Axie climbed out of tub!

okay, my axie oliver was sick for ages, until vebas gave me a cure. last night he was going to go in my large main tank because he had been quarrantined long enough and was better. i was going to the movies and i thought i would put him in the tank when i got back. he lives in a large plastic tub that has a filter, the tub is in a protective area on the floor. he was in his tub when i left to go to the movies but when i got back i found him on the floor near the bin! i thought he would have been dead but he was still alive so i quickly put him back into the tub. his skin is now badly damaged because he would have had to walk accross a long square of carpet to get to the bin and he had alot of carpet hair stuck to his body. i have no idea how long he was out of the water for as i was gone for about two hours or how he got out of his tub. but now he seems bearly alive and when he tries to walk he seems to nearly fall over like he has lost his balance. he also seem very rigid. i am wondering if this is just shock or if he has suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen to the brain or something. how long can axies survive out of water for? if anyone knows how to help me pleases let me know. i am taking him to vebas tomorrow because they are going to tell me the extend of damage that has been done to him and what i can do but i would also like to hear peoples opinion here as well. i am so mad with myself because he was going so well and if i had put him in the main tank before i went to the movies none of this would have happened. now his health is ruined and he has the risk of dying again.ggrrr!

If he actually fell over any distance, there's a good chance of internal organ damage.

I would keep him separate and quiet but it doesn't sound too good.

All you really can do is keep him quiet and cool and wait.

How deep was the tub and how full was it?

I read on the Indiana Axolotl Colony pages that they can survive out of water as long as their body is wet so it can continue oxygen transfer. When they clean the males' bowls they tip them and the water into a colander (water runs out but axie stays in the empty colander) while they clean the bowl and refill it.

If he was still wet then oxygen wise I think he would be ok... the fall might have done something though. Good luck with him!

well the fall could have hurt him but my male fell form around one meter last year and he is fine now

Halszka - The I.U. site also says not to let them become tacky. I personally don't like letting them sit in a net for any amount of time. I found it makes them panic, which makes me panic.

From I.U.:
They are able to continue gas exchange as long as their skin is moist, but never leave them out of the water long enough for their skin to dry out or become "tacky."

I have found fish that have jumped out of the tank tacky and lint covered and starting to dry out. About half of them have lived after being placed back in the tank.

It all depends on how long he was out of water and if he has any injuries from falling Keep us updated Vanessa!

well, i took him to vebas today and they said that he had lost his balance due to disorientation. they said that being out of the water would have confused him and he walked about 7 metres from his tank which i assume would have exhuasted him. vebas seemed to think that by looking at him he would probably be okay. when i found him on the floor he was starting to get a little tacky but i think that would have been from all the hair that was stuck to him. i measured the side of the tub to see how far he would have fallen and was only about 24cm because the tub is on the floor, i dont know if this would be far enough to cause any internal damage. the only visible damage to him is his skin and one of his back feet looks like it has a scrape on it. the thing that is worrying me most is his loss of balance, although ironicly he did seem to regain it when we were in the car and at vebas. last night i thought he was dead because he was on his back and couldnt get up until i helped him. nothing like that has happened today though and he seems to have improved a little. the only thing i have to do now is to try and get him to eat. i got him some live food and put it in with him so he can eat if hes hungry, i will also try him with his regular food.

The good news is that 24 cm isn't too far to fall. I was assuming he fell from at least a few feet up.

I don't see how balance could be affected by a fall - has anyone else heard of this? Although Veba's is a great shop, I don't necessarily think they're too hot when it comes to axies as they seem to be more geared towards exotic marines and tropicals - Granted they know more than a lot (most) pet stores.

Time will tell - here's good luck to you.

Vanessa - You may want to get some Stress Coat for the water to help the axolotl with its slime coat.

I think its problems are just from being out of the water for so long.

I'm with you Anne-Marie a 9 inch fall (24 cm) doesn't sound too damaging.

i didnt think that a 24cm fall would be far enough to do much damage. at Vebas the only person that i trust in what they are saying is Harry, the store owner, because hes had experience with aquatic life since before i was born, plus he is a friend of the family. all the rest of the staff dont really seem to know what they are talking about when it comes to axies. im going to get some stress coat today, hopefully over time he will just get better.

I once had an axolotl jump out and onto the 'dry' half of it's enclosure...It was housed in a half-tank with some A. barbouri living on the soil side.

Anyway, the thing was over there for a good portion of the day while I was at work. Came home found it and flipped out. It seemed to be dead, but I put it back into the water portion of the tank, and saw it flinch every so subtly. It floated with the current produced by the filter for over two weeks, every so often it would twitch. My girlfriend at the time kept telling me it was dead because she would never see it move, but I insisted it was still alive. Slowly, but surely the thing recovered and is now doing great (almost 3 yrs old!). They are quite amazing animals when it comes to recovery.

i know mine is starting to make a recovery and i think that putting some stress coat in helped him imensly. he has eaten some of the live food because there were five glass shrimp and now there are only two. he is also more active.

My axolotl has attempted to jump out of shallow tubs. He has never actually made it out tho. I forgot where I heard it but axolotls (depending on conditions) can last 15 minutes out of their tank with little to no complications. I'll try to find the link.

Hey Vanessa After I saw Oliver scurrying around his tank I reckon he'll be fine. Grant, apparently as long as their skin stays wet they can last some time out of water. I'm not about to do any tests tho *grin*

yeah, im pretty sure hes going to be okay too, cause now hes eaten all the live food i gave him and he doesnt fall over anymore. he also looks up at me now if i go and look at him which seems to mean that he wants food.lol

Good, I'm glad to hear that.

Also, did you say you gave him ghost shrimp? I;ve done that before and I got really nervous thinking that the shrimp would be chewing on the axies, but they all disappeared from the tank alright.

(Message edited by waltona on July 13, 2005)

That is good news Vanessa.

Anne-Marie, i did give him ghost shrimp because the people at the aquarium shop told me that they didnt chew on the axies like feeder fish do. i also gave some to my axies in the main tank, but then i became worried that because the shrimp walk on the ground and dont swim in the water my axies would swallow some gravel while trying to eat the shrimp.

I hope this isn't too off topic, I was watching TV one day, and I came across a program that was talking about a gold fish that had if I remember correctly a damaged swim bladder, or it might have been something else, I wish I could remember but what was surprising about this story was that this gold fish belonged to a woman who felt so terrible for the little fish that she took some floating material, and a little sling and fixed it so that the sling went around the gold fish and the floating material would float at the top and keep the gold fish floating around so that he couldn't fall to the bottom on his side. with the little device he was able to eat and swim about just fine. That woman really did a kind thing for that little fish, I was wondering if Axoltls get off balance, if there could be something made to help them stay right afloat? I am too afraid to handle my axolotls in any other away, I don't have the stediest of hands, and I worry that if I don't use a soft fish net to scoop them out, that they will slip from me and fall to their doom, or not as worse. I haven't had any problems with using a simple soft fish net, does anyone else use these? I just use it to help direct the axolotls into a small container, then I transport the container, so that I can clean out their ice cream buckets and what not, and then I just gently place them back in while they are still in the same temp water from the little container. Hey Vanessa, do you live where you can get some sand? I have seen the little ghost shrimp, if you had sand in your tank, if the axies accidently ate some if it, it wouldn't harm them, or make them sick like gravel would. A lot of people on this forum use sand, I think black sand is the favorite amongst most here that or the white sand.