Hello from pflext

GOnna put my sick axie in the fridge ....is 12 degrees too cold?

If you mean 12 degrees celsius, no that is not too cold. Good luck with your sick axolotl.

Thanks for the reply Cynthia. Finding it hard to get my fridge higher than 7 or 8 degrees celcius. Hope it won't be too cold. Giving him two salt baths a day in fridge temp water. Guess I'll have to give it a few days to see if he's any better. Fingers crossed!

What seems to be wrong with your axolotl?

Paul - Axolotl.org says :

Lower temperatures (5-15 °C) seem to be a general panacea for axolotls.

So 7 - 8 should be ok.

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Anne-Marie Walton wrote on Saturday, 23 April, 2005 - 07:36 :</font>

""<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote><blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Anne-Marie Walton wrote on Saturday, 23 April, 2005 - 07:36 :</font>

"What seems to be wrong with your axolotl?"<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> Thanks for asking Anne-Marie......got a new little axie & it was full of beans & maybe it was because I was not feeding him enough but he'd been nipping away on the others gills & external tail tip.....the tail tip was red & exposed for a week or so & he got an infection from that...went of food about 7 weeks ago & has not eaten since.
Then 2 weeks ago he just started to float on the top of the tank & his limbs seem to be swollen...he also has swelling under the jaw which won't let him close his mouth. This whole fridge thing has me quite concerned....I feel it's a last resort.
Thanks again for your concern & yours too Cynthia! Paul

Doesn't sound good, Paul. Out of interest, is it a golden axie?

Yup! Sure is. Had it about five years or so. It's been about two days in the fridge so far with two salt baths a day. changed water by 30% today. Put two small worms in there as well yesterday but they were still there wigglin' away this morning so he's still not eating anything. It's been nearly 8 weeks since he last ate. I wonder how long they can go without food for....it's amazing. The limbs still look to be slightly swollen. That's the latest Anne-Marie. His name is Aristotle. Not an uncommon name for axolotls I hear.

Golden axies are prone to oedemas, or fluid retention. I had one about eight years ago that died from that. I don't think there is much you can do about it. The body more so than the limbs swelled though.

And as for how long axies can go without food, I had one that went for about a month without eating, then started eating all of a sudden. He is fine now.

Is there still any sign of infection, or are you just treating for the not-eating and swelling?

Thanks for all your concern everyone but Aristotle died last night. Poor lil fella ...he was a fighter as well.....just couldn't do it anymore.

Sorry to hear that, Paul.