy.

Fungus. Why? NSW = winter, shouldn't be temp. Some kind of internal infection reducing immunity and allowing fungus to take hold, maybe? Have you been giving feeder fish, put in new plants (snails etc)?

Do you have a cat?
 
I lost a juvenile once because it ate gravel.
sad.gif
 
She has been in the container since last night but before that she was in it over night a few days ago.

I havent put her in the fridge i am to affraid too.

Nope no new plants, no feeder fish, no snails, no nothing.

I cant see any gravel in her either.

Dont know when she last pooped.

I do have a cat except the cat dont come in my room... Even no where near my room infact.


I will take some photos of her soon, then i will post them so you can see how she looks.
 
Gravel sounds like the culprit. You can takes her to a vet and get her x-rayed if you like, but really all you can do is wait it out and hope she passes it.
Good Luck, keep us updated on how she is doing.
 
I have put my axolotls in the fridge before and worried about them all night but they are perfectly fine with it. Once, when an axolotl of mine had an obvious blockage, I left her in the fridge overnight and the next morning lo and behold - a whole mess of gravel had appeared.

I would put her in the fridge and keep doing the salt baths until the fungus has cleared. See what happens.
 
So with putting her in the fridge i just put her in a container of water and then put it in the fridge over night?
 
Yup. Put a tea towel or something over it so when the fridge light clicks on it doesn't scare her. Also, axies can jump so it's a good idea to have a shelf touching the top of the container or close to the top, so there's no escape. Not that she'll be doing much - just chillin - (ha! I kill me
lol.gif
)
 
Brendan - I would recommend a lid on the container just to be safe. Put her in the fridge not just for over night but until she shows improvement or passes gravel.

Put some extra water in the fridge to use for salt baths so you have water the same temperature.

Since we don't know for sure what is wrong with her other than the fungus the fridge is a good place for her.

There is an article about refrigeration and axolotls in this news letter from the axolotl colony (you need adobe acrobat to read it)
http://www.webpak.net/~cynorita/28large.pdf
 
Yep so far she has been in the fridge for two nights... No poops in the water, no nothing. Some of the fungus is clearing but still there.

I have been putting a few containers in like u said cynthia.

I've tried her with soem more food and still she wont eat.

I guess all i can do is wait and see what happens.
 
I just recently came back from a trip, and I kept my Axies, all three of them in the fridge for a week, and they were just fine. After I got back, I took them out, and let the temp warm up naturally by just keeping it out of the fridge and afterwards when the water warmed a bit they ate just fine, ate very eagerly, and are happily swimming about and happy with out any problems. I'll be putting up some little movie clips of them soon too
happy.gif
Good luck to you Brendan, I hope your axie gets better.
 
Brendan - When they are in the fridge they slow down and will not eat as often. Just keep offering her a bite of food when you do the salt baths. When she is ready she eat. Glad the fungus is starting to clear up.
 
Ok i prob did the wrong thing here but the fungus had been gone for about 3 days so i put her into her new tank (it has been cleaned beofre she went back into it.)and she was climatised accordingly.

I will probably cop a lot of flak for doing the wrong thing (if this is indeed the wrong thing) but i assumed she was better enough to go back in there.

However today she has come out in bad and i mean really bad gill fungus way worse then before.

She has not eaten anything at all and is look frail.

What can i do? is it better to euthanise her or keep trying to save her?

If euthanasia is needed to be done what is the best way to do so?

I really sad that it may come to this..Please if any other remedy can be established i would like to hear it and give it a go.

Thank you./
 
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